| | Published March 12th, 2014
| Lamorinda Fire News Briefs
| | By Nick Marnell | | |
Breathing Room for ConFire
The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District received a $9.6 million dollar grant from the Federal Emergency Management Association in February, and the district plans to use the money to hire 27 new firefighters over the next two years. The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant provides funding directly to fire departments to help them increase or maintain their number of trained, front line firefighters - as long as the money is used to hire only entry level employees. ConFire chief Jeff Carman cautioned that there are also restrictions on how the district can deploy the new firefighters.
If ConFire hires three firefighters and opens an engine company with those three, one will be promoted to captain and one more to engineer/operator. The incremental costs over the entry level salaries and benefits are not covered by the SAFER grant. "Those costs must be absorbed by the district and right now, we don't have the capacity to cover those costs," said Carman.
In addition, the district cannot lay off firefighters during the two-year SAFER period, and vacancies that arise through attrition must be filled within a reasonable amount of time.
At its March 11 meeting, the Board of Supervisors planned to accept the grant. The district's strategic planning committee will recommend over the coming months how the new firefighters will best be deployed.
CAER Package for MOFD
Also in February, the Moraga-Orinda Fire District received a $700 grant from the Community Awareness and Emergency Response Group of Contra Costa County, a non-profit whose mission includes providing emergency preparedness and training to the public. "We collect dues mostly from industry, and we use the money to provide funding back into the community," said executive director Tony Semenza. CAER oversees a grant budget of $11,000 and it screens 30 to 40 annual applications to determine how best the grantees will help the largest number of people. "The applicants have to explain to us how they will use the dollars," said Semenza.
The district plans to earmark the money to support efforts for a Lamorinda community preparedness earthquake exercise. "We'll probably print flyers and brochures for the schools promoting the Great California Shakeout in October and have the kids pass them out to their parents," said MOFD emergency preparedness coordinator Dennis Rein.
This year, the Shakeout is scheduled for Oct. 16 at 10:16 a.m.
MOFD and Union Agree to Mediation
The Moraga-Orinda Fire District announced March 7 that it has accepted the request of the United Professional Firefighters of Contra Costa County to enter into mediation.
"I'm encouraged that the union reached out to us," said John Wyro, board president. "If the union thinks that mediation will solve the problem, then we are happy to do it."
"It's a huge move on their part," said Vince Wells, Local 1230 president. "They didn't have to do it. It's a great opportunity for more discussion to see if there's a chance for a solution."
The district declared an impasse with the firefighters' union in January. Should mediation not be successful, the parties will continue with the fact-finding process. The board still retains the ultimate authority to impose its last, best and final offer following fact finding if it chooses to, explained Eddie Kreisberg, the district's labor negotiator.
"The district really would like to reach an agreement with Local 1230 and is hopeful that retaining a mediator will help the parties do so," said Kreisberg.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA