A divided Hemet City Council split 3-2 early Wednesday to explore contracting for fire services with Cal Fire-Riverside County, a move that could spell the end of the 105-year-old Hemet Fire Department.
Later in the day the interim city manager emphasized no final decision was made, and further negotiations will be necessary with Cal Fire and the Hemet Firefighters Association.
"What got voted on last night was merely to explore with Riverside County Cal Fire what it would take to enter into a contract with them," Hemet Interim City Manager Ron Bradley said in an interview at City Hall. "There's a lot of moving parts.
"And also simultaneously meet with our fire union and talk about what the effects of contracting out would have on them, there's a lot of moving parts there, also, to listen to any kind of counter proposal they would make," Bradley said. "A final decision was not made last night."
Final or not, the six-hour council meeting at Hemet Public Library unfolded with strong emotions on both sides of the local-state debate, an issue that resonates in any California community served by Cal Fire.
Hundreds of residents and activists jammed the council meeting, which lasted from 6 p.m. Tuesday to 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, to show support for the Hemet Fire Department and its personnel. There were supporters of Cal Fire at the meeting as well.
Back-fill staffing fire stations in Hemet within 30 minutes of a call was one of the final points discussed before council members voted.
"That is a commitment that I have to the City of Hemet, unless you were to give me different policy direction, and that is we would strive to always keep three stations staffed, three out of the four stations staffed," Cal Fire-Riverside County Chief John Hawkins told Bradley and the council.
"Right, which, if we have a call, we don't have all the stations staffed because we've got a unit out on a call," Bradley said. "So three out of four is a good average."
At this point Acting Hemet Fire Chief Primo Reynoso stepped to the podium.
"Excuse me, sir, with all due respect sir," Reynoso said. "Three out of four's not acceptable."
"It's not?" Bradley said. "You need all four?"
"Not at all," Reynoso said, as many in the audience applauded.
"What do you do when you have a call?" Bradley asked.
"When we have a call?" Reynoso said.
"When you have a call you get the engine out of the station," Bradley said. "So what happens?"
"We respond," Reynoso said. "We fill our obligation."
"Who back-fills?" Bradley asked. "Who moves into it to keep that fourth station?"
"As Captain Bailey stated, we do our diligence," Reynoso said. "We seek ahead. We have incredible people that are already intelligence officers, that'd be an appropriate word. They're already foreseeing. They're already ahead of the curve.
"So the phone calls are already in place. We've got people already prepared, and so literally by the time our engine's leaving we've got people already en route. We will not tolerate, we do not accept that."
"You need four stations, alright," Bradley said. "Thank you. I appreciate it. Chief Hawkins was there anything else that you wanted to add?"
"When I just made the comment about staffing three I didn't mean day-to-day," Hawkins said. "I meant in the case of an emergency, either in or outside the city, we would staff three of the four stations. That is what we would strive to do. . . .
"We would staff all four stations, that's the daily plan to do, would be to staff all four stations.
"I do have a few comments to make if you would indulge me for just a few minutes," Hawkins said. "Number one, this is not about an inter-agency fight. It's not about that. It's not about a personality difference.
"It's truly about what's the best fire protection service, or maybe the most economical, or whatever the parameters you as policy makers decide," Hawkins said. "That's truly what it's about.
"The Coastside Fire District that was referenced by one speaker as having left Cal Fire, it never left," Hawkins said. "It is with Cal Fire. There was a dispute that went on with some of the commissioners in the fire protection district, but the Coastside Fire Protection District, which is a combination of Montara and Half Moon Bay is still with Cal Fire.
"We have a proven customer service partner relationship with our cities and I stand by that commitment," Hawkins said. "Whether you choose Cal Fire-Riverside County Fire, we have a proven partner relationship, and I ask you to check with any of our 21 partner cities and determine if that's correct.
"Our Cal Fire firefighters live by our core values in Riverside County, and those are leadership, confidence, integrity, safety, and customer service. And we believe in those, just as the Hemet firefighters may structure their core values as similarly or differently, firefighters live the dream, and our firefighters live to those core values.
"Again, regardless of the outcome of whatever you decide as the policy makers, which I respect, Cal Fire is a professional organization, and there were some shots tonight that don't represent who we really are.
"We do accurate budgeting for our 21 cities, and in fact we have not run over. And in fact if you were to check you would find out that as Mr. Gary indicated we budget top step and invoice actual cost, and our typical partner cities come in 2 to 8 percent less than what they budget. . . .
"One of the things I really want to contest is in no way would we ever abandon Hemet, ever. We would stand behind it. . . .
"There was a question that I made about Hemet Truck One and I referenced three calls in a day," Hawkins said. "I know that Station One answers probably four to five thousand calls a year. But what I was referencing with Truck One was three working calls a day, perhaps a structure fire and two vehicle extrications.
