Moraga Orinda Fire District at Risk
A small group of Orindans [FAIR] believe we should withdraw from the Moraga Orinda Fire District (MOFD), form a city fire department, contract with Contra Costa Fire [Con Fire] for fire service [which would include AMR ambulance service] and use the purported "savings" to repair Orinda's crumbling infrastructure. For months they have harassed MOFD personnel for "information," lobbied LAFCO to force their agenda, and written repeated Letters to the Editor, in spite of being told time and again that what they want is impossible. Having read many of these letters, as well as Daniel Borenstein's column in the Oct. 11th Sunday Times repeating FAIR's misleading, erroneous claims, I feel compelled to set the record straight.
Since LAFCO's legal mandate is to reduce the number of special districts, it is not reasonable to assume it would allow the City to take over fire services. LAFCO stands for "Local Agency Formation Commission" and every county in California has one. These commissions have an enormous amount of power and the final say whenever a new special district or city is proposed. If Orinda asked to be removed from MOFD, LAFCO would most likely initiate the annexation of the entire MOFD to Con Fire. We could petition to put the issue on the ballot, but then every resident in the Con Fire district would vote alongside the residents of Orinda and Moraga. Annexation would pass overwhelmingly because Con Fire sorely needs our tax revenue. We cannot stop annexation at the ballot box!
State law mandates that fire taxes cannot be used for other purposes unless the State Legislature passes a law specifically allowing it. In order to use fire taxes on Orinda infrastructure projects, a State Law would have to be passed, not a likely scenario. If we are annexed to Con Fire, that fire district would then control our fire taxes to spend as it deemed best. Given the fact that Con Fire is in such dire financial straits it is discussing rotated station closings [per Con Fire's Interim Chief John Ross, Con Fire Advisory Committee meeting in August]. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that our tax money would "leave town."
Fire tax rates were frozen by Prop 13. Therefore, our tax rate stays the same no matter who provides fire services. However, were we annexed to Con Fire, we'd get much less for our money because we'd lose our paramedic/ambulance service and be forced to rely on AMR whose closest ambulance, assuming it's not busy, is in Walnut Creek. County contracts require AMR to respond to medical emergencies in 12 minutes, 90% of the time. Before the formation of MOFD, AMR used that 10% exception to arrive much later in Orinda. MOFD paramedic ambulances arrive on scene in an average of 6 minutes, partly because they are close-by and partly because they know our streets. Faster response makes a huge difference in life-or-death situations.
Many of the claims made by the members of FAIR and referred to in Borenstein's column came from a seriously flawed LAFCO consultant's report. In fact, the LAFCO consultant's report was publicly called "a mess" by LAFCO Commissioner David Piepho, who, as a professional firefighter, is the most knowledgeable of its members about fire service issues. LAFCO subsequently established an ad hoc Fire Committee to "more accurately evaluate" local fire services. In her analysis of County fire districts, the consultant used per capita expenses, and firefighters/1,000 people, standards not accepted by any authority on the subject. Obviously, in a less densely populated area, fire services cost more per capita. The average population density in the Con Fire District is 2,446 per square mile versus MOFD's 727. Fire service is organized and its effectiveness measured in terms of response time, not per capita expenses.
The bar chart taken from the LAFCO consultant's report and used in Borenstein's column is totally misleading. Using per capita expenses, it compares fire service in the East County [which has 2 firefighters on duty/station] and Crockett-Carquinez [a volunteer department] with MOFD [which has 3 to 5 firefighters on duty per station AND provides both paramedic-engine-company and paramedic-ambulance services.] The MOFD provides a higher level of service in a low-density area which has to cost more. The voters of Orinda and Moraga approved the formation of the MOFD in 1997 because they wanted high quality fire and paramedic services and 99% of us are quite satisfied with what we have.
Dividing MOFD's costs along city boundaries as FAIR does is misleading and inflammatory. There are five stations in MOFD, three in Orinda and two in Moraga. Both Moraga stations are "first due" (nearest to) south Orinda, while none of the Orinda stations are "first-due" into any part of Moraga. Orindans therefore enjoy the benefit of five, not three firehouses. It is important to remember that we are one district, as is the Acalanes High School District whose residents live in four cities. Why isn't FAIR calculating the amount of tax money Orindans pay into that district and comparing it to how much Orinda's Miramonte High School gets?
Pulling Orinda out of MOFD was discarded by LAFCO's Fire Committee months ago. It was also rejected by a Tri-Agencies committee of MOFD, Orinda and Moraga Council representatives after joint meetings. But, LAFCO is now studying "Regionalization" (merger) of our county fire services and may yet advocate the MOFD's annexation into Con Fire, a prospect most find abhorrent. The constant attacks on MOFD by FAIR have unwittingly given LAFCO an excuse it can use to annex MOFD to Con Fire.
In summary, FAIR does not speak for the residents of Orinda. A major part of their recommendations are based on allocations between Moraga and Orinda that are demonstrably biased and misleading. The rest of their recommendations appear to be based on a faulty and largely discredited analysis by LAFCO's consultant. What they want to do [take tax money from fire services and use it for infrastructure improvements] is illegal. And the residents of Orinda and Moraga have a lot to lose if this small band of malcontents continues with their misguided crusade.
Ellen Dale
Orinda
(Ellen Dale has been a resident of Orinda for nine years, but lived in Moraga from 1972 to 2000 and was there in the 1970s when the Moraga Fire District added paramedics and the Rescue Unit to its services. She has no affiliation with the MOFD Board or any other organization related to fire services.)
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA