On Tuesday, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Chief Jeff Carman provided a report to the Board on a plan to further reduce aid during emergencies to East Contra Costa Fire.
The move comes after East Contra Costa County Fire Protection District shuttered two Stations in May and CONFIRE has been supplementing the District with engines leaving Antioch and Pittsburg with reduced services.
Under a previous aid agreement, Contra Costa Fire sends the District two-engines automatically when needed, anything above and beyond must be approved. Under that agreement, data shows CONFIRE is sending 66.6% more resources than it receives with East Contra Costa who is sending just 33.6% or 1/3 the engines in return.
Under the new tentative agreement, CONFIRE would only provide assistance during priority emergency calls.
Chief Carman stated he had hoped the previous changes to the aid agreement would bring the aid closer to 50-50 split for the Districts but that has not happened which he called worrisome.
“The fact that they have reduced their stations to three its severely taxing our stations in Battalion 8,” explained Carman. “We have directed Chief Gauge to further refine our automatic aid agreement to bring it closer to 50-50.”
East Contra Costa Fire Chief Hugh Henderson spoke during public comments saying that the District is now at 3-stations as of May 11. In June, the District had 572 calls with Contra Costa Fire providing aid 50 times (6% of the Districts calls).
Henderson highlighted that in June, there was 19-times when no District resources were able to respond to a calls.
In 20-days in July, the District has already had 406 calls and needed auto aid a total of 30-times with 37-Contra Costa engines assisting.
- 7-structure fires
- 19 vegetation fires
- 17-auto accidents.
- The district has requested mutual aid a total of 5-times with the furthest engine being requested from San Ramon.
Chief Henderson stated although the public made the decision not to increase service, he pleaded with CONFIRE to keep assisting the District.
During a recent house fire in Oakley, Contra Costa Fire sent 2 engines whereas East Contra Costa only had 1 at scene
“The District cannot respond without depending on your district providing auto aid for the safety of our firefighters and our citizens,” said Henderson. “Chief Carman and I have worked to reduce the number of calls to only use as auto aid resources on priority emergencies. However, due to geographics, Contra Costa is the only resource close in time for response. As I know there is a great impact fire district, the importance to have some form of auto aid continue is high on the Districts priority list.”
Chief Carman explained that Battalian 8, which covers Antioch, Bay Point and Pittsburg is one of the busiest Battalions in all of Contra Costa County because they sometimes head over the Hill to assist Central County, head to Marsh Creek Road and into East Contra Costa Fire.
In fact, Carman admitted the District is already saying “no” to East Contra Costa Fire.
“Many times they ask for resources and we cannot provide any. I know over the past 18-months we have talked about not being able to send them resources, something catastrophic is going to happen where we have to say no. Now that they have gone to three fire stations I can sit here and tell you honestly there has been a half-dozen or more times over the last 30-45 days we have told East Contra Costa no,” explained Carman. “It’s unfortunate from my perspective because it’s dangerous. I wait every day to read the headlines that something critical has happened out there to civilians or firefighters, We are trying to help as best we can and are the only neighbor they have to rely on in a timely fashion.”
He further noted the easy decision is to not send any resources because CONFIRE taxpayers are paying the taxes to fund their district, not East Contra Costa.
“If my bosses, the Board of Supervisors, said not to provide them any resources, that would be easy for me. Ethically and morally we can’t do that,” said Carman. “We don’t want to see any tragedies with firefighters or civilians and we have to find that balancing act of how much aid we can provide without degrading our own level of service.”
Carman further explained that it was just a matter of time when we are providing East Contra Costa Fire with aid and we have an emergency of our own and CONFIRE resources were out of the District.
Brentwood-Oakley Task Force Meetings
Chief Carman stated he has partaken in the Fire Task Force Meetings which he says have been proactive. Although he won’t be providing details until August, he says it was clear this is a funding issue and there is no quick fix other than a temporary Band-Aid.
“You look at their budget, they are not spending improperly, they just don’t have enough money to spend,” said Carman.
Piepho: Grassroots Effort to Showcase Fire Shortfalls is Launching
Supervisor Piepho stated a community led effort is beginning to be coordinated to raise awareness about the District and that revenue is needed as well as a revenue enhancement.
