Funding for O.C. Memorial Debated

A plan by the Orange County Fire Authority to install a bronze sculpture outside its new Irvine headquarters memorializing fallen firefighters is generating controversy that few involved in the project expected.

At issue is the amount of public money that has gone into the memorial, the salary paid to the project’s executive director and the timing of a recent decision by the Fire Authority to lend $75,000 to the project, which could cost $850,000 in planning, construction and upkeep.

The Fire Authority, a public agency that serves 23 cities and unincorporated areas of Orange County, has been raising money for the memorial -- an 11-foot-high bronze sculpture to honor firefighters killed in the line of duty -- for more than 16 months but remains about $370,000 short of its target.

Last month, the Fire Authority’s board of directors voted to lend $75,000 to the OCFA Firefighter Memorial, the private nonprofit group overseeing construction, installation and maintenance of the sculpture. Even though it is to be repaid through future donations, some officials questioned the loan, particularly because a previous $100,000 loan has not been repaid.

“The cost isn’t the issue, as much as where it’s coming from,” said Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby, a member of the Fire Authority’s board of directors. “Statues, memorials by definition are an outpouring of public sentiment. They’re not something the government pays for.”

Norby also questioned the $5,100 monthly salary paid to the consultant serving as executive director of the nonprofit fundraising group. He said the director should instead be paid a percentage of private donations she is able to raise.

Chris Mears, an Irvine councilman who is on the Fire Authority’s board, supports the fundraising plan. “I don’t have any problem loaning them the money. They’re going to pay it back,” Mears said. “It makes complete sense to me that cities and counties that are the beneficiaries of our firefighters’ sacrifices would express their gratitude to these firefighters by making a modest contribution to the erection of a memorial.”

The sculpture by artist De L’Esprie will depict firefighters rescuing a child. It is to be installed at the entrance to the Fire Authority’s headquarters and training center, a $50-million project to open this year.

A memorial already exists near the county Hall of Administration, dedicated to all county firefighters who died in the line of duty. Authority officials say they want a new memorial recognizing specifically those employed by their agency.

De L’Esprie, whose clients include the Museum of the American West, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and actor Sylvester Stallone, was paid $475,000 for the firefighter sculpture, said Kellie Kennedy, executive director of the memorial project.

The remaining expenses have gone to overhead, including $100,000 an organization that helped get the fundraising started. The $75,000 loan will be used to install the sculpture and build a brick walkway around it. Future expenses include maintenance and an adjacent interactive educational center.

Sixteen cities, the county and four water districts have contributed more than $146,000 -- or about 30% of the $480,000, not including the loans, raised to date. The rest of the money has come from individual and business private donations. from individuals and companies. Private donors have included such firms as the Irvine Co., ($15,000); Lexus of Westminster, ($500); and Kaiser Permanente, ($7,500).

One public agency that chose not to participate was the Municipal Water District of Orange County.

“We certainly support the firefighters and the firefighter memorial, but we believe it should not be supported with taxpayer dollars,” said Brett R. Barbre, president of the water district’s board of directors.

Kennedy stressed that most of the contributions have come from private sources and that the Fire Authority’s loans will be repaid from future private donations.

Critics say the recent $75,000 loan was poorly timed, because it came when the Fire Authority is preparing to ask Orange County voters to support an initiative that would force the Board of Supervisors to give it a bigger share of state public safety sales tax money.

“It doesn’t make sense for us to be approving this loan when at the same time we’re asking voters to support sending [sales tax] money to us,” said Supervisor Bill Campbell, a Fire Authority board member who voted against the loan. He later donated $7,500 of his own money to the project.

Mears said he believes the loan has will have no effect on the sales-tax initiative. The argument will be moot once the memorial is installed, he said.

“Objectively, it’s a lot of money. It is a first-rate memorial and a first-rate piece of sculpture,” he said. But “Once it’s up, I would be very surprised if anybody questions the money spent on it. I think it’s going to be a very moving memorial.”