Cal Fire Submits Initial Proposal for San Carlos Fire Contract.

The Other Half of the “Preferred Option”.

Today, Cal Fire submitted their first-pass proposal to provide San Carlos with fire and emergency services.  If you recall from my post earlier this week, the City Manager has stated that his preferred option to balance the city’s budget is to outsource both police and fire services to outside agencies.    The San Mateo County Sheriff’s office is due to deliver their proposal for police services by Friday of this week, in advance of the Budget Workshop on Saturday, March 13th.

The Cal Fire Plan:

The detailed plan can be found on this link on the City’s website, but here are some of the key points of their proposal:

• It provides two, 3-person, Advanced Life Support (ALS or paramedic) engine companies rather than the current Fire JPA mix of one Engine Company and one Truck Company in San Carlos
• It uses the Cal Fire approach to staffing and scheduling rather than the Fire JPA approach
• The proposal offers both a Cal Fire Staffed cost and a “Red Circle” Staffed cost where Fire JPA employee salaries are frozen until they “catch up” with the salary levels paid by Cal Fire
• The proposal also assumes that all current Fire JPA and Cal Fire employees are at the highest salary step.  To the extent that is not the case, actual costs to the City will be lower and potential savings will increase
• Annual cost for Cal Fire Staffed services: $3,495,262
• Annual cost for Cal Fire/Red Circle (frozen salary) Staffed services: $4,257,525

What Does This Mean?

Just like the situation with the San Carlos Police Department, the initial glance raises more questions than it answers.  Here’s just a few:

• What exactly is the “Cal Fire approach to staffing?”
• What happens to existing members of the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department?  Absorbed, or fired?  Are we going to get crews that know anything about San Carlos?
• What is the disposition of Station 16 on Alameda?  There’s some vague wording about “sharing of fire resources between San Carlos and San Mateo County/Cal Fire to address the existence of the overlapping stations on Alameda (BSCFD) and Cordilleras (Cal Fire).  That sure sounds like it’s leaving the door open to a station closure somewhere….
• What happens with the existing ladder truck that currently is staffed between Belmont and San Carlos on alternate years?   Do we now have to rely on a neighboring city for basic ladder service?
• What happens to the HazMat rig?
• Do we have references from other municipalities (preferably local) that have contracted their fire service to Cal Fire?   What is there experience with this arrangement?  Did they achieve the cost savings that were promised?

One problem that is not solved is the staffing level for each engine company.   The existing law requires that before a strike team can enter a burning building, there must be an equal number of support firefighters on the outside.  So if a 4-man engine company is first to respond to a burning building, they can send a strike team of 2 firefighers inside immediately.   But if a 3-man engine company is first to arrive on the scene, they must wait for the next company to arrive before anyone can enter the building.     This is exactly what happened at the recent fatal fire on Devonshire.   So on the surface this is no better than what we already have — and with the loss of the tiller rig, it seems inferior.

The City claims that Cal Fire’s proposal will save the City save between $1.2M-$2M annually.   Just like the Police Department proposal, more details are supposed to be forthcoming at Saturday’s Budget Workshops on March 13 and 22nd.    And the same question needs to be raised in both cases:  How are they able to provide the same level of service that we have now at such a drastic discount?

“Spotlight on San Carlos” Interview Series: San Carlos Police Officer’s Association.

Public Safety – A Hot Topic.

The San Carlos Police Department has been in the news quite a bit these past few weeks, but not for reasons you might expect.   Last week, the City Manager of San Carlos announced that his “preferred path” to balance the City’s budget calls for outsourcing the law enforcement responsibility in San Carlos to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.   (The other part of this proposal is to turn the Fire Department responsibilities to Cal Fire, but that will be addressed in a different segment.)

This announcement has raised major concerns within the Police ranks, as well as with the citizens of San Carlos — and rightfully so.   If you attended last night’s fantastic Police Town Hall Meeting, you saw the statistics first-hand –  San Carlos has one of the best police departments on the Peninsula, hands down.  So while the cost savings that the City Manager is proposing may look enticing on paper, there are far too many questions that need to be answered before any judgment should be rendered on this proposal.  One thing is for certain — ANY proposal needs to maintain this level of service, or it won’t be a good deal for San Carlos.

Interview:  The San Carlos Police Officer’s Association.

This week’s guest on Spotlight on San Carlos is Suzanne Sheppard, Vice President of the San Carlos Police Office’s Association.   In this interview, we discuss topics ranging from current staffing challenges in the department, to the latest budget proposal.   Click the play button below to hear the interview:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

(If you’re reading this on email, click on this link to access the interview:  Interview — San Carlos POA)

A Milestone…

“Stick-to-it-iveness”

This post also has absolutely nothing to do with real estate….or San Carlos.  But it is the 500th article on the White Oaks Blog.   My hands hurt just thinking about that number.  When I started this site in the fall of 2007, I couldn’t fathom finding the material (or the initiative) to write 5 articles, let alone 500.   But the odometer that keeps track of site data has been slowly clicking away, and after 500 posts, 1,349 comments, and probably about 300,000 words (I’m just guessing on this last one, but I’m probably not too far off ), here we are.   That’s a lot of ….whatever you want to call it.

