Home East County Could Sequester Cause East County Back To Three Station Fire Model?

Could Sequester Cause East County Back To Three Station Fire Model?

by ECT

bethel island 95

There is some interesting news coming from back east from the International Association of Fire Chiefs who are calling on Fire Chiefs from around the country to get involved to help prevent cuts to fire service grant money from Congress.

The email below was sent to many local fire officials and the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors alerting them that future funding that helps keep fire stations open and firefighters employed may be in jeopardy as the sequestration will cut FIRE and SAFER Grants by a total of $117 million.

It is important to recognize that Assistance to Firefighters, Fire Prevention and Safety and SAFER grants awarded with fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding or earlier are not affected by these cuts. These cuts only affect FY 2013 funding. In addition, the 2013 application periods for these programs may be delayed.

For East county, we were able to re-open two stations (Brentwood and Knightsen) due to a grant.  While we will not be immediately affected by the sequester, future funding is now in jeopardy should we want to re-apply. The bottom line, without a successful revenue enhancement, there may not be money available the next time around after the grant expires in Nov. of 2014.

This should be a wakeup call to the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District Board that they need to get it in gear and speed up talks about potential revenue enhancement options immediately which includes the formation of a community ad-hoc committee.

For any revenue enhancement to be successful, the public should be involved early and have a voice in the direction the District will head. We got lucky with the grant, but future money is up now in the air.

A “protect our fire services” campaign should begin immediately as the ECCFPD should be proactive, not reactive as the grant expiration inches closer day by day.

As part of the release, the International Association of Fire Chiefs have distributed a call to action which I’ve included below.

How the Federal Budget Sequester Will Affect the Fire and Emergency Service
IAFC Calls for Leadership in the Face of Federal Cuts

Fairfax, Va., March 4, 2013 – On the evening of March 1, President Obama signed the order mandating the automatic $85 billion across-the-board cut to federal programs, known as sequestration. For nondefense discretionary programs (which includes most federal programs that support the fire and emergency service), these cuts amounted to 5% of the programs’ funding.

Here’s how the federal government programs that affect the fire and emergency service are affected:

  •  The U.S. Fire Administration will be cut by $2 million.
  • DHS State and Local Programs (including the FIRE and SAFER grant programs) will be cut by a total of $117 million.
  • The U.S. Forest Service’s wildland-fire management account will be cut by $125 million.
  • The U.S. Department of Interior’s wildland-fire management account will be cut by $38 million.
  • The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s Hazardous Materials Safety Account will be cut by $2 million and the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Grants will be cut by $1 million.
  • Medicare will reduce reimbursements to providers by 2% starting on April 1, and there may be a delay in receiving reimbursements.

It is important to recognize that Assistance to Firefighters, Fire Prevention and Safety and SAFER grants awarded with fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding or earlier are not affected by these cuts. These cuts only affect FY 2013 funding. In addition, the 2013 application periods for these programs may be delayed.

Congress must pass the FY 2013 appropriations for the federal government by March 27. There may be some changes to the funding levels of federal fire service programs, and the IAFC will keep you informed.

“It’s absolutely critical that the fire and emergency service demonstrate to the public that we remain steadfast in our ability to keep a calm head, assess the facts and demonstrate leadership,” said Chief Hank Clemmensen, the IAFC’s president and chairman of the board.

What You Can Do

As you begin to formulate your plan to respond to the sequestration’s potential impact on your department, keep the following points in mind:

  •   Know the facts. Understand the current facts and constantly reassess the situation as it develops. Make sure to talk with your federal partners to understand how these cuts will directly affect you. Every federal agency is handling sequestration differently, resulting in confusing media reports. The IAFC will keep you posted on developments in Washington, but rumors, news reports and speculation will likely be constant. Make sure the facts are confirmed before commenting or acting on such reports.

  • Collect your data. Data will help you understand what resources are available to respond to this situation. Assess your budget: how much of it is dependent on federal or state funds? What likely impacts will the sequestration have in your community? How will that affect your department?

  • Develop a plan of attack. Attack the problem, not people. Joining the chorus of yelling and finger-pointing won’t help your department or community. Talk to your community–the public, elected officials and union counterparts–as soon as possible. Remember to speak directly and professionally in all of your discussions and statements. Make sure to point out specific problems and offer solutions and data, not threats or scare tactics.

  • Align the troops and give clear direction. Like any incident commander, you need to ensure your personnel are well informed and given clear direction. Make sure everyone in your department understands the facts and are empowered to provide leadership to the community. Don’t censor your troops, but review the SOPs or professional expectations surrounding social media and public comment. Consider developing an internal mechanism to allow venting of frustration, collection of ideas and feedback and rumor-busting. Engage local allies early. Work together to develop solutions to financial challenges.

  • Work with the media, not for the media. The media and the fire service can work together to help educate and calm the public. Provide all media factual and appropriate information relating to the impact of the sequestration on your department. If a media outlet is known to have questionable tactics, ask for the questions in writing. Be careful of media events that want to use the fire department as a prop for their own success or agenda.

  • Stay tuned in with the IAFC. The  IAFC will continue to address this issue by working with sound, bipartisan leaders in Washington, D.C., state leadership organizations and other national fire and emergency service organizations. Strategy and constructive, unified  action will see us through.

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8 comments

Bobby Lott Mar 7, 2013 - 7:44 am

Nice Burk, you are reading to much into this.

Frank Spinelli Mar 7, 2013 - 7:57 am

Now that you have city hall taken care of you might want to go to Washington and straighten them out.

Jake G Mar 7, 2013 - 8:06 am

Nice work thinking three steps ahead. With no funding source, we do go drop back down and we are back to be doomed with little coverage. Hope the fire board is paying attention.

Barbara DuMont Mar 7, 2013 - 8:17 am

We need to get our butts in gear and make some serious decisions regarding our fire dept. If we want to continue the level of service and/or increase it, we have to figure out how to fund it. We can not continue to depend on grants and other outside funding. Either we get a tax passed OR we cut services back to bare bones. Instead of the FF leading the charge on another tax measure, the fire board and residents need to stand up and get vocal. If a tax doesn’t pass again, well then cut things to the bare bones, don’t respond to medicals, don’t respond to smoke alarms chirping, don’t respond to flooding (the wash machine is overflowing??????), don’t respond to lock-outs, grandma has fallen out of bed and you need help getting her back into bed, …………you get the idea. Respond only on car accidents-rescue needed and fires that flames are showing. Then we could live within our means. That seems to be what people want, at least until they need help.

Steve Smith Mar 7, 2013 - 12:16 pm

This Board Member is definitely paying attention, and I believe my fellow Board Members are also. We have scheduled a Workshop at Oakley City Hall for Saturday March 16, starting at 9:30. Watch for Agenda details. One of the key points for discussion will definitely be the history of the last election and what to do better.

Steve Smith Mar 8, 2013 - 2:01 pm

Want to correct part of my previous post. Workshop is actually at Station 93 in Oakley.

Chuck Mar 8, 2013 - 3:25 pm

glad to see one board member engaging the public. Thanks Mr. Smith

B-Wood Mar 8, 2013 - 10:37 pm

Unless you can print money, you had better come up with a plan “B”.

Comments are closed.