$13 million difference? Redondo council debates city fire dept. vs. county
by Garth Meyer
The question of whether Redondo Beach should replace its fire department with services from L.A. County Fire reached some resolution April 16 in a surge of public comment against the change, third-party study results suggesting higher costs from the county, and a vote by the city council to make a final decision in May.
The Tuesday meeting featured a presentation from city consultant Stewart Gary, Citygate Associates (Folsom, Calif.) public safety principal, who laid out findings as people in the audience held up signs reading, “Keep Our Fire Department Local.”
“Either choice represents best practices. This isn’t about quality or adequacy of services,” Gary said.
In public comment, about a dozen Redondo Beach speakers all opposed county fire coverage and City Clerk Eleanor Manzano summarized e-comments.
“83 e-comments. 82 opposed and one was neutral, for the record,” she said.
No representative from L.A. County appeared Tuesday. Redondo City Councilman Todd Loewenstein asked why the city did not have their testimony.
“They were invited, multiple times, said City Manager Mike Witzansky. “They refused to attend. They were not interested in coming tonight.”
Citygate’s Gary took the council through what appeared to be an extensive comparison of the city fire department vs. county, though he did not consider items such as if Redondo Beach already hired workers for recommended non-sworn positions.
“I took a very simplistic approach,” Gary said.
He talked about speed and “weight” – how many firefighters, how much equipment – were deployed on a fire or paramedic call, and response time broken down to elements such as “turnout,” the time it takes from receiving a call to when the fire crew is in the truck(s), leaving the station.
He also studied the condition and needs of the two main Redondo Beach fire stations, each more than 60 years old, and reviewed what services the county has offered Redondo Beach in writing.
As far as cost differences, Gary said one X factor is that he could not predict future labor settlements, county or city, noting that with a local fire department, the city “controls those choices.”
In further comments about cost, he said that in year 10 of the offered plan from L.A. County, Redondo Beach will have paid $13 million more than “if you stood alone.”
The sum would start with $4.5 million to convert to county practices.
“We don’t see any way (that Redondo Beach would not) write a higher check to go to county,” Gary said.
“Both Redondo Beach and county fire are great departments,” said Redondo’s Interim Chief Patrick Butler, later, in his assessment. “One is more expensive, with fewer resources in the city.”
In city council comments Tuesday, Councilman Loewenstein said, “We’re talking about two different but tremendous organizations,” before focusing on what would be needed to upgrade Redondo Beach fire stations, asking about a bond, in a time when the local school district is considering a major bond itself.
He said he wanted to talk to other cities who have converted to county fire.
Gary said he could not think of a California city that has left the county system, explaining that they are “generally very happy.”
A particular county advantage is that it has more bargaining power for the purchase of equipment. When a city department converts to county, it signs over its trucks and equipment.
“I don’t see the financial appeal in going to the county and relinquishing control,” said Councilman Zein Obagi, Jr.
Councilmember Paige Kaluderovic talked about public safety in time of need.
“To lose that local control, or have to negotiate it every so often, I find it hard to give that away,” she said.
Interim Chief Butler’s input to the council included a report that the city department just received more than 200 qualified applicants in 48 hours for three open positions.
Kenny Campos, Redondo Beach Firefighters’ Association president, asked the council for time for the union members to look over the findings.
“Two weeks? A month?” he said. “A week for everybody to look it over, I think is fine.”
City councilman Nils Nehrenheim, an employee of Los Angeles County Fire Department in its lifeguard division, who has heard calls to recuse himself on this issue, talked about response times, among other matters.
“It’s the fringes that I’m concerned about,” he said. “Riviera Village, who is going to get there faster?”
He asked Citygate’s Gary how municipalities usually raise the money to pay for a new fire station.
Mayor Jim Light brought up a concern of how many inland calls that Fire Station Three at King Harbor responds to, and about “sharing Harbor Patrol with other duties.”
Public comment included a man saying, “You’ve got a system that’s really not broke.”
Another asked if the overall study was compromised because it did not include factors such as the city filling certain (non-sworn fire department) positions since the analysis began.
Retired Redondo Beach Fire Chief Pat Aust, a 43-year veteran of the department, assessed what he heard.
“I think it’s good you take a look at what’s out there, (but) it’s not what we need, not what we’re after,” he said. “Going to county, it’s a whole lot more for a whole lot less.”
A series of motions and substitute motions by the city council aimed to conclude the matter, with Campos called back up for more input.
“The line item not talked about is up to $4 million,” he said of current labor negotiations, regarding potential salary adjustments. “Are we going to get the support to stay Redondo Beach?”
Kaluderovic spoke in favor of deciding that night to keep the city fire department.
“Let’s not talk about this again for five hours, we have a lot of work to do,” she said, with city budget season about to start.
Councilman Scott Behrendt leaned the same way, as the council considered motions and substitutes. Nehrenheim maintained that he wanted to submit the Citygate report to the Redondo Beach harbor commission, public safety commission, budget and finance commission and public works commission. Obagi wanted to gather more input from his constituents.
“The public input on this has been extensive,” Kaluderovic said, noting previous efforts and Tuesday’s public comment online and in-person.
The final motion, which passed 3-2, directs city staff to submit the report to the commissions, put the item on the May 21 agenda for further discussion and invite the county again to give input.
Nehrenheim, Loewenstein and Obagi voted in favor, Kaluderovic and Behrendt against. ER