Supervisors Delay Action on Fire Cuts

The Ventura County supervisors on Tuesday agreed to delay taking action on Fire Department cuts until they can get more information on cost-saving measures.

The supervisors voted 5 to 0 to wait until Thursday before deciding on the reductions. They asked county financial officials to gather data on how much money will be saved by implementing an early retirement program and cutting salaries of Fire Department employees.

County Fire Chief George Lund had asked the board for permission to lay off 42 firefighters and close four stations to save nearly $3.8 million as the first phase of a massive budget-cutting effort.

The cutbacks could be deepened to affect as many as 18 of the county’s 31 stations and more than 260 firefighters and civilians if Gov. Pete Wilson succeeds in his plan to shift $2.6 billion in local property to education, thus depriving the county fire district of $20 million of its $43-million budget.

But the supervisors said they didn’t feel comfortable adopting the first phase of the cuts until they had the additional information.

Lund said he believes that up to two dozen employees may be willing to participate in an early retirement program, a move that would reduce the number of layoffs. And Ken Maffei, the president of the Ventura County Professional Firefighters’ Assn., told the board that the firefighters would be willing to take a 5% pay cut to stave off cutbacks.

Flynn and Supervisor Maria E. VanderKolk also said they wanted the board to explore the possibility of boosting the Fire Department’s budget with money from the county’s General Fund.

“If someone is in the life-saving business, they need to come first,” VanderKolk said. “Everything else comes next.”

The board will meet to discuss the matter at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.