Plan Would Streamline Hazardous Waste Inspections : Consolidation: Fire Department could lose up to 11 jobs. Union leaders call the idea a ‘get even’ scheme.

Taking a first step to reorganize the Ventura County Fire Department, officials plan to streamline hazardous waste inspections--a move that could save at least $1 million annually by eliminating up to 11 jobs.

Currently, the county’s Resource Management Agency and the Fire Department both search for code violations at businesses that deal with hazardous materials.

But under a plan expected to be adopted by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, the Resource Management Agency would be responsible for the inspections, ending the Fire Department’s duplicate efforts.

Although county officials have praised the proposal as an important cost-saving measure, it has come under heated criticism from Fire Department union leaders. They say they are the target of a “get even” scheme orchestrated by the supervisors.

“We question their authority on a pretty regular basis,” said Ken Maffei, president of the firefighters union. “This is a retaliatory move by the board.”

He said streamlining--which could result in seven fire prevention officers losing their jobs--will only heighten tensions among department employees.

Morale has plummeted with a recent board decision to exclude the department from Proposition 172 sales tax funding, an action that prompted Fire Chief George Lund to announce his retirement.

But county officials say the consolidation will help cut through the county bureaucracy by eliminating some of the duplication.

County business ombudsman Ruth Schepler said businesses often complain that the hazardous waste inspectors with Resource Management Agency’s environmental health division and the Fire Department often ask the same questions and charge separate fees.

“Quite honestly, I felt their concerns were quite logical,” Schepler said. “They couldn’t understand why one week they get one person from environmental health and the next week they get a firefighter. It seemed foolish.”

As a result, the Board of Supervisors directed Schepler several months ago to find a way to solve the problem.

Schepler said it made sense to give the Resource Management Agency the hazardous waste responsibilities because its inspectors tend to be better educated but lower paid than their Fire Department counterparts.

“We are still going to provide a service that is required by law,” Schepler said. “But we are going to do it at a much, much cheaper rate.”

Under the proposal, the county would eliminate 11 Fire Department positions, including a battalion chief, a hazardous materials specialist and seven fire prevention officers.

Robert Holaway, who will take over as interim fire chief today, said department management can live with the change. The department will try to place the employees in other jobs but some layoffs may be necessary, he said. Three of the 11 positions are vacant.

“We hate to see the program go into environmental health,” Holaway said. “But it was felt this was best for the system to work properly.”

Supervisor Maggie Kildee said the proposal had nothing to do with “getting even” with firefighters.

“The board has been looking at many departments in terms of consolidation and downsizing,” Kildee said. “The main goal is to make sure every department is functioning as efficiently and effectively as it can.”

The changes, she said, will be the first step in county efforts to make the Fire Department more efficient.

In several weeks, members of a citizens committee studying problems in the Fire Department are expected to issue their report on ways to improve operations.

The group’s recommendations will be used as a basis for more changes in the department, which has been accused by county auditors of being lax with overtime and top-heavy with managers.

The supervisors have also agreed to hire a consultant to help find a replacement for Lund, who retired Thursday after 27 years of service.

“I think we are going to face a difficult time,” Kildee said. “The Fire Department has always been a good department. But we face a time when everyone from top to bottom, east to west, has to make changes to do things better than we have before. Those changes are not easy.”