A Look Within: Overtime, over-response draw scrutiny in Redondo fire department assessment
by Garth Meyer
Changes are on the way to the Redondo Beach Fire Department after Interim Chief Keith Kauffman last week presented a 92-page report to the City Council.
The assessment showed a reliance on overtime for paramedics, too many vehicles responding to calls, inconsistent roles of the division chiefs, city leadership’s lack of confidence in the department and the need for more administrative staff.
Immediate actions approved by the city council include over-hiring personnel to address overtime and to form a subcommittee of Mayor Bill Brand and city councilmen Nils Nehrenheim and Todd Loewenstein, to work with Kauffman to act on the report’s findings.
“I’m committed to getting the city there, because after I leave, I’m a resident,” Kauffman said. “I want to see it happen too.”
The newly-retired Redondo Beach Police chief was named interim fire chief in March 2021 and given the task to create a “blueprint” for a new chief.
“We agree with probably a majority of (the report’s recommendations),” said Ken Campos, president of the Redondo Beach Firefighters’ Association. “It was thorough. It was well put-together. It’s always hard to look at yourself.”
The city council also voted to reinstate a study of whether the Los Angeles County Fire Department should take over the city department, as it did for Hermosa Beach four years ago.
In addition, the Redondo council will explore a one-year agreement with Manhattan Beach and El Segundo for cost-savings.
Kauffman’s report, which found much to praise too, is based on input from Redondo Beach city leadership, fire department personnel and the community – including a city-wide survey.
“Rest assured, the RBFD is a very good fire department,” said Joe Castro, a retired chief deputy for the Los Angeles Fire Department, hired by Kauffman as a consultant for the report. “Having taught fire leadership in 48 of our states, identifying any department as ‘good’ is not something I take lightly. As a resident, I feel safe and protected.”
Findings
Kauffman addressed the city council virtually April 19 from Fire Station No. 3 at King Harbor. His report included 68 recommendations, 24 of which he said have already been made through administrative decisions, with 15 more underway.
He named his biggest concern as an imbalance at the division chief level, the rank above captain and below the chief. The division chief leads a 48-hour shift at one of Redondo’s three fire stations.
Kauffman also focused on overtime.
“Our paramedics were basically run to the ground,” he said.
Of the department’s 7,200 calls per year, 70 percent are medical. 1.3 percent are actual, reportable fires.
Kauffman noted the amount of units sent to calls.
“Everyone sees an over-response,” he said. “Expectations are met, however there is some inefficiency there.”
Shortly after the report was complete, Redondo’s fire department earned a Class 1 rating by the national Insurance Services Office (in its current five-year cycle). This puts Redondo Beach among the nation’s top 400 fire departments.
“It was (because of) way before I was ever here. This is a credit to the old chief,” said Kauffman.
Fire Chief Robert Metzger retired in March 2021 after eight years leading the department.
Further recommendations from Kauffman and Castro include to continue to evaluate and improve response times, to take the lead on the city’s emergency response management continuum (preparation for a major disaster), redefine the Harbor Patrol mission, and buy new technology for fire station alert systems.
Mayor Bill Brand pointed out that “there’s a lot of costing to know.”
Misunderstanding
The report found that “RBFD is loved but misunderstood” by residents and could improve its community outreach.
“Naturally as firefighters we’re pretty humble in what we do,” said Campos.
On the matter of city leadership’s lack of confidence in the department, the report shows that firefighters felt the former chief was disengaged and a lack of motivation existed between him and former city manager Joe Hoefgen.
“City leaders felt they were asking what the fire department needed and weren’t getting traction,” Kauffman said. “They felt the fire department was not bringing them concerns. There’s this lingering hangover between the city and the fire department. I’m trying to remove that.”
Some of this has been addressed, according to Campos.
“We’ve shored up a lot of those relationships,” he said. “… Bob Metzger was kind of absent and wasn’t a good salesman for the department.”
Former city manager Hoefgen retired at the end of 2021.
“(City leaders) heard the former chief was out to lunch and that’s why the city didn’t have confidence in the fire department,” said District Four city councilman Zein Obagi, Jr.