Mary Piepho, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor
“What is also needed is a confidence in governance, and that is not there now and that was the original intend of this board handing governance over to local control. They seized that local control and seized that authority and they used that momentum with that level of confidence from community members to go out for revenue immediately and that didn’t happen,” explained Piepho. “The District languished and they spent down their reserves and then we went into an economic recession. It’s just exasperated the problem as we were 9 stations and now we are 3 stations. Your right, it’s extremely dismal. I lost my neighborhood station a few years back. We feel it personally and we feel it professionally”
She noted the problem and solution has been identified but how they get there while building confidence in the community that those in charge know what they are doing, have trust in it, have faith in it and maybe with the right messaging they can get buy in on a revenue enhancement.
“Chief Henderson is the hardest working guy I know,” said Piepho. “He works really hard to try and find solutions. He has been great and so have the firefighters. They are working every day to serve the community and the community does not always recognize that.”
Chief Carman warned the public that the should be scared because its getting scary out there.
“What is scary is how many times they have responded to incidents without sufficient resources,” highlighted Carman. “To the extreme, we had to watch a house burn down from the outside because there was not enough resources to do an offensive interior attack.”
Supervisor Karen Mitchoff noted that the public does not understand this because incidents only impact those effected.
Supervisor Pipeho responded that part of the public not understanding is because firefighters continue to show up and do extraordinary efforts with limited resources that the public has not felt the risks.
Supervisors Discuss Problems with Prop 13 Funding
Supervisor John Gioia noted that the revenue issue is because ECCFPD is getting half the revenue in taxes as CONFIRE because of the effects of Proposition 13.
“That is a message that needs to get across to votes,” explained Gioia. “That 8 cent differential is going to different agencies and redevelopment and cities. The cities in East Contra Costa County are getting a larger share of the 1% than they are in some other areas because less of it is going to fire.”
Supervisor Gioia brought up the issue in Kensington where the Kensington Fire receives 30-cents on the dollar where East County gets 8-cents.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense because both are urbanized areas, but it’s an artifact of what was left from Prop 13 when it was passed in 1978,” explained Gioia. “Think about that from 8-cents to 30-cents in this county for fire depending on where you live. It’s hard for voters to understand that is the cause because they say it must be something else because they get the same funding. That is not true.”
Supervisor Piepho added it may be because everyone is paying the same 1%.
Supervisor Gioia agreed stating that no entity is going to give up a share of their tax revenue.
“Brentwood is not going to say here fire, let’s give you a portion of our 1%,” said Gioia noting it could only come from their General Fund.
Oakley Mayor Doug Hardcaslte who spoke in Public Comments says he is learning more about the fire service and the uniform level of service everyone wants and expects.
“Where do we go and who do we hammer to get some help?” asked Hardcastle. “Do we go to the State? There has to be somebody out there to get that money. I am looking forward to help.”
Supervisor Gioia noted that all the Districts and Cities could get together and voluntarily re-allocate of the 1% and go to the State for approval with the plan. He noted that the process is complicated but it does mean some agencies give up what they are currently getting.
The Board approved the Chiefs Report 4-0.
42 comments
The East County Fire Board is a laughing stock. No leadership, same tired arguments. No direction. All talk. This board sucks. Just like the county, the city councils washed their hands of this and appointed members of the community to be the targets instead of them. The union isn’t helping either.Either put it to bed and merge with CONFIRE or just go to CALFIRE already to put it out of its misery.
Everyone in East County is waiting for you to come up with solutions, You bad mouth so well it must be because you have some way to fix this. If not, then you are no better than the people you are putting down. Your suggestion is empty and without merit as both those agencies have issues a resounding NO to consolidation, Multiple times, Please read the history before you make suggestions that have already been attempted.
Mary Piepho is torn between a rock and a hard place I am sure due to being a supervisor and living in Discovery Bay. But she is way too late with her community led effort. Agree with Reality Check too, the East County Fire Board should be disbanded.
Julio, there is no leading with that one. Only destroying.The best thing that can be attempted other than a merge with Con Fire is legislation what Gioia suggested but more in depth. Get the big legislators like Frazier, McNerny, Bonilla, and the rest to support a bill that allows counties to redistribute the prop 13 one percent with certain restrictions. ECCFPD is not the only problem district. It is only going to get worse from here. If not, dissolve this non conforming rag tag wanna be fire district before innocent lives are lost. Con Fire, Cal Fire, or any other Fire is better than these mutinous union thug brainwashed firefighters.
Property tax reallocation is possible under existing law. Santa Barbara County permanently granted their Fire District a larger share a few years ago. Research it, all the information is available online.
Outsider, If that is factual then we have some pretty sad Supervisors in Co Co County not doing this. The Supervisors are gambling with peoples lives in East County by not using this method. Great Idea, can be done, will solve the problem, and save lives.
