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Published on 10/16/1995 All articles from this issue

Fire consolidation issue leaves public with burning questions

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Los Altos residents had a chance to ask questions about fire service consolidation during a city-hosted public forum Oct. 11 at the Hillview Community Center.

Layne Long who is assistant to the Los Altos city manager, John Ford, who is battalion chief with the Los Altos Fire Department, and Joseph Hinsberg who is a consultant with Ralph Andersen & Associates of Sacramento, presided.

"The killer-deal issues," Hinsberg said in an interview, "typically are labor and local control."

And those concerns surfaced Wednesday night.

Firefighters at the agencies involved in the consolidation study - Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos and the Los Altos County Fire Protection District - receive different compensation, Hinsberg said, in response to audience questions. And they belong to different unions.

At a time when city revenues are declining for many cities, consolidations become a way to maintain or increase services, said Tony Spitaleri, president of the Palo Alto Firefighter's Union. Through consolidation, he said, departments can reduce duplication of services.

But when questioned about layoffs, "We are not looking at reducing any staff.," Hinsberg said.

John Dobson, husband of City Council candidate Jan Dobson, said, "I like having a Los Altos Fire Department. We're proud of our fire and police departments."

The four-month consolidation study, costing each of the four agencies $15,000, is considering the pluses and minuses of joining the fire departments. The study should be complete by the end of October, Hinsberg said.

The City held the forum, Long said, because, "We wanted to make sure we were looking at everything."

Residents also asked about costs, losing service, response time, handling hazardous spills, paramedic service and uniform fire codes.

The 31 in the audience included City Council candidates Jan Dobson and Kris Casto and their husbands, seven Los Altos firefighters in uniform, five high school students from a Los Altos High School civics class and several firefighters from Palo Alto and Mountain View.

"This was a good turnout," Long said. At a similar forum in Palo Alto one person asked two questions and at the Mountain View forum there were no comments or questions.