City Opens Door to County Takeover of Fire Service

The City Council has directed interim City Administrator Lloyd Wood to invite Los Angeles County fire officials to a meeting Jan. 11 to discuss their offer to take over the Fire Department.

Councilman Tomas Ursua said the city, for the first time, is ready to take a serious look at the issue. In past years, Ursua said, the council would not even consider such a plan because it wanted the prestige of having a city-run fire service. But the city’s shaky economic condition has changed everything, he said.

“Forget about that parochial prestige stuff,” Ursua said. “It’s time to begin looking at cost-effectiveness.”

The county proposal, which grew out of a request by the Pomona Firefighters Assn. for a feasibility study, says the move could save the city as much as $1.4 million a year.

Wood said he has not yet formulated an opinion on the proposal but will submit his analysis to the council before the upcoming meeting.

Fire Chief G. John Parker said he will not comment until after he makes his views known to Wood and the council.

Although Parker is known to be skeptical about the county proposal, union leaders said this week that they believe it may offer a way for the city to get fire protection as good as or better than it now enjoys, and at a cheaper price.

Capt. Bob Baker, union president, said the proposal is promising enough to merit exploration in depth. He said the city should enter negotiations with county fire officials to spell out details on costs, job security and other matters.

“Our position is that we are not for (the merger), or against it,” Baker said, “but that the city should enter into negotiations.”

Obviously, the city will not give up its own fire department unless it can save money by contracting with the county, Baker said, and the union will not support the merger unless jobs, currently numbering 145, are fully protected.

Baker said there are some real advantages to contracting with the county.

First, he said, there is the range of equipment and manpower available to the county for major fires, hazardous spills and other emergencies.

Second, Pomona is bordered by county fire stations that serve Diamond Bar, Walnut, San Dimas and Claremont. A regional approach would increase efficiency in the use of these stations and the seven Pomona fire stations that would be retained under the county plan, he said.

In addition, he said, the county fire department would provide a strong paramedic program. A private ambulance company currently provides Pomona with paramedics, billing customers for the service.

Baker noted that the union asked for the merger study after the city issued layoff notices to 17 firefighters in 1991. The City Council asked the county to undertake the study, with the firefighters union paying the $14,000 cost.

Although Pomona withdrew the layoff notices soon after they were issued in 1991, the city is still in financial difficulty, as are many municipalities in California, Baker said.

Although the city solved its financial crisis in 1991 by raising the utility tax, it may be much tougher to find funds to maintain fire services in future years, Baker said.

The union leader said firefighters believe they would have more job protection as part of the county system.

Baker pointed out that Pomona firefighters’ salaries have been frozen for two years, while county salaries have increased.

By transferring to the county, he said, Pomona firefighters would get a pay increase.