Supervisors Oppose Bill to Trim Fire Board

County supervisors on Tuesday approved a resolution opposing legislation by state Assemblyman Ken Maddox that would dramatically trim the Orange County Fire Authority’s board of directors and potentially limit city representation.

Mission Viejo Councilwoman Sherri M. Butterfield, who attended the meeting, called the Garden Grove Republican’s bill an “unwanted intrusion.”

“I urge against any legislative tampering of the board’s structuring,” Butterfield told supervisors.

But Maddox called the action “premature” because he has only introduced a “place-holder” bill that lacks any governing language.

“I don’t have language regarding the governing structure, and it seems a bit rash to adopt a resolution given the fact [that] there’s no language in the legislation,” Maddox said in a telephone interview from Sacramento.

Maddox said he wants to reduce the amount of city involvement in the Fire Authority because he believes the 23-member board is unwieldy. He favors reducing the board to five members, one representing each of the county’s supervisorial districts.

City officials, including Butterfield, have complained to the Board of Supervisors about Maddox’s idea, saying cities deserve a direct say in how fire services are provided.

Maddox said he has also requested an inquiry by the Orange County Grand Jury into expenditures of Fire Authority funds. He said Irvine, for example, uses authority funds to pay for such unrelated items as street landscaping.

The move comes a week after the state legislative counsel’s office issued an opinion saying the state has the right to trim the number of Fire Authority board members, even though several cities had argued to the contrary, Maddox said.