Moraga-Orinda Fire District’s Fire Chief Delivers “Preliminary Analysis” of FAIR Group’s Proposal to Significantly Change Fire and Emergency Medical Services in Orinda and Moraga
By Press Release
January 7, 2010
Orinda, California - January 5, 2010 – Moraga-Orinda Fire District (MOFD) Chief Randy Bradley, appeared at a January 5th meeting of the Orinda City Council at which a group of Orinda citizens who call themselves "F.A.I.R." proposed a new model for the delivery of fire and emergency medical services in Moraga and Orinda that would supplant the existing Moraga Orinda Fire District. FAIR proposes that the MOFD be dissolved, that fire and emergency medical services in both the City of Orinda and the Town of Moraga be assumed by those respective municipalities, and that those cities then contract with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (Con Fire) for fire suppression and prevention services and with a private ambulance carrier, American Medical Response (AMR) for paramedic ambulance services. The FAIR Group's intent is to redeploy tax monies currently being collected by the MOFD into Orinda's City treasury in order to instead, fund the rebuilding of Orinda's streets, storm drains and water system.
At the meeting, Chief Bradley presented to the Orinda City Council a "Preliminary Analysis" of FAIR's proposals. (The full text of Chief Bradley's "Preliminary Analysis" is available under Public Info/Fire News - FAQ.) He indicated that his response was "only preliminary" because he had only met briefly with FAIR representatives yesterday afternoon (Monday, January 4th). Chief Bradley stated that the MOFD's Preliminary Analysis of FAIR's proposal "has identified serious, objective concerns about both the potential costs of the proposed contracts and the impact of the FAIR group's proposal on service levels in Orinda and Moraga."
Among the concerns that Chief Bradley indicated in his "Preliminary Analysis" of FAIR's proposal revealed the following:
• Based upon comparisons of the current operating costs of Con Fire and the MOFD, FAIR appears to have significantly understated the costs of contracting for fire service from Con Fire. FAIR's proposal appears to have underestimated those costs by approximately $4 million in the first year of the contract. Further, the MOFD actually operates at a lower per-engine-company cost than does Con Fire;
• FAIR proposes to replace the MOFD's current three paramedic ambulances that are each staffed by firefighter-paramedics with two AMR ambulances that are each staffed by one civilian paramedic and one civilian EMT. That would obviously reduce the level and quality of the ambulance services below what is currently being provided to the citizens of Moraga and Orinda. Eliminating the MOFD firefighter-paramedics who currently operate (as their job title implies) in a dual capacity as both firefighters and paramedics would also significantly reduce the number of firefighters initially arriving on scene at structure fires, wildland fires, vehicle accidents and other emergencies. The inevitable result of such a cutback would be delays in initiating fire attacks and rescues with a resultant increase in fire losses and an increased potential for loss of life;
• Petitioning LAFCO to dissolve the MOFD would run the risk that LAFCO might alternatively elect to merge the MOFD into Con Fire;
• FAIR forecasts that assessed values will increase by 5.8% per year, while the cost of providing fire and emergency medical services by contracting with Con Fire and AMR will only increase at a 3.5% rate. The latter assumption appears to be "highly questionable" because of the pending impacts of the continuing escalation in health insurance costs for both current and retired employees, plus significant pending increases in the charges that the County's fire agencies are about to be billed by the County Retirement System. Bradley noted that those same pending County pension cost increases are causing the Orinda City Council to re-evaluate its current police services contract with the County Sheriff's Department. (A consultant's study for the City of Orinda recently suggested that those pension costs might double over the next five years);
• Contracting with outside agencies means that the cities of Orinda and Moraga would cede to outside agencies the local control they currently enjoy over the costs of their fire and ambulance services. Local control of those costs and services was one of the major reasons that voters in both Moraga and Orinda overwhelmingly approved the MOFD's formation in mid-1997.
Bradley concluded his remarks by suggesting that the Orinda City Council discuss this issue at the upcoming "Tri-Agency" meeting between the Orinda City Council, Moraga Town Council and MOFD Board of Directors.