The RBFD is now fully staffed, except for administrative personnel.
“From within the walls of the RBFD, (the report) discovered incredibly dedicated public servants who believe the RBFD can be a premier level department,” states Kauffman and Castro. “But that it also needs vision, strategic planning and strong leadership to break free from cultural norms that have caused stagnation and inaction.”
Efficiencies
The report found that the fire department sends out fire trucks and paramedics’ vehicles for standard medical calls an estimated 15 times per day.
“Sending the right level of resources to the call type, especially EMS calls, could prove to be the single greatest efficiency gain the department has ever seen,” wrote Kauffman. “I, and others, believe there is a better way, but what worries me is the reluctance and courage to try it.”
Campos indicated that the issue starts with county rules for paramedics.
“The (Redondo firefighters union) does support tiered dispatching that solves that problem,” Campos said. “The reason for it is that paramedics are governed by the county, which has requirements. We don’t over-respond to fire calls.”
Overtime
Mayor Brand zeroed in on a statistic — $3.7 million paid in fire department staff overtime in 2020-21 (fiscal year).
“That just screams to me, there are efficiencies to be had,” the mayor said. “I think this is absolutely subcommittee-worthy… When you start seeing $3.7 million and people getting burned out and you start seeing people getting mandatoried, you know you’ve gone too far.”
Councilman Nils Nehrenheim spoke on a similar line.
“We’re paying a record amount of money but getting the least amount of services,” he said.
Kauffman estimated that to meet his recommendations, the city would have to budget an additional $1.4 million a year, which includes hiring three firefighters.
Last year, 11 firefighter-paramedics were hired.
“It’s helped immensely,” Kauffman said. “We’re at a point now where we can breathe. But it’s public safety. You can’t let off the gas.”
Reminder
Councilmember Laura Emdee made a statement.
“People love the Redondo Beach Fire Department,” she said. “I want to remind everyone this is us really pushing the envelope to see how we can make the fire department the best.”
She continued.
“We have to put back the clerical (staff),” Emdee said, noting it was a victim of previous budget cuts. “And we need a shared battalion chief.”
City Manager Mike Witzansky suggested hiring a new interim chief is the next major step.
Councilman Nehreinheim asked about the cost of creating the report.
“Chief Castro’s time wasn’t cheap,” he said.
Councilman Christian Horvath questioned the plan of hiring another interim chief.
Witzansky noted the need for flexibility.
“To get to those long-term needs, we’re going to likely need another short–term hire,” he said.
Division chiefs
The issue of division chiefs received a special focus in the report.
“The next fire chief must break some historical cycles of territorialism at the division chief level, set clear expectations and rearrange their schedules and job functions in order to support a clear vision for the organization,” Kauffman wrote. “A failure to focus on this has created internal power struggles that present the single biggest issue stifling the forward progress of the agency.”
Campos explained this as different ways of operating for different division chiefs.
“There can be confusion when defined roles aren’t set,” he said, noting there were several ways to solve it for the new chief.
Metzger came to Redondo Beach from Florida, hired among 48 applicants for the job, none internal.
“I will call on the next fire chief to possess unwavering and decisive leadership skills coupled with the willingness and guts to question current systems and view our department’s future potential through a lens that is not clouded by tradition,” Kauffman wrote. “The Redondo Beach community deserves this.”
“We have moved in a positive direction with Chief Kauffman at the helm,” said Campos.
The city paid Castro $9,400 for his work on the report (94 hours). Kauffman was paid a salary as the interim fire chief. The assessment was part of his job.
Kauffman and Castro began work on the project in April of last year. The 92 pages came with 158 pages of associated appendices.
“Overall, the department is doing a ton of great things. They’re meeting the community’s expectations,” Kauffman said. “That’s the most important thing. We’re just suggesting how it can be even better. The puzzle pieces are there. Let’s have the freedom to rearrange them.”
A two-day, offsite workshop is planned for mid-May for fire department leadership (division chiefs, captains, etc.), including Kauffman.
“We’re going to ask, ‘is everyone on the same page…?’ and we’re going to move forward,” the chief said. ER