Firefighters Union Files Suit to Block Closing of Station

The Ventura County firefighters union filed a lawsuit Thursday asking a Superior Court judge to block the county from closing the Ventura Avenue fire station as scheduled this Sunday.

Attorneys for the Ventura County Professional Firefighters Assn. filed the complaint Thursday and have scheduled a fast-track hearing for today before Judge John J. Hunter.

The legal action came just three days before the nine-member firehouse at 5777 N. Ventura Ave. is to be mothballed under budgetary cutbacks approved earlier by the County Board of Supervisors.

Firefighter union members contend in the complaint that the county will not save a significant amount of money by closing the station, which has served the Ojai Valley and unincorporated county areas north of Ventura for more than 60 years.

“At this point, (the suit) is the only appropriate action left to us,” Station 24 Engineer Chris Mahon said.

The nine crew members would be reassigned to other stations under the existing plan.

“The firefighters have made good-faith offers to accept pay cuts, neither of which have even been responded to,” Mahon said. “We’ve been told it’s not a question of money. They want to close the station.”

About $650,000 would be saved by closing the station, officials estimate.

But firefighter union members have offered to give back $500,000 in scheduled pay raises, an amount that would cover most of the savings, Mahon said. In addition, the county would have to pay $75,000 a year for the Ventura city Fire Department to cover the area.

Evelyn Z. Anderson, a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit who resides in the Ventura Avenue station’s service area, alleges that her constitutional right to safety would be violated if the firehouse is closed.

“There are a lot of old people that live out here,” said Anderson, an 80-year-old retired garment shop owner who has lived in the unincorporated county area north of Ventura since 1945. “If there’s an emergency, how much longer would it take for a fire engine to come all the way from town?”

In the lawsuit, the union also contends that the county has illegally spent or wasted tax revenue by maintaining so large a contingency fund. Mahon said the fire district’s plan to maintain contingency reserves of up to $750,000 is excessive.

County officials, however, maintain the decision to close the firehouse is a “reasonable management decision” based on state funding crises that already have forced the layoffs of 29 civilian employees.

“The only way management found they could keep a reasonable contingency (fund). . .was to close one fire station,” said Frank Sieh, litigation supervisor for the county counsel’s office.

“With an unlimited budget we wouldn’t have to make these choices,” he said. “The choice in this case was between adequate reserves and closing a fire station.”

Sieh said that closing Station No. 24 “will not reduce the level of safety either for the employees or the public served.”

County Fire Chief George E. Lund was not available Thursday for comment, and Assistant Fire Chief Robert E. Holaway referred questions to the county counsel’s office.

Supervisors had earlier proposed a $110 tax assessment to offset an expected $20-million deficit in the County Fire Department.

In May, officials were talking about 280 layoffs and the closure of up to 18 of the county’s 32 stations. But those cutbacks were averted when Gov. Pete Wilson protected fire agencies from state budget cuts and supervisors abandoned the tax assessment plan.

Firefighter union members offered to forgo pay raises to keep the Ventura Avenue station open, but said Lund rejected their proposal.

“They’re retaliating against us because twice they’ve asked us to take salary reductions, and twice we’ve proposed to them that management take reductions equivalent to what they propose for us,” said union president Ken Maffei.

“We believe there are ulterior motives for closing the station,” Maffei said.

Mahon said that the bulk of the Fire Department’s revenue from property taxes comes from eastern Ventura County, prompting favoritism to east county stations. “They’ve told us we don’t generate enough money over here, so it appears they are picking on the west side,” he said.

Five stations serve the Ojai Valley, including the Ventura Avenue firehouse. Four firehouses would be left under the plan, forcing any additional response teams to travel from El Rio, Mahon said.

“I would hope that the situation can be rectified somehow,” said Capt. Ken Brown of Station No. 24. “I don’t think it’s correct and I don’t think it’s proper” to close the station.

But Sieh said he has a good chance in court today.

“The real issue comes down to a separation of powers,” he said. “We believe the separation-of-powers doctrine validates the action taken by the Board of Supervisors.”