Pine Valley to vote by mail on
CDF involvement

By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun

     PINE VALLEY — In a special election being held this month Pine Valley residents are voting on whether or not to bring in California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection fire fighters to supplement the current Pine Valley Fire Protection District department, known as Proposition A.
     Sept. 25 is the final day for residents to vote on Prop A, which has raised a lot of controversy in the small Back Country town. A community forum was held recently to help answer questions and inform residents about both sides of the Prop A debate.
     Ben Tulloch, president of the PVFPD board and a supporter of Prop A, explained how the department got to the point it is now with the CDF/CalFire contract.
     “In the summer of 2003 the board was concerned about staffing levels and response times, but the funds just weren’t there,” Tulloch said.
     In 2004 a ballot initiative failed to pass by the two-thirds needed to fund the added staffing through a benefit fee, which would have been about $200 per resident.
     In the summer of 2006 the county approached the PVFPD board about possible funding, which could only be used to fund CalFire staffing in the department to supplement the volunteer program. After months of negotiations, a contract was signed with CalFire at the PVFPD board’s meeting on Feb. 6 of this year.
     The proposed three-year CalFire contract would provide $762,000 to the district to fund a minimum of two full-time, 24/7, fire fighters in Pine Valley station.
     At the March 6 meeting the board received a referendum petition, signed by 160 local residents, concerning the CDF Staffing Contract; asking that the PVFPD board repeal its decision, or put it to a popular vote.
     The referendum vote was approved by the board at its June meeting, and the Sept. 25 election day was set by the Registrar of Voters.
     One of the major reasons for the contract is staffing at the small department, which currently has two full-time paid fire fighters and about two dozen volunteer and reserve fire fighters, covering the communities of Pine Valley and Guatay. Tulloch pointed out several instances in recent months when only one person was on duty because enough volunteers weren't available.
     These unreliable staffing numbers are a major concern not only during an emergency, but can also affect a community’s Insurance Service Organization (ISO) rating, which is based on the district’s water supply, equipment, response times, and staff, and is used to determine local fire insurance rates.
     “This ISO rating is what started us down this road about four years ago,” Tulloch said. “This district is currently under review and overdue for ISO. They’ve looked at our water, they’ve looked at our equipment, and they’ve looked at our staffing. They’ve said they will wait for a final rating until after we’ve dealt with some of these issues, but there is some serious concern over our staffing.”
     A study of the PVFPD services showed that more staffing, more equipment, and upgraded facilities are needed to maintain the current ISO rating and avoid insurance rate increases for residents.
     According to Tulloch, without Prop A, the district will not be able to maintain even the small staffing that it does now.
     “For the past two or three years we’ve been surviving off of money from the county and grants to cover our staffing and labor costs. None of those are being renewed this coming year,” Tulloch said. “No matter which way this vote goes, there’s going to be some major changes in our department. With the money we have now in our reserves and our budget we will not be able to maintain 24/7 staffing.”
     Opponents argue that this could end up costing residents anyways, once the three-year contract is up, if the funds are not provided to continue.
     “We don’t know what’s going to happen at the end of year three,” said PVFPD captain Michael Moore. “After three years there is no guarantee that this money will continue.”
     According to Moore, if the contract expires after the three years, the PVFPD will revert to its current state, however will need to be rebuilt.
     “We’ll have to get all of these people back, re-train them so that they don’t get hurt out there and restart from scratch,” Moore said. “This could easily result in a lapse in service.”
     While Tulloch admitted that he does not have any guarantees that the funding will continue after three years, he says that all indications from the county are that the money will be there.
     “My goal is to not only maintain this funding in the future, but also increase it,” wrote Supervisor Dianne Jacob in a letter to the PVFPD board regarding the $8 million that is currently being spent annually on fire protection in the unincorporated areas, part of which is being used for this contract.
     Tulloch added that at the end of year two, the board will know whether or not future funding will be available, giving the department a year to plan and prepare for the departure of the CalFire staff.
     One major concern for current staff and volunteers is their future involvement with the department. In the case of the two current paid staff, they were offered a chance to transition into CDF positions and retain their jobs with the district. One accepted the move; the second did not.
     Volunteers are also worried that they are being pushed out of the department and will no longer be needed to fight fires in their neighborhood.
     “There will be no loss in reserve or volunteers at the department,” said PVFPD Fire Chief Bob Uribe. “We plan on keeping them, and we need them. This system is dependent on these people helping to augment our coverage. All volunteers and all reserves will be paged for all calls. That’s already negotiated because we rely on these people.”
     Some volunteers however, will likely not continue to work with the department, due to something called implied rejection. As Moore explains it, when a volunteer or reserve firefighter is paged at 3 a.m. to the scene, and then when they get there they are immediately turned around because they are not needed, eventually they will stop responding altogether.
     “This happens enough times it really wears on you and you just realize that they really don’t need you. Volunteers and reserves will start to fade away as they perceive that they’re not needed,” Moore said.
     “I understand this situation, but we can’t change it,” Uribe said. “Not everyone is going to be needed on every call. If we can handle it you’re going to be sent home, it’s nothing personal, it’s simply that there’s no more work to do so why don’t you go home and go back to sleep. But if it’s a big incident, that reserve or volunteers is going to be one welcome sight at three o’clock in the morning.”
     Opponents have also argued that this proposition will do nothing but change the staff at the department.
     “The only difference you're going to see is a different face and a different uniform,” Moore told community members at a forum. “One's doing it for free for their community and the other's not.”
     Pine Valley residents should all have received Prop A ballots in their mailboxes by now, and must return them to the county registrar of voters no later than 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 25. Ballots can not be postmarked and must physically be at the registrar by that time.
     Prop A must be approved by a majority of the fire district's 1,400 or so voters, with unofficial results being released beginning the next day.
     For more information about the CDF contract and both sides of the debate, check on line at www.pinevalleycdf.com.

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