Supervisors of Contra Costa why are you playing with peoples lives by not reallocating like Santa Barbara ? !!
I think you only have half the story. The Santa Barbara example is talking about RDA money being returned to the District after RDAs were ordered dissolved by the State. That already happens here, to a degree. The remaining amount available isn’t going to bridge the deficit. Not even close.
This had nothing to do with RDA. It was a permanent reallocation of property tax from the County General Fund to the Fire District. Result was less money for the County, more for the Fire District (zero sum game). Which is probably why some do not want this even discussed. Read it for yourself here:
https://santabarbara.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=1079100&GUID=31DF28C6-6F05-41D8-A93F-DB838202320E
The path forward for this mess remains clear …… create a new county wide First Responder entity that houses want was both county FD’s and the SO. This new entity to be run by the elected sheriff who the fire chief reports to. Independently elected officials (such as the sheriff) have a direct responsibility to the public ….that does not exist today with the FD.
A First Responder entity with a unified command and control will be best positioned to handle large scale emergencies, leverage resources and take full advantage of modernization trends such as training and equipping select deputies as medics able to provide life support when first on scene until the ALS/ambulance contractor arrives.
At the same time do as gioia suggests and within the county reallocate the 1% property tax bucket so that public safety is funded first and foremost. And YES, places like Brentwood and Oakley that have benefited general fund wise by allowing massive tract home development will need to step up. They knew of the fire department tax allocation issues before allowing the development, now it is time for them to do the right thing by those they enticed into their communities.
In no way should any new taxation be sought. Being smarter and more forward thinking along with being honest about the tax money already paid will go a long way toward resolving this long standing mess.
Everything stated in this post has been suggested for at least 5 years. During all that time nothing of substance has been done to solve the problems except seek (and fail) to add on more layers of taxation. All in control should be ashamed and should resign from any further involvement …that means in the next election cycle all of the bos seats up for election should be tuned over to new faces who pledge to take real action.
CALFIRE wants no piece of this huge mess. The current funding model does not even come close to funding three (3) CALFIRE stations, as their personnel are compensated significantly higher than East Contra Costa Firefighters. Unfortunately, there is no “easy” fix or it would have been implemented already. The taxpayers and residents deserve real ideas, plausible concepts, and workable solutions, not mud slinging and hyperbole
Too much wine guy, you are not a cal fire spokes person. Cal Fire will accept any area in California by law.
CalFire will step in as an emergency last option. But if you’re suggesting they will come in and replace the existing District and give you equivalent service, then you are mistaken.
The only way you get a service level guarantee is with a contract and CalFire is not cheap.
You sir are incorrect. Below is a 2013 response from Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott to the City of San Bernardino in reference to their request for a proposal from Cal Fire.
“As public agencies look for models of good government to leverage the financial and operational benefits of working together to provide integrated public safety functions, CAL FIRE will continue to evaluate requests where appropriate and mutually desired,” Pimlott wrote in 2013. “However, given the current fiscal instability faced by the City of San Bernardino, it does not meet the criteria to be considered for a cooperative agreement.”
I submitted a comment …why was it not posted?
Because nobody wants to hear anymore drivel from you, Really it’s probably because this is the internet and sometimes things don’t work as they are supposed to, I am sure you attribute this to some conspiracy, probably the government and union thugs preventing you from being heard. It’s really OK though because you weren’t going to write anything anyone would want to read.
Outsider has exposed some very good information. Interesting reading that should be explored as soon as possible.
http://senweb03.senate.ca.gov/committee/standing/GOVERNANCE/PTASUMMARY.HTM
Contra Costa Supervisors need to get on this or give up their seat. Stop playing politics with innocent lives and endangerment to our firefighters.
David, try to be more professional. Please. Any constructive comment is better than none at all.
None is truly sometimes best
@Reality Check, for the most part you are correct. However since neither the county, the cities nor the new board has the ability to print money, the problem remains. Currently a merger with CalFire or ConFire is not on the table since neither agency would want to take on liability with no available revenue in sight.
@David Villareal, you nailed it! There are a few trolls who frequent this site who try to peddle the same old recycled BS. These few individuals think everyone else is stupid and cannot think for themselves. They fool no one, but apparently haven’t figured that out. They have nothing to offer.
