WESTMINSTER : Fire Contracting Plan Won’t Be on Ballot

A proposal to ask voters in November whether the city should contract for fire services with the Orange County Fire Department got nowhere with the City Council this week.

Council members discussed the proposal Tuesday but did not take a vote, effectively killing Councilman Craig Schweisinger’s suggestion to let voters decide if the city’s Fire Department should be phased out.

Schweisinger said that residents have urged the city to contract with the county to save money. He said that preliminary studies indicate the city could save about $2 million a year by disbanding its Fire Department, which has a $7-million budget for fiscal year 1994-95.

“I don’t think this is the time to do it,” said Councilman Tony Lam, citing the ongoing reorganization of the 65-member department.

The council later approved filling three new management positions in the Fire Department. An assistant fire chief and two division chiefs will be hired next month or in early September, Fire Chief John T. DeMonaco Jr. said.

DeMonaco said that applicants were interviewed earlier this month. One of the finalists for assistant fire chief is a battalion chief in the department, he said.

“I hope this (reorganization) is given a chance to work,” DeMonaco said.

The council has created a 10-member Finance Review Committee that is looking into ways the city could provide fire protection services at less cost. Among the options being considered is contracting with the county, officials said.

“We need a massive reworking of our fire services,” Councilwoman Charmayne S. Bohman said. “We have to look at all alternatives.”

The Finance Review Committee also will consider privatizing fire services and combining services with other cities, she said.

Acting City Manager Robert J. Huntley said that there had been preliminary talks with Garden Grove officials to consolidate fire services but reorganizing the Fire Department has been his main concern over the past several months.