Calif. District Will Continue to Manage its Own Affairs

Directors of the Cambria Community Services District voted 5-0 Feb. 12 for the agency to continue doing its own local management of the 130-year-old independent Cambria Fire Department, rather than contracting for the services with Cal Fire.

The district board didn’t authorize spending up to $30,000 for a contractor to do an executive recruitment for a new fire chief. Instead, the recruitment, vetting of candidates and interviews would be done by CCSD staff, counsel and ad hoc committee members Mike Thompson and Gail Robinette.

A group of fire-wise local citizens (perhaps with each district director appointing one) also could be convened to participate in the initial investigation of applicants.

Because it is a personnel selection, General Manager Jerry Gruber is to make the final decision. Some directors, however, have indicated that they’d like to weigh in on the selection.

The issue

The possibility of contracting with Cal Fire had been mentioned and briefly considered in the past. Last year, grand jury reports on Cambria’s emergency services and readiness to fight fires triggered an in-depth investigation of the possibility.

Then-Fire Chief Mark Miller retired in July, leaving the district with a couple of immediate choices until a permanent decision could be made: Promote from within on an interim basis or contract with Cal Fire for department management. On advice of General Manager Jerry Gruber, the board opted for Cal Fire interim management.

The decision

The district’s Ad Hoc Committee to Evaluate Fire Prevention and Response Service Options had investigated the options for months, interviewing firefighters in both departments, holding community workshops and huddling with financial advisers at CCSD and Cal Fire.

According to the committee’s Feb. 3 report, estimates were that it would cost CCSD up to $145,000 more per year to contract with Cal Fire for services currently being provided by Cambria Fire.

The report said the difference is primarily “due to labor costs, which could go even higher depending on ongoing state and Cal Fire union negotiations; costs which would be passed on to local contracts,” according to the committee report issued Feb. 3.

Continuing relationships

Cambria will continue to have Cal Fire service after the management contract ends June 30.

Cal Fire’s interim chief, Steve Reeder, assured the board at the Feb. 12 meeting that his agency “understands and fully supports” the action recommended by the committee. He said the management contract had strengthened the already good cooperative working relationship between the two departments.

That sentiment was echoed by longtime Cambria Fire Department Capt. William Hollingsworth.

He said that in his 24 years in fire service, “I’ve never worked in an area where two different agencies worked so well together,” and that the working relationship between the two “is unsurpassed.”

Cal Fire “could have come in with an iron fist. They didn’t. We have zero complaints. And many things they brought in are things we have updated … what you guys provided was invaluable.”

CCSD also wants to restart discussions with the Cambria Community Healthcare District about integrating and coordinating activities.

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