Fire Department Service Changes Weighed : Budget: Contracting for county protection would save the city up to $1.39 million a year. Most of the city’s 145 firefighters would keep their jobs.

The City Council this week took a small step toward paring Pomona’s government by abolishing an obscure commission, but now the lawmakers face a much tougher decision over the future of the city’s Fire Department.

Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday approved a proposal that offers Pomona the option of contracting for county fire service at a saving of up to $1.39 million a year. The county would take over seven of Pomona’s eight stations and hire most of the city’s 145 firefighters.

The proposal is in line with a new City Council emphasis on “downsizing” government to save money, but whether the council will be willing to take this major step is unclear.

City officials, including Fire Chief G. John Parker, declined to comment until they have time to study the proposal in depth.

Capt. Bob Baker, president of the Pomona Firefighters Assn., which requested the study of county fire protection for Pomona, also declined to comment until he has studied the report. But he said the question is whether the county can provide good fire protection at a lower price.

“What this is going to boil down to is the quality of fire protection and the money (the county) can do it for,” Baker said.

The firefighters union asked for the study in 1991, during a time the city was threatening to lay off 17 firefighters because of financial problems. The layoff notices were rescinded after the council decided to raise taxes.

Baker said that two years ago he would have taken a pay cut if he had transferred from the Pomona Fire Department to the county. But since then, he said, city salaries have remained unchanged, while county pay rates have risen.

By contracting, Pomona would acquire the paramedic service run by the county. The city is currently served by paramedics from a private ambulance service, but Parker has urged the city to train and equip its firefighters as paramedics, a move the city has resisted because of the cost involved.

The county report concedes that owners of commercial buildings might face slightly higher insurance rates because Pomona has a better fire insurance rating now than it would have under the county system.

The study offers the city two options. One would put 33 firefighters on duty 24 hours a day and the other would utilize 30. Current city staffing is 35. The city fire station at Alvarado and White avenues would be closed under the plan.

The county based its financial comparisons on the 1991-92 fiscal year, when the city budgeted $13.4 million for fire service. The report says the county could have provided service for $12 million to $13 million, depending on the level of service desired, saving the city from $416,025 to $1,396,108. The figures do not include a onetime fee of $663,256 that would be required to implement the plan.

County officials said the next step is up to the council, which announced no immediate plans regarding the proposal.

The county offer comes as the city is embarking on an effort to reorganize city government to make it smaller and more efficient.

In a first small step in that direction, the council voted this week to abolish the Merit System Commission effective April 1.

The action, protested by one of the city’s employee unions, will save only $5,000, but it is symbolic of the council’s new mandate to interim City Administrator Lloyd Wood to streamline government.

Wood said several city managerial positions may be combined and some services may be dropped to save money. The council has discussed managerial changes and other reorganization steps in closed-door meetings but has not taken any public action.

The new, hard look at city government was initiated at a recent two-day council retreat that focused on government reorganization as a way of coping with financial problems.

Wood said the city will scrape by this fiscal year but could face severe financial cutbacks next year if the recession continues and the state further reduces local funding.

Mayor Donna Smith said, “We’re trying to give citizens the best services at the lowest cost.”

The new frugality was evident recently in the council’s reaction to a $195,000-study it commissioned to analyze the city’s costs of providing services ranging from replacing lost library cards to inspecting new swimming pools.

When the council ordered the study by Management Services Institute in 1991, some city officials said it promised to cure the city’s financial woes by pointing out ways to raise revenue through increased fees.

The study proposed more than $12 million worth of new and increased fees. But council members say that, instead of raising fees, it might be better to drop some services or turn jobs over to private enterprise.

Councilman Ken West said raising fees during a recession could drive businesses away. Councilman Boyd Bredenkamp said he could support some fee increases, “but not with a bad economy.”

Smith said the council vote to disband the Merit System Commission is part of the effort to eliminate spending on functions that are no longer necessary. She said the commission, which years ago heard grievances filed by city employees, no longer performs that function because employee unions have negotiated agreements requiring outside arbitration.

The commission’s remaining responsibilities of reviewing job descriptions and personnel rules are so light, Smith said, that the commission seldom meets.

Bredenkamp said, “Everyone I talk to who has been on the commission says they feel worthless because there is nothing for them to do.”

Council members Nell Soto, Willie E. White and Tomas Ursua voted against disbanding the commission.

Ursua said the council should complete its review of all commissions roles before eliminating any of them. Soto and White said the commission provides a means for citizens to participate in government.

Tom Ramsey, union representative for about 300 City Hall workers, said that, although the commission’s role has been reduced, the commission still provides a valuable outside perspective on labor and management practices.

He said the city administration wanted the commission abolished so it can deal with personnel issues through closed-door meetings with the council rather than taking matters to an independent board.

But Smith said the commission just makes it more cumbersome to deal with personnel issues.