What does this mean?  I don’t know… I guess if you stick to something long enough…well,  you get stuck to it.   It also means that if I get an early onset of arthritis, I’ll know exactly why.

A Long, Interesting Journey.

Far more interesting than the numbers, is the path this site has taken over the past two or so years.  What started out as a place to post real estate data slowly evolved into a community bulletin board of sorts — it didn’t take long to figure out that while people in San Carlos are certainly interested in real estate, they’re absolutely passionate about the issues that pertain to their neighborhoods, their schools, and their city.   This is a good thing!  And with all that has been happening in San Carlos over the past 3 years, both good and bad, there has been no shortage of things to write about.

This site has opened doors and has taken me places I would never have imagined going, like landing this impromptu 30-second gig on KCBS radio.  That was definitely a trip!

But the biggest surprise to me about this site, and the aspect I treasure most, is the personal connections that it has created for me.   I have made friends with many great people through the site that I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise — residents, City Council members, police officers, fellow bloggers…all different people, but all who share a common desire to make San Carlos a great place to live.

It has been an interesting journey, that’s for sure. … Continue Reading

San Carlos City Manager Presents Two Paths to Close Budget Gap.

Two Options Proposed.

Late today, the City of San Carlos issued a press release that outlines the two paths that are now being considered to close the city’s current $3.5M budget gap.   While the two options are quickly outlined in the City Budget Overview from the city website, they will be discussed in much more detail in the upcoming City Council Budget Workshop that will be held next Saturday, March 13 at 12:00 at the San Carlos Library.   But even with few details to draw from, one thing is very evident — both options take radically different approaches to solving the budget deficit.

The City’s “Preferred” Path:  Outsource Fire and Police Services.

You may have heard rumors to the effect that the City was considering outsourcing the Fire Department services to Cal Fire, and the Police Department services to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.  Well, these are no longer rumors –  in today’s press release, City Manager Mark Weiss left no doubt that this is his “preferred path” to closing the budget deficit, since it accounts for $3M-$6M in potential savings.  This proposal also calls for outsourcing park maintenance, and for the installation of parking meters downtown for an additional savings of up to $500K.

The Other Path:  Cuts Across the Board.

The second option that is being considered is essentially an aggregation of the cuts that were proposed earlier in the 10%/20% budget reduction exercises that were conducted a few months back by each of the key departments.   … Continue Reading

The Lehman Brothers Collapse: A Year (or so) Later…

The Hangover Continues for San Mateo County.

It’s hard to believe that it was nearly a year and half ago when Lehman Brothers stunned the world by announcing they were filing for bankruptcy, an event that essentially began the downward spiral of the financial markets in September of 2008.   Hundreds of millions of dollars of investments and pension funds vaporized overnight, leaving an indelible black mark on many communities — especially those in California.   It also exposed the critically flawed investment strategies of many our “experts” that foolishly decided to place a huge percentage of their portfolio with one firm.

While many communities suffered significant losses when Lehman bellied up, they couldn’t hold a candle to the damage done to San Mateo County.  And while many of these other communities have been able to patch up the damage and move on, San Mateo County is still suffering the effects of this catastrophe.

San Mateo County Bore the Brunt.

There’s an absolutely outstanding article from the Wall Street Journal that I have included at the bottom of this post that summarizes the effect of the Lehman Brothers collapse on San Mateo County  — I highly recommend reading this.  No other municipality in the nation lost anywhere near the $155M of County of San Mateo funds that evaporated; consequently the impact was felt much deeper here, particularly in the education sector.  Consider the following:

• San Mateo County’s loss of $155M was nearly 4 times greater than any other municipality.
• Education accounted for $63M, or 41% of the total loss.
• The public school system was the single biggest loser, at 25% of the total loss.
• San Carlos School District lost an estimated $630,000.

As we read about how San Carlos  and surrounding communities (such as Burlingame) and their respective school districts that are struggling to stay afloat, it’s important to remember how the hole got so big in the first place.   Here’s the article from the Wall Street Journal:  Lehman’s Ghost Haunts California.

(special thanks to blog reader Kelly for the tip on this article.)

City Recommends Police & Fire Cuts, Library Closure. (But it’s not San Carlos…)

…It’s Burlingame.

In a stunning announcement yesterday, the City of Burlingame proposed sweeping cuts in its public safety sector, a library closure, and slashing all department budgets as it wrestles to close a significant budget deficit.   It’s estimated that these cuts will save the City approximately $2.4M in the current fiscal year, which ends in June, and another $4.4M in the coming fiscal year according to this article in the San Mateo County Times.  The public safety cuts call for police department layoffs, and the closure of one of Burlingame’s fire stations.   Hmmmm.