@Julio, I really doubt if Supervisor Piepho is between a rock and a hard place. Reread the article. She is not putting forth a community led effort. She was quoted as pointing out that one was being formed. East county fire is not a county board, it’s an independent district which means it’s independent from the county and cannot be “disbanded”. Besides, what would that resolve other than leaving east county with no fire protection?
@Need Action Soon, once again let’s review:
1. There is no merge with Con Fire.
2. Supervisor Gioia knows there is no chance of prop 13 legislation as a solution, especially in the short term. Apparently you are unaware that he isn’t a very smart individual and operates in a vacuum.
3. Frazier, Bonilla and McNerney are not big legislators. You must not follow politics very closely.
4. The rest of your comments are rag tag and not worth any additional keystrokes.
@Outsider, keep dreaming. What you refer to is apples to oranges and doesn’t apply unilaterally to our situation.
@jb, you continue to post the same unrealistic commentary. You said it yourself, “Everything stated in this post has been suggested for at least 5 years”. At which point do you come to grips with the fact that you are purposely being ignored? At which point (if ever) do you face the fact that the experts don’t agree with you? At which point you you acknowledge you have no qualifications to back up your imaginary scenario? At which point do you grow up and drop the 5 year old mentality? It has become obvious you enjoy pounding your head into a wall and yet continue to come back for more! You realize that is narcissistic behavior right? If not, you should.
@Wine Sales, you nailed it.
@Jorge, you are wrong. History proves it. CalFire and this district also proved it a few years back.
@Buy a Clue, you nailed it.
@jb, ignored again? Why am I not surprised?
@David Villareal, you nailed it again! Bravo! Thanks for often being a voice of reason on this website.
@Fortherecord, read it for yourself
https://santabarbara.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=1079100&GUID=31DF28C6-6F05-41D8-A93F-DB838202320E
Memo to Outsider:
Obviously “Outsider” you didn’t get the memo or attend any recent public meetings. This fire district is not directly or financially connected to Con fire or the County. The ECCFPD was granted independent special district status ten years ago. Ten years ago. Independent. It’s really not that complicated.
Citing a different scenario from another county that has different policies is fools gold. Contra Costa doesn’t use general fund dollars to fund independent special districts. Doing so would be nothing more than taking revenue from other cities and areas of the county to pay for our fire protection. How popular do you think that action would be coming from an district where our own community doesn’t want to pony up? You really didn’t think it through did you? You might want to go back to your Google search engine and look up relevance, public policy and political suicide.
Contra Costa Supervisors would be insane to start down that path. Maybe the few clowns that think this is the solution need to get off the free ride and pay for their own ticket. Better yet, read the entire set of documents for what they are. Cherry picking limited information through dated and non germane documents gets us nowhere. Remind us all again again, when was Dick Rainey a senator?
Now hurry along little buddy, the clown car is all fueled up and it’s time to get back to work. Those Slurpee’s aren’t going to fill themselves.
Sorry, but you missed the point entirely. I provided the information in response to those calling for special legislation to allow reallocation of property tax. I said it can be done under existing law and provided an actual case study to prove it. I did not suggest that it was politically feasible or even appropriate in this case. That is for the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors to decide. The point, again, is that no new legislation is necessary.
It can be done under existing law if your County Fire Department is a part of your existing general fund allocations. Which is the case in Santa Barbara County. They address public safety has a group service. You can see that if you bother to research. You’ll also find that the Sheriff wasn’t too pleased with the increase because it took money from his budget allocation to help fire.
That isn’t the case here. Contra Costa, as a County, has never taken on fire suppression. You either overlooked that detail or deliberately omitted it.
ECCFPD is an independent special district. There is no budget connection to the County like there is in Santa Barbara. There isn’t any connection with ConFire’s budget here either.
It would be massively difficult to get the multiple agencies who have to weigh in to approve County adoption. Years, if not decades. Then you would have to look at dissolving existing Districts serving the unincorporated areas or supplement them all. Otherwise a situation is created where all residents of the County are subsidizing our District. That won’t fly with residents outside the area.
Case studies are only valid if they include all the facts surrounding them.
Having been a property owner in SB longer than in CCC it does not at all surprise me that the SB Co bos did what they did. SB Co is known to handle matters in a practical and direct way, pandering to special interests (read developers and unions) is not their thing. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the ccc bos …..unemployable want-a-be career politicos who duck and dodge the difficult issues and make self interests a primary focus.
Ms. Clue et al., I think you all should have a talk with your CCC/union handlers as it was gioia who is directly suggesting the possibility of a property tax reallocation within the county. I wonder why he would be quoted as saying such a thing if it is not possible due to the FD in question be a special district.
