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Firefighters Take Their Crusade To The People With Posters In Village
Rank and file say merger with county makes sense
Board resists a change
By Steve Enders
Over the past week, slick posters have been popping up in the Village urging Saratogans to stand behind the wishes of the rank and file Saratoga firefighters and to support a contract of shared services with the Santa Clara County Fire District.
"We agree with our firefighters," the poster reads, preceding a wish list set by the firefighters. It says they want the potential savings, gained resources and improved medical and fire protection that would come with the merger, but want to retain the community's identity.
Finally, it asks residents to urge the Saratoga Fire Department's board of commissioners to contract with the county.
Bill Morrison, president of the local firefighters union, said the posters are simply an effort to spread their message.
"We're going uptown to judge people's feelings, and so far we've gotten about a 95 percent approval rating," Morrison said. "There's a big misconception around town that we're the ones that scuttled the new fire station, and that simply isn't true."
Morrison said that the firefighters definitely want a new station, just not the one as proposed by the SFD commissioners.
"We need a fire station," Morrison said. "We just don't need to purchase property and make it bigger."Morrison said that the firefighters definitely want a new station, just not the one as proposed by the SFD commissioners.
"We need a fire station," Morrison said. "We just don't need to purchase property and make it bigger."
The SFD was ready to go to voters with a bond issue this November and make a bid on a new station. A preliminary design had been drawn, and top brass figured the station would cost close to $5 million. With the addition, there was speculation that the SFD would look to buy an adjacent building to house dispatch units and office space.
Those plans came to a grinding halt in August when union members from the International Association of Firefighters Local 3875 filed a rebuttal with the county Registrar of Voters in opposition to the plan.
SFD commissioners held an emergency meeting and decided to ditch the bond measure, for now.
Instead, the firefighters want a contract to merge with county fire, which they say will create better service for all of Saratoga. By housing some additional equipment and a full-time paramedic at the station and by letting the county handle dispatching, the area will be better served, they say.
But all this activity among the troops isn't making management rest any easier.
Commissioner Jay Geddes said the firefighters are "holding the city hostage" with their demands, and that the SFD provides excellent service now.
Morrison said that although there haven't been any incidents in which county assistance has made a big difference for them on a fire, he doesn't want to see a bad situation develop because a merger was denied by the board.
Neither does the board, but Geddes said he is convinced the level of service is excellent now, and all the SFD needs is a better station.
"The union doesn't believe us, and we don't believe them," Geddes said. "They don't believe we can provide as good a service as central, and we think we can. We've never had a complaint. We don't need a ladder truck and we don't need [a hazardous materials team]. If we do, then we'll call them out and they get there in time."
As if the dispute over the new station weren't enough, the SFD board issued a memo on Sept. 13 removing all personnel and volunteers from the station unless previously authorized by management.
Geddes said the move was made because union members were holding daily meetings in the station and making other firefighters not involved with one side or the other nervous and uncomfortable. Additionally, Geddes said, if employees come into the station, the SFD is required to pay them for being there.
Morrison said that's not the case, and that no meetings were held on the station grounds except for regular monthly meetings.
The union is scheduled to present its wishes to the SFD board on Sept. 23 at 8 a.m. Geddes said the board will listen, and will probably accept the report for information, and won't act on the proposal. The meeting is open to the public.
When asked what the union will do if the board doesn't accept its proposal, Morrison said it can't do much, except to continue pleading with residents of Saratoga to pressure the SFD.
"We can't strike," Morrison said, adding that the law prohibits public safety personnel from doing so. "Besides, we wouldn't do it to Saratoga anyway. "
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
