Residents, Public Voice Concerns Over SFD Study, Eminent Domain
Commissioners feel heat at public meeting of GGG
SFD to hold public hearing
By Kara Chalmers
Members of the public in Saratoga have begun questioning the Saratoga Fire District about its practices and decisions concerning both the eminent domain case and the level-of-service study that the district commissioned.
In Saratoga, two departments, SFD and the Santa Clara County Fire Department, each serve one half of the city. The union firefighters from the SFD have wanted to contract with the county fire department for more than a year. While the firefighters think the citizens of Saratoga could get better fire and medical services for the same or lower cost by contracting with the county, the SFD commissioners feel the district can provide the best level of service at the best cost.
"There is no one-size-fits-all fire department," said SFD Commissioner Jay Geddes.
Without a formal offer from the county, it is impossible to say how much a contract with the county could cost.
And while the group of interested and concerned residents is small, one member of that group, David Dolloff, is claiming that he will rally forces and "bring the commission down." Dolloff, who lives on Bohlman Road in the city, first became aware of the merger situation when he clashed with the SFD over a road widening issue.
"We have hired you to listen to us," Dolloff said at a SFD commissioners meeting on Oct. 26. "You have not ... We are a very concerned group of people and this group of people is growing and it's growing rapidly. I think that what you need, as a commission, is to begin to realize that this thing is going to blow up in your face."
SFD Capt. Bill Morrison and the union president from the county department, Art Marshall, have been spreading their message of a possible merger to the Saratoga community through a series of public community meetings. Morrison stresses that the SFD union firefighters are not advocating a merger out of personal gain, but that safety is driving their campaign. He says the people in the city are the union's last hope for a contract. The people might be able to convince the commissioners to look at the issue, since the union has been unable to do so, at least until now, Morrison said.
One commissioner, Geddes, has said he felt attacked at a meeting of the Good Government Group of Saratoga held on Oct. 24. Geddes said he came to the meeting to hear the "pitch" from union firefighters concerning a merger, but residents and other citizens questioned him extensively at the meeting.
At the commissioners meeting on Oct. 26, five residents, a few union firefighters from the county department and Charles Hackett, who owns the property that the SFD is trying to claim through eminent domain, pressed the commissioners for one hour.
"My problem with it, really truly, is that a lot of people have personal issues that have nothing to do with the fire district," said SFD Commission Chairman Bob Egan about the meeting Oct. 26. "I have talked with over 100 different people who want us to stay with the Saratoga Fire District. I guarantee you we're listening to what the public wants."
Egan said he didn't feel the commission was being attacked on Oct. 26, and that it is the commission's job to listen to what the people want and make appropriate decisions.
Among the concerns voiced about SFD commissioners were the handling of the $6 million bond Measure F that voters passed in April to build a new fire station, and the lack of public discourse on if the SFD should merge with the county fire department, as the SFD union firefighters desire.
The SFD authorized a level-of-service study to find out how good a job the SFD is doing, and the study should be completely finished in the next few weeks, Geddes said. The commissioners kept the first draft of the report private, saying there were mistakes in the report. The first draft actually compared the two departments and came to the conclusion that the county could operate at a lower cost than the SFD. At the GGG meeting, members of the public questioned why commissioners chose to keep it private.
"Do you understand what a draft is?" Geddes responded. He said the SFD paid for it and it is not public until the SFD releases it.
Some residents think the SFD should make both drafts of the study public. Others suggested a public hearing to discuss all the issues involved with the SFD, and commissioners decided to hold one when the study is finished. According to Egan, at the next committee meeting on the level-of-service study on Nov. 8, the committee will discuss a public hearing.
"This is a sales pitch, an effective one," said resident Ed Farrell about the union's presentation to the GGG and the first draft of the study. Farrell said that the SFD needs to refute the information, if it wants to convince the citizens that a merger is not the way to go.
Geddes said he thought that a merger would mean that the SFD's level of service would suffer and that, even if a contract started out at a low cost, the county would add on costs down the line to maintain the current station as it is now. He also said he thinks that the SFD spends less money per person than the county.
But Geddes said that if it turns out that contracting with the county is a better deal financially, he is not opposed to a contract. He said that the level-of-service study will make a recommendation on what the city needs in terms of fire and medical services and that the commission could then decide to ask the county department to quote a price to the SFD for those services.
Geddes said the important question is what the needs of Saratoga are, especially when the SFD has mutual aid agreements with adjoining fire departments, such as the county department.
"If you need a ladder truck, you call central, we have no need for it in Saratoga," he said at the GGG meeting.
What Geddes does not think is a valid argument is that it takes valuable seconds to make transfers between the departments on mutual aid calls. Union firefighters disagree and say the responses would go through quicker if calls didn't have to go through the SFD first.
The community has also questioned whether the SFD would be wise to delay the eminent domain takeover until there is public input on a contract, since a contract with the county might take away the necessity of the building, as the SFD union firefighters suggest.
The case, which started last December, involves the SFD taking over the property in back of the fire station to use as a temporary station during construction of a new station, and to use after for a training room, or by the community, the Sheriff's, or by firefighters who live far away and need a place to sleep when they get off duty. The case is going to trial on Nov. 6. Hackett already tried to delay the trial, but a judge denied his request.
Geddes said he thinks the back building would be necessary even if there is a merger.
Some residents at the two meetings suggested that a possible middle ground would be renting the building from Hackett--which is something Hackett is willing to do--just for the renovation, rather than buying it.
Today, besides serving parts of Saratoga, the county fire department serves all of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill and adjacent county areas. At the GGG meeting, Geddes stated that he heard the city of Los Altos was considering withdrawing from the county contract. However, according to Los Altos City Councilman King Lear, the city is not considering withdrawing and has no problems with the county department.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