Once it becomes public knowledge that logical reallocations of property taxes do occur within CA, at the county level, then people like piepho are going to have some real explaining to do. All the hand wringing and multiple attempted grabs for more tax dollars when a good start at a solution was/is directly within their control.
I doubt there are many/ANY east county property tax payers who would not strongly support having THEIR tax money spent first and foremost for public safety at the same rate as other communities in the county…. does any rational thinking person really think property tax payers would rather than have THIER tax dollars spent for many of the ridiculous ways the county currently spends while at the same time not receiving the direct public safety benefit that others in the county who pay the same tax rate receive? Of course not!
To put what I just said above in a different way …. in this instance nobody is asking for a ‘free ticket’, the ask is simply for the ticket that has already been paid for.
I get that this is a crushing blow to the unions and the current bos members who desperately want more taxation, I also get that the current bos seat holders will take no action, the good news is this is such a compelling issue that it guarantees none of them will be reelected. If the union wanted to truly stand up and do the right thing they could easily latch on to this property tax uniform public safety reallocation and make it a central theme in the next local election cycle (beyond the bos seats). Who would vote for anyone against a uniform (re)allocation of already paid in tax dollars for the benefit of public safety?
What a great way to kick off the creation of CCC’s modern and forward thinking public safety entity.
Jeff, that already occurs here. Which part of simple English are you not understanding?
Your former neighbor with the anger management issues is having a meltdown because you gave him a headline and he has a problem reading details just like you.
Furthermore, after 5 long years of ranting and raving you have absolutely no excuse for not having a better handle on revenue flows. You’re on this ridiculous idea that you can just raid budgets of other departments whenever you get a wild hair with your latest pie-in-the-sky solution.
The Board of Supervisors has a discretionary in less than 25% of the total budget dollars the County spends every year. The rest are mandated revenue flows.
Bottom line: your ideas might work in a dictatorship where you get you trample laws and everyone who gets in your way to achieve your desired outcome. But this is a democracy. Much messier and many more people who get a say in the process, whether you like it or not……..and obviously you don’t!
It’s about time you grew up, along with your friends there, and realized that middle aged men throwing wordy tantrums in a blog is not going to solve this. Maybe in your household you bark orders and everyone jumps. But I can assure you it doesn’t work that way in the REAL world. About time you accepted the fact.
Now go right on ahead and complain about how everyone is picking on you or is dumber than you because they won’t follow you off a cliff. It’s pointless and after this many rounds a pretty insane little exercise you’re engaged in. The high-level narcissism has grown old already.
Roll your damn sleeves up and start making real effort at advocacy. Go to Sacramento and get the apportionments changed. Politicans don’t read your drivel here and no one who simply rants online is ever taken seriously anyway.
In summary: grow up!
It is people like Memo, David, and Buy a Clue that have screwed the district over time and time again by criticizing every option to fix this fire district other than a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.These jerks are so pigheaded and condescending to everyone other than themselves it is just plain sabotaging the fire district.The district is not even legally independent from what I understand. No elected board, Officials on the board in other elected offices, not a member of LAFCO. This entire situation is a joke put on by the BOS. It is time they man up and fix it one way or the other. Surely there will be litigation for loss of life and property for their repeated inactions to correct this. As far as reallocating taxes. They can take the discrepancy from all those agencies that received higher revenue than normal when ECCFPD got the shaft. Time to equalize that unfair prorated 1 percent. The people would much more relate to Emergency Services with their 1 percent than non emergency services.
So step up and sue somebody already, roid boy. You run your yap online pretty well, but you’re all talk. Maybe we put your mug on a new poster with “Most likely to engage in road rage” as the headline Chapter and verse, buddy. Misreading something you found online doesn’t cut it. Cite chapter and verse of where in the law it allows you to just grab money or reallocate in any way you see fit.
“Outsider, jb and Revised memo”, Thanks for providing us all with a written demonstration of what tantrum looks like. On that one issue you made your point. However you failed miserably in your attempts to cherry pick rotten cherries, while attempting to sell them to a group or readers here.
