Covina : Fire Merger Study OKd
The City Council has approved creating a commission to recommend whether the city should continue its partnership with the San Gabriel Valley Fire Authority.
Two newly elected council members, Tom O’Leary and Gary Coffey, said during the April campaign that they opposed the fire authority, which resulted from the 1986 merger of the Covina and West Covina fire departments.
Councilman Robert Low has also been critical of the partnership’s cost and the service it provides. He says the joint operation mostly benefits West Covina, which has more than twice the population of Covina.
A review was scheduled for 1989, but O’Leary said Monday that he wanted an earlier study. “I don’t want the damage to be too great if we decided we shouldn’t be in it,” he said.
Ground rules for the commission will be decided at the council’s next meeting, May 16. Each of the five council members will appoint two committee members.
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