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A proposal to eliminate the assistant chief’s position from the Avalon Fire Department was removed from the Tuesday, March 4, City Council agenda following a closed session discussion of the issues raised.
The council directed staff to work with the Fire Department.
Avalon has a projected $1.6 million deficit.
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A proposal to eliminate the assistant chief’s position from the Avalon Fire Department was removed from the Tuesday, March 4, City Council agenda following a closed session discussion of the issues raised.
The council directed staff to work with the Fire Department.
Avalon has a projected $1.6 million deficit.
The council chambers were filled with visitors Tuesday night. At times members of the public shouted at council members and the city manager.
Fire Chief Steve Hoefs said he was glad that the proposal had been removed, but he did not want the issue to return to the city council in the next couple of weeks.
City Attorney Scott Campbell said the council voted unanimously to work with Hoefs and the firefighter’s union to address the issues raised. Campbell said the item was off the agenda for the night.
Some members of the audience applauded.
According to Mayor Bob Kennedy, the council discussed the matter in closed session because there were a lot of legal and personnel issues raised in the staff report for “item 12.”
City Manager Ben Harvey wrote the staff report that proposed eliminating the assistant fire chief’s position.
Hoefs said the city manager’s report was inaccurate, misleading and painted a picture of the Fire Department that was not appropriate.
(The complete March 5 agenda package, including all staff reports, is available at the City of Avalon website.)
He said the proposal would cause the Fire Department to lose one full time firefighter.
“That’s moving backwards,” Hoefs said. “We should be moving forward and hiring three more firefighter/paramedics.”
Harvey’s staff report recommended eliminating the assistant fire chief position, redistributing personnel through an already vacant firefighter position and establishing an on-call rotation for fire captains to serve as incident commanders.
The report said that the assistant chief’s position was created in January 2011 to offset the duties assumed by then-City Manger/Fire Chief Hoefs.
Harvey’s report said that the assistant fire chief’s total compensation, including benefits, was about $215,000. The report said the combined compensation for the chief and the assistant chief represented about 22 percent of the Fire Department’s budget.
Assistant Fire Chief Mike Krug asked if the issue would be revisited in a couple of weeks.
“I’m still unclear,” he said.
Mayor Bob Kennedy said the council did not intend to relive the process. He said they need the city manager, fire chief and labor group to work out a solution.
Krug said the commitment of reserve and full time fire staff was amazing.
He said Harvey did not appreciate the Fire Department’s personnel.
The audience applauded.
Krug said the rotating fire captains would be forced to work on their day off and for less pay than Harbor Department trash collectors.
Michael Alegria, representing the Avalon firefighter’s local union, said he opposed the city manager’s proposal. He said the proposal would effect response times.
Council Member Ralph Morrow said the council discussed the issue with two attorneys, one on the telephone, during the closed session discussion.
“When you talk about personnel, you can’t do it publicly,” Morrow said.
He also said there was a potential for a lawsuit in what they were doing.
Kennedy said the council unanimously agreed that the staff report was flawed.
“Our goal is not to remove the people responding to you on a call, responding to my home on a call or responding to a visitor on a call,” Kennedy said.
He said the staff report tried to address budget issues by a series of demotions that the council felt was inappropriate, reducing response times and removing men “on the floor.”
“It’s an emotional issue to any human being in this room, including the five sitting here,” Kennedy said.
Hoefs proposed hiring three full time firefighter/paramedics. He said Avalon did not have 24/7 paramedic coverage.
Council Member Michael Ponce asked how Avalon would pay for that.
When some members of the audience started shouting at the council, Ponce said: “Let me remind you guys, you’re the ones that pay for this service.”
Hoefs proposed eliminating two vacant city staff positions to cover what he estimated would be the $300,000 cost of hiring three paramedics.
“I’d love to have paramedics everywhere,” Morrow said.
Hoefs said he had a target on his back. He accused the council of talking about him in closed session.
A performance review of the fire chief was originally listed on the council’s closed session agenda, but Campbell said that item was not discussed.
Hoefs thanked the public for coming. Opponents of the proposed Fire Department continued discussing the issue even as the council went on to other business