Epic Fail
“Outsider”, you are the one that missed the point. The Santa Barbara example you provided was not what you want it to be. The cold hard truth is the Santa Barbara Fire Department is under the Santa Barbara board of Supervisors, East County Fire is not under the Contra Costa board of Supervisors. That was you first mistake. However your fatal oversight is that the tax allocation of the 1 percent property tax that you are pointing to as “reallocation”, is actually the county’s share NOT the other competing special districts. You clearly missed the point where they use the specific words: “General Fund”. Of course that did not require any new or special legislation, the county simply and correctly aligned their use of the county’s general fund percentage of the county’s OWN percentage of the 1 percent property tax. What your supporters here mistake, is that they think the same could be done with percentages of the other competing districts. It cannot. That is what tax re-allocation is all about. Apparently you and your buddies missed the point entirely. If you require more information from those that specialize in these matters feel free to contact Lou Ann Texiera @ LAFCo or Bob Campbell the Auditor-Controller or your local County Supervisor. Any of them can confirm your confusion and set you on the path back to reality.
“jb”, right on cue you point out your own shortcomings better than anyone on this board could ever do! I guess that is easy when you are a self-proclaimed expert who lacks real world experience. Yet you do it so easily while putting down others and exposing that rather large chip on your shoulder and void between your ears. You never cease to amaze me with your behavior and repetitive banter. David Villareal said it best. Maybe that is why your panties are in a bunch? At the risk of reapeat the obvious, you also don’t grasp the way taxes are collected and distributed. You plainly confused the county’s share of property taxes with that of all of the other competing districts. You cannot have it both ways. Try educating yourself before you open you self to criticism. Maybe that way you might have something to cling to when you cry foul. Right now you are so off base; your suggestions are downright laughable even in Santa Barbara or whatever planet you fell off of.
And finally to you, “revised memo”, What’s wrong little guy, your shift end early? Your comments have become so routine and if you haven’t noticed it goes a little something like this: Develop harebrained idea (Volunteers, Union busting, EMS raids Tax shifting, etc.). In other words, anything to shift the financial burden onto others. Then you put it out there with incorrect information (“not a member of LAFCO. This entire situation is a joke put on by the BOS and Surely there will be litigation for loss of life and property for their repeated inactions to correct this”) in an effort to confuse anyone you can. But…the moment someone, anyone corrects your opinions with actual facts, you roll out the “whoa is me”. They are not criticizing you – they are correcting you.
The board is a legal entity. There is no “membership” to LAFCo. The fire district has been in existence for 10 years and is not put on by the BOS. It would take legislation to “equalize that unfair prorated 1 percent” and when it comes to actual criticisms, it was you that used the words; jerks, pigheaded and condescending. I suggest you take a long look in the mirror Bucky. It’s you that is doing your best to sabotage yourself, your supporters the district with BAD information. Everyone here gets that. Too bad you don’t.
You have written something like 700 words and not one of them is directed at any kind of solution.
Everyone tied into the union/politicos keeps harping on ‘new revenue’ as the magic solution. I believe that outlook is so wrong. It does not take an ‘expert’ (I’m not even sure I know what an expert is related to this matter) to understand that having 2 separate county FD’s (both with $$ issues) is not efficient. As for revenue ….additional revenue exists (as part of the 1% already paid in) but the politicos are too lazy or otherwise unwilling to do what ever needs to be done to correct the distribution.
By definition, a redistribution of the 1% will take away from one bucket(s) and add to another. You all say those who will have $$ taken will pitch a fit…….so what, who cares, those that paid it in surely will not care. Property owners pay the 1% with the expectation that they will be allocated basic services. When due to bureaucratic ineptitude the 1% is disproportionately allocated so that a specific group of property tax payers receives substandard basic services, then simple logic overrides any claim to the funds from the holders of bucket(s) that will be decreased. This reasoning is bolstered even further if the bucket(s) to be taken from in anyway provide benefit to individuals who do not pay property taxes.
It does not matter if the proper redistribution of the 1% happens by the SB method or by the means described by gioia, or some combination of the two. It just needs to happen and the property tax payers of east ccc need to make this a top priority for the next election cycle. All incumbents have long had their chance and all have failed to even try, so they need to go.
To those who want to throw another 700 vitriolic yet empty words, have at it. But in the end it is always the bias toward action that achieves progress.
Really, Jeff?
So your new revised plan is to stiff some poor, sick or elderly people purely for your benefit?
You’re sick. Period. Full Stop.
I would have to guess that there are plenty of folks you describe as ‘poor, sick or elderly’ who do pay property taxes and who would appreciate receiving the same allocation of THEIR tax money for basic public services as property tax payers in near-by communities.
If you are talking about recipients who receive some kind of public aid or welfare from the county funded by property taxes …then I guess we have an issue to disagree over as I firmly believe property tax dollars should go for education, infrastructure and public safety. I do not believe a county should be using ANY property tax revenue to provide welfare or healthcare or whatever else you were referring to.
