Fire districts urged to look at mergers

By Lucas Youngblood | Posted: Friday, June 21, 2013

Consolidating current fire districts was the hot item during the Local Agency Formation Commission meeting in San Andreas on Monday.

Calaveras County LAFCo, the body responsible for deciding the sphere of influences for government agencies, held a periodical service review of fire service providers in the county.

The review took into consideration the future needs of Calaveras in regards to fire service. A similar aspect of all fire districts is a shortage of funds.

“The main theme is that no one has enough money,” LAFCo Executive Officer John Benoit said.

The review was done by consultants Oxana Wolfson and Jennifer Stephenson. Wolfson and Stephenson put together a 257-page report that Benoit called “more comprehensive and analyzed” than the last.

The report gave background information on each district, except the Mokelumne Hill Fire Protection District, and then made determinations to be adopted. Mokelumne Hill was not reviewed due to a pending Grand Jury report involving the district. Beniot said he does not want to “adopt a review that is antiquated when (it is) adopted. The Mokelumne Hill district has an extended 60-day period before its review starts.”

The determinations that are adopted are not enforced; they are a “passive” way of setting standards that allow for flexibility and put the ball in the fire service providers’ court.

Bill Wennhold, a director of the San Andreas Fire Protection District, did not agree with consolidation as a measure to save money.

“We question if consolidation is good,” Wennhold said. “There is no empirical evidence to show that it would make things better here.”

Benoit felt that the established districts were reluctant to share authority with one another.

“These districts have been in existence since the ’30s and ’40s,” Benoit said. “There is identity in the districts and they are trying to protect their districts, that’s the reality of it. What I’d like to see is (a move for consolidation) come from the districts up. Right now I’d say that’s improbable, but in the future you never know.”

The full municipal service review is available online at calaveraslafco.org.