The East Contra Costa Fire Protection District Board will discuss the contract of Fire Chief Hugh Henderson on Monday and likely approve a three-year extension which includes a $13,000 raise.
Henderson has been leading the financially strapped district as acting as fire chief since 2008 and was named Fire Chief in 2010.
According to the staff report, An Ad Hoc Committee comprised of Board President Bryant, Board Vice President Johansen and Director Kenny completed a thorough review of the Fire Chief’s performance in the fall of 2013, culminating in a Performance Evaluation with the Fire Chief at the Board’s November, 2013 meeting. Following equally positive evaluations every review cycle since the beginning of his service with the District, the Fire Chief’s performance during the 2012-13 evaluation year was deemed “Outstanding” by the Board.
The staff report also indicates the Chief has declined raises in the past as the District struggled with its finances.
Under the agreement, the Chief would be bumped from his $10,555.89 per month ($126,670.68 annual) to $11,537.87 per month ($139,654.44 annual).
Here is a look at what other fire chiefs make in nearby districts.
- Alameda County Fire – $175,620 (interim)
- Benicia Fire – $155,000*
- Berkeley – $196,000*
- Contra Costa County Fire – $195,641
- Fremont Fire – $187,000*
- Hayward Fire Chief – $167,226*
- Moraga-Orinda Fire – $220,000 (note: reduced to $199,000 in February 2014)
- Pleasanton Fire – $187,000*
- San Francisco Fire – $297,000*
- San Ramon Fire – $235,000
- Richmond Fire – $171,000
- Rodeo-Hercules Fire – $162,000
- Santa Clara – $207,000*
- Vacaville Fire – $184,000*
Bold = Fire Districts in Contra Costa County
*Figures are rounded and based on 2012 data
Note – All data does not include benefits
Editorial Comment:
Compared to surrounding fire districts, even with the raise, Henderson’s contract is a bargain to East Contra Costa County and could argue he deserves more. Having said that, this Fire Board is making a terrible mistake politically by handing out raises at a time when they are going back to the public for more money in the form of a Benefit Assessment this fall.
If You Go
ECCFPD Board Meeting
May 5 @ 6:30 pm
Oakley City Hall – Council Chambers
3231 Main Street, Oakley
14 comments
Pretty clever ECT. Now include a list that is not just straight salary and show their total pay with benefits.
Jill, when would you estimate that the private sector will start publishing fully loaded costs so that we can make apples to apples comparisons?
Or do we continue this ruse of citing statistics out of context in deliberate attempt to defame public sector employees?
Don’t listen to clue Jill, he is a jerk. I would say to the idiot when he signs my check he will have knowledge of what I make. We the people sign these public employee checks and have every right to know how much, where, and how our money is spent. I also bet Jill that he cherry picked salaries and selectively missed the places like Rio Vista, Manteca, etc. because this is primarily a lobbyist site for public employees.
I am fine with the raise and agree he should be paid in line with the rest of contra costa county, but only if they can afford it. If they can afford to give raises then they do not need additional funding from the public. I cannot and will not support any tax increase.
If he lost 75 pounds and could pass all the physical tests I still wouldn’t give it to him in light of the current financial problems in the East County Fire.
Let’s extend on this comment from Julio.
Most fire districts across the country are experiencing one degree or another of fiscal hardship or pressure. That can be attributed to flawed funding models in most cases. Here you have revenue tied to volatile housing prices(which is how the FD is funded) while on the cost side of the house, fuel, utilities and health benefits continue to climb and put pressure on FD budgets.
By your logic we can NEVER pay firemen any more than they make now. Because I have yet to find a single person in numerous forums across this country who can verbalize a scenario that is going to get FD revenues to better track increasing costs outside the control of the District.
So basically what you and others are saying, Julio, without actually saying it is this: going forward you expect to hire firemen that will sign up for some starting salary and for the rest of their professional lives expect their standard of living to decline with each passing year. That’s because costs, by any reasonable use of logic, are going to continue to outstrip any rise in revenues.
If you didn’t bother to read the entire article, let me clarify. The Chief hasn’t taken a raise in 5 years. Now I’m guessing his household is like most others in that he’s seen the bills that come in climb in those 5 years. Meaning his buying power and standard of living have decreased over that period.
So let’s stop beating around the bush. What do you people expect of these public employees? Do you expect them to sign up and sacrifice for you with no hope of ever advancing or getting pay raises………..as in never?
If not, then exercise a little logic and explain the revenue/cost problem. With Prop 13 limitations on property tax revenue increases, any fiscal year that has overhead costs rise more than 2% the District is going to fall further behind. Because the law is limiting the revenue they can recapture, while nothing is controlling rises on the cost side. Fuel and utilities are increasing manipulated by the latest scam of Wall St……………commodities and energy speculation. All of us pay for that, directly and in this discussion indirectly.
The reason the District got in such a hole is because virtually every property owner in the District had their property values reset by the Assessor within the last 5 years and property taxes declined as a result. They cannot rise as fast as they fell due to Prop 13. limits. So the repeated claims that as the economy improves this problem will clear itself are patently false.
There is some very basic math here that people are either oblivious to or deliberately ignoring to promote an agenda.
Fire fighters & police should have to maintain a healthy weight. This guy looks like he could have a heart attack rescuring someone. Aren’t our tax dollars paying for these people. If we had the money in our hands we would definatly pick the the healthiest for our money. He is a poor example for fire fighters health wise.
That is a very rude comment. Assuming he can’t pass the physical test by looking at him? I could reverse this and say that no firefighter should be over the age of 55. Think again Julio!
Foolio, No firefighter is over the age of 55 because they get 90% of their salary for life at 50.Think again fool.
“They get”????
Dude, stop opening your mouth and removing any lingering doubt that you’re an idiot.
Name even 1 person in ECCFPD who has received 90% of their salary at age 50.
Is it because you don’t really understand what 3@50 means or because you just had one of your insecure moments and you needed to come in here and stir up some attention?
I understand exactly what 3@50 means and any city, county, state or federal employee who was responsible for that formula should have been fired along with any public servant who signed on agreeing to it. It is bankrupting cities, counties and states across the nation. Antioch will be in bankruptcy in 2 short years and then 3@50 is gone along with all the rest of the pensions and cush jobs. Good Luck all of you.
Marty, the California Highway Patrol is responsible for starting 3@50 here in CA. Don’t take my word for it, look it up.
So run along and find a cruiser to pull over so you can fire the officer.
Better yet, as you suggest just take it all away so public safety gets no retirement benefits(they don’t receive Social Security) and see just how many line up to serve you.
But don’t later act all surprised when your 911 call takes awhile or ends badly for you.
@ECVBrother
There are several ECCFPD employees over 50. One of them is currently 58. Let me also add they are line personnel and not amongst the Chief/Admin ranks.
See ya pal!
EVS Brother,
You don’t have a clue what your talking about. A firefighter has to work thirty years to get 90 percent of his salary. Meaning he would have to be twenty years old to retire at 50 with ninety percent. The average age of any firefighter is 28 when they are hired. Nice try jack-ass. But I agree the timing to give raises to the highest paid employees ( Battalion chiefs and the fire chief.) is wrong right now. The entire rank and file received no pay raises, in fact some now make less due to the group paying the highest legally allowed retirement contribution.
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