YOU receive benefits from the County via property tax revenues that YOU don’t pay for, Einstein.
But you missed that little factoid while you engage in your latest sociopathic rant.Tax dollar flows are not a zero sum game.
Do you live your entire life with this petty jealousy and overwhelming need to deny others? You seem to have a deep inner unhappiness that you absolutely need to project onto others.
Pretty creepy, Dude. Might be time for chip-on-your-shoulder removal surgery.
jb, how do you get from one day to another with that attitude of yours? You are one confused little puppy and in way over your head when. It comes to debating. It’s no wonder you are angry, your just not that bright. Let me guess, you are a short man with a big chip on your shoulder. I’ll bet you often talk over people, always believing you are the smartest person In the room. Based on your commentary, you survive by living In denial and demean everyone around you since they don’t meet your “standards”. Your a ticking time bomb dude, get yourself some help.
The fire department doesn’t need assistance nearly as much as you do. Money can’t fix your problem.
Do yourself a favor, Google narcissist. The definition will sound familiar.
Good luck to you. You’ll need it in the days ahead.
jb, after reading your toxic posts, frankly I can’t believe you possess the skill set to count. And speaking of counting, I’ll wager you have written over 7,000 words on this very subject and yet not one of them made a damn bit of sense. The mere fact that you believe the way to get your message across to the leadership is through a blog is simply stunning.
I have read here on many occasions including this one, where it has been spelled out for you and yet you still go on like a child that doesn’t get his way. It’s interesting that you display such behavior and expect people to warm up to your bad ideas. It’s both comical and dead end tactic. How’s that working out for you?
To the point; new revenue isn’t the magic solution. It’s the only solution.
We know you believe that outlook is wrong. In turn we believe your outlook is wrong. The difference is we choose to get the answers and discuss it with the leadership seeking a solution. Our way has proven to work, yours doesn’t. Deal with it.
The county doesn’t have 2 separate fire departments, a fact you just can’t grasp. ECCCFPD is no more of a county fire department than is Richmond FD, Orinda/Moraga FD, or San Ramon FD. In fact there are at least 10 independent fire departments within the county’s borders. It’s a fact, Deal with it.
There is no additional revenue existing as part of the 1%. Your opinion doesn’t hold up against fact, yet you continue to discharge it as such. It’s a fact, Deal with it.
Stop accusing people of being lazy when you yourself cannot muster enough energy to capitalize or even type out the word politicians. It makes you look stupid, unless that’s what you were aiming for.
Regarding taking taxes from one area and spending them in another where the public has refused to support this district is asinine. Your logic is not aligned with common sense. It makes you look ignorant.
It does matter how taxes are allocated. There are specific laws and policies that must be adhered to. Maybe it doesn’t matter to someone like yourself who plays loosely with the facts, but it matters to those who are running things. It’s a fact, deal with it.
The only ones running the district are not elected. You cannot change them out at the next election because you disagree with their leadership. Besides, I have read here that you don’t live in this State. Are you just telling everyone else what to do, or were you planning on committing voter fraud?
The tax allocation issue has already been explained so that a 5 year old could understand it. Apparently you can’t so I won’t go through the it again for you. You don’t get it and won’t reach out to those who can explain it to you. This makes you lazy as well as ignorant and have only yourself to blame. It a fact, Deal with it.
Not sure if I made the 700 word count, I don’t have the time or desire to count. I think that’s what you do best jb so have at it.
So other than waste everyone’s time with unusable, unethical, and impossible opinions, what “action” have you taken jb? It’s a simple question.
To the “Saboteurs of Solutions”,
The react to solutions has hit the saboteurs sensitive button. You can see by the jerk reactions that these people have no interest in a solution. They merely want to stir fry any good idea. Notice in the comments from Anger, Clue, David, Memo, Reality, and the rest of the ” Saboteurs of Solution” are pure demagoguery. There are no solutions, suggestions of solutions, or ideas that come from these people. If these saboteurs would come up with something rational and realistic it would be one thing, but the dribble that comes out appears to be a sad attempt to protect those leaders who have created this situation. The only choice the people have is to replace those politicians who have ignored the citizens needs. Election time is approaching and there is no defense for what has been dealt to East Contra Costa County when it comes to emergency services. Either choose a solution or move over to let someone else correct the problem.
Firefighter Supporter,
Nice try. (Well actually, not really).
