San Fernando Gets Better Fire Protection Deal

Ernani Bernardi, objecting that Los Angeles already gives the City of San Fernando a better deal on fire protection than Angelenos get, joined anyway Tuesday in a unanimous City Council vote to cut the cost to San Fernando even more.

“It’s better than nothing,” said Bernardi, who represents the mid-San Fernando Valley, of the $1.1 million that will be charged San Fernando under the new fire-protection agreement.

Los Angeles Fire Battalion Chief Scott Lenz said that, in any case, Los Angeles would have to provide the same amount of equipment and staffing to serve the Valley communities that surround San Fernando. He said the Fire Department had determined that service to San Fernando is not costing Los Angeles taxpayers any additional money.

San Fernando did away with its fire department in 1979 after deciding it could contract with Los Angeles for the service at a lower cost. The first year of the contract cost San Fernando about $700,000.

Old Agreement But the Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday that, because San Fernando was being charged under an agreement negotiated five years ago, the cost of the contract increased at a greater rate than the Los Angeles Fire Department budget. That contract reimbursed Los Angeles based on the smaller city’s population, which has grown substantially since 1979. San Fernando’s population is now 18,475.

As a result, San Fernando’s expenditure for fire protection increased 72% over the last five years, while the Los Angeles Fire Department budget rose 60%.

Under the contract approved Tuesday, San Fernando this year will pay Los Angeles $82,268 less than it would have paid under the old contract.

However, Bernardi contended that San Fernando residents are already getting a better break on the cost of fire protection than Los Angeles residents.

$57 Per Capita Cost Bernardi, noting that the new contract works out to a per capita cost to the City of San Fernando of $57, said, “At $57 per capita, our Fire Department budget would be $171 million.” Instead, the budget is $260 million.

“Talk about generosity,” Bernardi grumbled.

Councilman Hal Bernson, representing the West Valley, responded that Los Angeles would have to provide the service for its own residents anyway.

“We’re being compensated for a service we’d be giving anyway,” Bernson said.