Deja Vu?  Almost…

Wow.   You could just about substitute “San Carlos” for “Burlingame” in this article, and you wouldn’t miss the mark by much.   In some ways, that’s not a surprise because the cities are so similar in many ways — geography, demographics, and even their downtown shopping areas.     Many home buyers often mention the two cities in the same breath when they talk about desirable communities to live in.

Here are some of the cuts that are being proposed by Burlingame.  Note how eerily similar they are to what San Carlos is currently contemplating:

• Close the Easton Branch library
• Close Fire Station 36 on Rollins Road, lay off 3 firefighters.
• Reduce police force from 29 to 25 sworn officers through layoffs and attrition.
• Staff cuts in Public Works, Park and Recreation Departments.

There is one area were the two cities seem to differ in their proposed budget cuts…

City Hall Feels the Pain.

The budget knife that will cut through Burlingame will not bypass City Hall.   In one of the more interesting twists, the proposal calls for a 12% reduction in pay to City Manager Jim Nantell, and a 10% cut in City Council pay.   This is interesting because Nantell, along with Finance Director Jesus Nava, were the ones who unveiled this plan in the first place.

With the current San Carlos City Council stipend of $300/month, cutting 10% out of our City Council pay would barely buy lunch in downtown San Carlos, let alone solve our budget crisis.   And frankly speaking, for the amount of time and effort involved being a Council Member, they are severely underpaid anyway.  It’s worth noting that Councilman Andy Klein has already volunteered to return his entire stipend just to help the cause.

Some will give all, all will give some…

In reality, City Manager Jim Nantell’s $4,310 pay cut is also a “drop in the bucket” in the big picture of Burlingame’s budget woes (although it’s probably a pretty big deal to him, understandably.)  After all, it comes out to a whopping 0.098% of the overall budget cut.  But the symbolism here is huge, and is something that will not be overlooked by residents of San Carlos since it’s an area where the two cities seem to differ in their approach to solving a common problem.

Unless I am mistaken (and I’d be happy to print a correction to this assumption) none of the cuts that are being proposed by San Carlos affect the payroll of the City Manager nor his direct staff.    The perception of many San Carlos residents is that City Hall is coming out of this painful exercise completely unscathed, while in Burlingame at least everyone is giving something to the cause.  Or in other words, they’re ALL putting a few drops in that bucket.

Thoughts?

San Carlos to Consider Downtown Parking Meters (again…)

A Love/Hate Relationship.

In what is becoming the latest chapter in an ongoing saga regarding downtown parking meters, the City of San Carlos is now actively looking to hire a consultant to determine whether it makes financial sense to install parking meters downtown — this according to an article by David DeBolt in this morning’s Daily Post.  (I would have included a link to this article but the Post does not have an online edition, so I will paraphrase the key points. )

This is certainly a turnabout to the most recent sentiment on parking meters within the San Carlos City Council, which has largely been opposed to installing meters downtown.   But according to the article, Public Works Director Robert Weil is prepared to spend $10,000-$20,000 on a study that will investigate whether the installation of meters will bring in enough revenue to justify the cost, if there will be any negative impact on downtown businesses, and what technologies are available today in the world of parking meters.

Just a Study…For Now.

In the Post’s article, Robert Weil was careful to stress that the City is NOT endorsing the installation of parking meters just yet.  But they do want to investigate the revenue potential to help offset our budget deficit.   An earlier study conducted back in 1999 determined that paid parking could generate about $480,000 each year.  With the huge growth of the Laurel Street shopping district, one would think that this number could be much higher?

What do you think?

Should San Carlos join the likes of Redwood City and other neighboring communities who already have parking meters in their downtown shopping districts?   Let us know by voting on the poll below, or by leaving a comment.

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(Editorial credit to David DeBolt of the Daily Post for the details cited in this article.)

Lights Out for San Carlos?

Cuts to Public Works

Last night, the Transportation and Circulation Commission held a meeting to discuss the cuts that are being proposed by the San Carlos Public Works Department in order to close their portion of the $3.5M budget deficit in San Carlos.  There’s an excellent article in the Daily Journal that discusses the meeting agenda in great detail, but basically the recommendation that’s being put on the table by Public Works recommends turning off 45% of the City’s streetlights to save the City approximately $75,000 per year.

Ironically, it will initially cost the City $60,000 to make this change.  (Gotta think that would buy quite a few solar panels, no?)

Perhaps lost in all of the recent press about park closures and all-weather turf at Highlands, the meeting last night was sparsely attended.  In fact, only one citizen spoke out against the proposed brown-out, and he got the impression from the commission that “this is what you get for voting against a revenue measure.”    While nothing will be decided until the March 22nd City Council Meeting, it’s hard to imagine that these cuts won’t be approved — especially since there appears to be no “Plan B” on the table to reduce costs.

The Perfect Metaphor

Somehow, the prospect of turning out streetlights struck me as ironic.

Yesterday, an officer from the San Carlos Police Department knocked on our front door.   Apparently, someone had burglarized my neighbor’s garage two doors down, and the officer was dutifully interviewing neighbors to see if they had seen anything suspicious, etc..  … Continue Reading