The Fire Board who has 100 percent responsibility for the fire district is not elected. So who are you going to un-elect and replace? And how? . So hotshot, who’s up for election or didn’t you think that far ahead? .
While I’m not sure any of the people you chastised ever agreed to offer a solution, those you defend have done worse. They have offered nothing but nonsense with the ulterior motive of playing the blame game in an attempt to destroying the department. You are either a shill or extremely naive. You decide.
The solution is simple-maybe you have missed it in the dozens of threads, media releases, ballot measures, etc. Our fire district needs revenue. One word: REVENUE. Say it with me, because there is no way around it….. R-E-V-E-N-U-E. Got it? This issue has been studied to death, cuts have been made, pensions reduced and still one FACT remains: the department was NOT funded correctly due to tax rates and service models in the prop 13 era. This dilemma is not limited to Contra Costa, it’s a statewide problem. Like it or not (I’m guessing you don’t) the only realistic and obtainable fix is to properly fund the district. It’s simple. If you attend meeting, work budgets and get involved it’s a simple concept to digest. If you bury your head in the sand of denial, and feel someone else should pay for the services that you demand, then jump back I the clown car.
But do us all just one favor; Don’t claim to be a firefighter supporter while you do everything to blame the people that are doing everything they can to keep you safe.
“the only realistic and obtainable fix is to properly fund the district. It’s simple.”
It’s clear. Let’s get it done.
4 the record, Memo, Buy a Clue, Anger, Dave and Bob too,
Yes a lot of words typed with not meaning except to sabotage everyone’s ideas to protect the ineptitude of the politicians who will not listen to the people of this county. Three times by ballot the people by majority voted. The “Saboteurs of Solutions” named above do not respect democracy if it doesn’t fit their agenda. All the jibberish typed by them is nonsense. The people pay 1 percent like everyone else. Because an inept politician in 1978 distributed the funds incorrectly does not mean the current politicians can’t correct it. This is a prime example of why they were elected. I agree with the JB person. The majority has spoken for several years to fix the 1 percent inequity and been ignored by the politicians who care more about other things than emergency services. It is time to remove those politicians with people who can do the job. Re allocate the 1 percent. It’s simple. it’s clear. Let’s get it done or boot out the current politicians in upcoming elections for someone who can get it done.
Mr. F, aka clueless wonder, aka “FF Supporter” and a couple of dozen other aliases used here.
Democracy was respected. That’s why you have only 3 stations open in the District.
I guess you didn’t get the memo?
Fixing the 1% wasn’t an option on any ballot that I am aware of. But you feel free to post any link to any piece of information that you have which says otherwise.
FF Supporter,
Gets your facts straight. An “inept” politician in 1978 did NOT distribute funds incorrectly. The funds are distributed as the ballot measure (prop 13) outlined. The voters approved it.
Thanks for proving Donnyboy that there ARE stupid comments. You always seem to be first in line. What a dummy.
Yet there you are. You and your buddies always want to blame everyone else but yourselves. Typical.
So Einstein, which politicians are up for election this November that you plan on playing your little vendetta game with? Ahhhhh, you haven’t a clue.
Dim F , Buy a Clue , Memo, Record, Anger, and all “Saboteurs of Solutions”,
I tried to respond to the politician question. I guess this blog has political ties as it was not posted.
I would hope that the caretaker of this blog would welcome all comments. Especially the ones requesting an answer like Dim F.
I will try once more to answer your question Dim.The four political people that can and should correct this problem or step aside so some else can would be the Mayors of Brentwood and Oakley.The other two would be the two double dipping Supervisors Mary P and Karen M. Our public safety and emergency services are getting less attention than the Supervisors raises, car allowance,and double dipping mileage expense. Our union should not be supporting these politicians with dues money.
FF supporter,
Nice try trying to make up crap as you go along. Your Union? Right…
Looks like your opinion posted after all of your whining and conspiracy projections. You just can’t win can you? Seems like a pattern to me.
So back to the question. Your solution is to throw out the elected politicians who have NOTHING to do with this F’ed up fire district? So no matter how effective they have (or haven’t been), you are willing to suggest “throwing them out”? Do you know how shallow and stupid that sounds? Probably not.
Then again you haven’t a clue about politics or election cycles. I strongly suggest you take a nano second and figure out that the majority of them are not up for election and the FD issue is not germaine to their re-elections even when they are.
You really need to re think your comments before posting them. Your pent up anger isn’t your friend. You are nothing but a poser.
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