Thank you, as always, for this excellent write-up. Pardon my ignorance, but does the merger mean that the actual, physical Sebastopol fire station will be closing?
First I want to thank you Laura for your reporting. This is an amazing summary and I was at the meeting. I would love to have the opportunity to talk with you more about this if it is of interest. I could also help possibly organize interviews with other firefighters. Not all of us have the same perspective on this.
To others comments and to expand on my public comment, I would argue that it isn’t “painful but necessary”. It is important that Sebastopol Fire transition to a full time staffing model. My concern is that the city council conflated that with consolidation. Additionally, the council focused on the 2 times that Seb FD had long response times last year and not on the 110 times that we had multiple calls come in at the same time.
Having 2 additional paid staff and a stipend volunteer available 24/7 will help with us being able to respond faster to calls. It doesn’t do anything for those 110 (and soon to be more) times that multiple calls come in at the same time. That is where having a robust group of Sebastopol Fire Dept volunteers who respond to calls is critical. Relying on an engine from a Gold Ridge station for the second call puts us right back in the place where we started from with long response times (eg. How long does it take to get from the Hessel or Twin Hills stations to downtown Sebastopol?)
There are benefits to consolidation, there are also downsides. The citizens of Sebastopol are losing control of their fire department and paying more on top of that.
The option that wasn’t given fair consideration was a parcel tax similar to the amount that Gold Ridge will impose and retaining that money for the Sebastopol Fire Department. This would allow for the same impact on taxpayers while retaining control of the fire department. Please understand that if consolidation goes through we the citizens of Sebastopol, the city council and the city manager no longer have control of our fire service. It is up to a board that is elected by the entirety of the Gold Ridge district. The Gold Ridge chief was very clear, there will be no more Sebastopol Fire Department. The station may be called “Sebastopol” and that is it. This seems entirely backwards to me as Sebastopol runs more calls than every other Gold Ridge station combined. If anything they should be consolidating with us.
This vote for consolidation seems like the height of mismanagement to me. It is admitting that the city council failed in its management responsibility and instead of working to make that better they are taking the easy way out, imposing a parcel tax instead of coming out and letting it be voted on and shirking their responsibility onto someone else. They are not coming out straight and asking the citizens of Sebastopol what they want. And the fact that at least two of the council members were elected on the platform of an independent Fire Department and went back on that without a full apples to apples evaluation of the option for an independent Sebastopol Fire Department is an outrage.
This city council and the previous city manager mismanaged the fire department for years. The Sebastopol Fire Fighters Foundation has paid tens of thousands of dollars every year for basic necessary safety and first aid equipment that the city couldn’t or wouldn’t provide. Volunteers regularly spend their time and money to keep equipment running because of how hard the city makes it to pay for things. I also take issue with the council and the ad-hoc committee saying they have “talked with” and “had meetings with” the volunteers. Last Thursday they asked us to show up 30 mins early for drill to discuss their proposal for consolidation, the two council members showed up 15 mins late, spoke for less than 5 mins and then said they had to leave. This exemplifies their relationship with the Sebastopol Fire Department. The city manager stayed for 2 hours.
It is possible that the fire department will be better managed by Gold Ridge. This is in a large part because it is almost impossible for it to be worse than our city council. The main hope I have for things being better if we stay independent is that our new city manager is amazing.
I would urge all Sebastopol residents to think seriously about what this means for the future of the City of Sebastopol. Tell the city council to consider the independent Fire Department option. If you are willing to take on the Gold Ridge parcel tax, make it a Sebastopol parcel tax instead and keep control of our Fire Department. Just like we wouldn’t give up control of our Police Department or our Public Works, we shouldn’t give up our Fire Department. Doing so makes us less of a city.
Thank you, as always, for this excellent write-up. Pardon my ignorance, but does the merger mean that the actual, physical Sebastopol fire station will be closing?
Painful but necessary.
Later in the article you misspelled Shepley Schroth-Cary
Well written.
Such a complicated thing. It took a lot of work. Congratulations.
First I want to thank you Laura for your reporting. This is an amazing summary and I was at the meeting. I would love to have the opportunity to talk with you more about this if it is of interest. I could also help possibly organize interviews with other firefighters. Not all of us have the same perspective on this.
To others comments and to expand on my public comment, I would argue that it isn’t “painful but necessary”. It is important that Sebastopol Fire transition to a full time staffing model. My concern is that the city council conflated that with consolidation. Additionally, the council focused on the 2 times that Seb FD had long response times last year and not on the 110 times that we had multiple calls come in at the same time.
Having 2 additional paid staff and a stipend volunteer available 24/7 will help with us being able to respond faster to calls. It doesn’t do anything for those 110 (and soon to be more) times that multiple calls come in at the same time. That is where having a robust group of Sebastopol Fire Dept volunteers who respond to calls is critical. Relying on an engine from a Gold Ridge station for the second call puts us right back in the place where we started from with long response times (eg. How long does it take to get from the Hessel or Twin Hills stations to downtown Sebastopol?)
There are benefits to consolidation, there are also downsides. The citizens of Sebastopol are losing control of their fire department and paying more on top of that.
The option that wasn’t given fair consideration was a parcel tax similar to the amount that Gold Ridge will impose and retaining that money for the Sebastopol Fire Department. This would allow for the same impact on taxpayers while retaining control of the fire department. Please understand that if consolidation goes through we the citizens of Sebastopol, the city council and the city manager no longer have control of our fire service. It is up to a board that is elected by the entirety of the Gold Ridge district. The Gold Ridge chief was very clear, there will be no more Sebastopol Fire Department. The station may be called “Sebastopol” and that is it. This seems entirely backwards to me as Sebastopol runs more calls than every other Gold Ridge station combined. If anything they should be consolidating with us.
This vote for consolidation seems like the height of mismanagement to me. It is admitting that the city council failed in its management responsibility and instead of working to make that better they are taking the easy way out, imposing a parcel tax instead of coming out and letting it be voted on and shirking their responsibility onto someone else. They are not coming out straight and asking the citizens of Sebastopol what they want. And the fact that at least two of the council members were elected on the platform of an independent Fire Department and went back on that without a full apples to apples evaluation of the option for an independent Sebastopol Fire Department is an outrage.
This city council and the previous city manager mismanaged the fire department for years. The Sebastopol Fire Fighters Foundation has paid tens of thousands of dollars every year for basic necessary safety and first aid equipment that the city couldn’t or wouldn’t provide. Volunteers regularly spend their time and money to keep equipment running because of how hard the city makes it to pay for things. I also take issue with the council and the ad-hoc committee saying they have “talked with” and “had meetings with” the volunteers. Last Thursday they asked us to show up 30 mins early for drill to discuss their proposal for consolidation, the two council members showed up 15 mins late, spoke for less than 5 mins and then said they had to leave. This exemplifies their relationship with the Sebastopol Fire Department. The city manager stayed for 2 hours.
It is possible that the fire department will be better managed by Gold Ridge. This is in a large part because it is almost impossible for it to be worse than our city council. The main hope I have for things being better if we stay independent is that our new city manager is amazing.
I would urge all Sebastopol residents to think seriously about what this means for the future of the City of Sebastopol. Tell the city council to consider the independent Fire Department option. If you are willing to take on the Gold Ridge parcel tax, make it a Sebastopol parcel tax instead and keep control of our Fire Department. Just like we wouldn’t give up control of our Police Department or our Public Works, we shouldn’t give up our Fire Department. Doing so makes us less of a city.