"That would be a good workload for a aerial ladder truck for a day. Now they may go to 10 other medical emergencies, which may last 20 minutes each. But the extrications and the structure fires are truly workers.
"And those are the points. And I'm just honored to be here tonight and hope that if you have any more questions I'd be glad to professionally answer those questions."
"Primo is there anything else you'd like to add that we've missed?" Bradley asked.
"Well I'd like to finish," Reynoso said. "First of all, their numbers are different than our numbers when it comes to mutual aid participation. So his system and our system are obviously out of synch, so we need to figure that out. We validate our numbers, period. So we'll have to figure that out.
"I'm just going to say a few words," Reynoso said. "This is what it comes down to. For the last five years I understand that you had to cut the budget. You had to do what you had to do. Now I don't know if any of you were actually here five years ago.
"But it occurred. So be it. And the budget went down and their were consequences. Obviously Citygate has acknowledged those consequences, black and white.
"So this is what it comes down to," Reynoso said. "You see a certain value or something positive on the horizon with Mr. Hill, our new city manager. You made a multi-year commitment with that gentleman. I don't know what you're seeing, but there's something of value that you see.
"You also saw something of value with the Police Association. You made a multi-year agreement with them for something on the horizon or something within their organization.
"We have been here for the last five years as . . . Let me make it personal, because I'm trying to keep myself in check here. I have been loyal to you," Reynoso said. "I have been committed to you for the last 20 years.
"These gentlemen have done the same thing. This journey. And one of the interesting . . . let me give you an example.
"We've had four incidents, individuals have left, for Cathedral City, Ontario Fire, Burbank, Long Beach," Reynoso said. "They've returned. Here. Us. And for me, loyalty and commitment is everything. Everything. So we have been on this journey for over five years, and now I understand you're doing your shopping, apples and apples and all that stuff. I get that.
"What I don't get is that out of loyalty and commitment we would like you to invest in us back, build us up, 2007-2008, when we had a fully staffed truck, we had five stations, we had a sixth station on the horizon. 2007-2008, all facts. We had a division chief slash fire marshal. We also had . . . prevention officer . . . executive secretary . . . secretary assistant . . . our fire chief . . . we had our engines, we had our truck, all that.
"The budget was 11 million, 29 thousand, 28 dollars, and 13 cents," Reynoso said. "Five years ago. Here we are at this present state. I understand. Invest. Put us back on the map. I understand it took five years to get here. It'll take some time to get back up there.
"You've made a commitment with Mr. Hill. You've made a commitment with the police association. Make a commitment with us. We were here. I was here for the last 20 years. I would like to be here another 10, 15 years.
"So. I do want to add one other thing," Reynoso said. "I can't tell you how incredible the privilege of these personnel, that we have done. There's a statement you may have come across. Says 'We have done so much with so little for so long,' and I'm paraphrasing this, 'that we have accomplished the impossible.'
"These gentleman and our captains, Capt. Laura Fielding as well as Engineer Teri Waters, we have done it, as these citizens have acknowledged," Reynoso said. "We have done it.
"Return that commitment. Return that loyalty. To us. Thank you."
Just after midnight, council members Shellie Milne, Larry Smith and Robert Youssef voted to approve Item 12 and Linda Krupa and Bonnie Wright voted against.
"Council will not make a final decision on any agreement to implement the service levels described in Riverside County Option #1 until the City's negotiations with the Hemet Fire Fighters' Association and the City's negotiations with Riverside County Fire have been completed," the approved item states. "Any final decision by the City Council, will be undertaken at a subsequent noticed public meeting."
Bradley, who last week recommended council approve the move to explore contracting with Cal Fire, cited a report by Citygate Associates of Folsom showing the City of Hemet could save $2 million or more by partnering with the state for fire services.
"Citygate points out that, if Hemet Fire made no changes to their operation, did not implement an EMD or paramedic program, and the City continued to receive paramedic services from the private sector, that Hemet Fire's current cost (Service Level A) is significantly lower than Riverside County Fire's proposal ($932,774.00, page 8)," Bradley said in his staff report.
"lt is important to note, however, that neither the Chief, Management or Citygate recommend that option for safety and operational reasons. Instead, the Council choice is between . . . steps (Levels B or C) providing less service, but at less cost or, Riverside County Fire Option #1, that provides higher service at higher cost, but a lower comparative cost, which is the best value alternative."
Hemet council members invited competition with their own fire department when they voted to issue a Request for Proposals for fire services in the city in October 2012.
The Hemet Chamber of Commerce formed the Hemet Fire Department in July 1908.
Also known as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Cal Fire was founded in 1905 and its personnel are accountable for 31 million acres of the state's privately-owned wildlands. In addition, Cal Fire contracts with local governments to provide emergency services in 36 of the state's 58 counties.
Click here for copy of the agenda for Tuesday night's meeting, including a staff report for Action Item 12.
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