Confronted with three searing reports from the Santa Clara
County Civil Grand Jury, the city of Gilroy is sticking to its
guns.
Confronted with three searing reports from the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury, the city of Gilroy is sticking to its guns.
The Gilroy City Council on Monday approved a seven-page response to three June 16 grand jury reports totaling 54 pages including one featuring controversial conclusions that county emergency response methods – including Gilroy’s – were outdated and lacked efficiency.
The reports also concluded that using firefighters as first responders for all medical emergencies was unnecessarily costly and that city-run fire departments should explore regional consolidation with nearby service providers. Also, the grand jury – a watchdog group of volunteers selected by county judges that offers suggestions for increased economic efficiency – outlined exploring emergency dispatch consolidation and the practice of rehiring pensioned employees.
It was the grand jury’s fire services report, however, that ignited the most debate.
The city’s responses – signed off by Mayor Al Pinherio and sent to Santa Clara County Superior Court Presiding Judge Richard Loftus Jr. – were approved following little discussion Monday night, aside from comments by Councilman Perry Woodward, the only one on the dais who voted against approving the city’s responses.
Woodward called the responses “patently false,” saying the city hasn’t demonstrated enough effort in exploring the cost-effective methods for providing fire services.
City Administrator Tom Haglund, however, said the city has “exhausted” talks of changing the current model for the time being and believed the city’s responses were honest.
The city has already taken steps to reduce the costs of fire services, including reducing the minimum number of firefighters per engine from four to three and instituting a second-tier retirement system for new hires, Haglund said.
The City of Gilroy, at just under 50,000 population, spent $7.6 million on fire services in 2010, compared with 5.4 million in Morgan Hill, a city of about 38,000 that contracts with the county, according to the grand jury report. Milpitas, a city of 67,000 that has its own fire department, spent $14.2 million, according to the report.
Gilroy plans to spend $8.8 million this fiscal year on fire services, roughly 8 percent of its $112 million operating costs, according to a two-year budget approved in May.
Gilroy employs 41 fire department personnel over three stations, according to Gilroy Fire Chief Dale Foster.
The Gilroy Fire Department fleet includes three engines; a reserve engine; one ladder truck; a smaller, four-wheel-drive engine with ground clearance; two brush patrol vehicles; and a rescue ambulance.
Woodward said he felt like a “lone wolf” during a March 28 Council meeting, when the Council asked city staff not to prepare a cost analysis of comparing the status quo with services from either CalFire or Santa Clara County, despite Council requesting a bid for services from CalFire during its annual goal-setting session two months earlier.
“It’s disingenuous for the city to make a response to the grand jury like that,” Woodward said Wednesday. “I cannot in good conscience tell Judge Loftus that this city has done everything it can do, because it hasn’t.”
Not so, says Councilwoman Cat Tucker, who credited the city for doing more than simply talk about cost-effective fire service, Councilwoman Cat Tucker said.
“We did look at a regional approach, and the majority didn’t want to do it,” she said. “I’ve looked at it, and I’ve talked to people in the community, and the community doesn’t want it.”
Tucker said she’s spoken with residents and, coupled with public sentiment from city officials, it’s clear Gilroy is happy with its current setup.
Tucker said she had no problem approving the city’s grand jury responses – including the city’s disagreement with the grand jury’s finding that residents “care little” whether a firefighter or ambulance paramedic arrives first on the scene. She added that while some suggestions might be applicable to other cities in the county, Gilroy is different.
“Who is the grand jury to tell us we haven’t done all we could?” she said. “They grouped us with a bunch of communities. But we’re unique. We’re out here in South County.”
In the end, the city will make what it believes are the right choices for Gilroyans, Tucker said.
“I think that we’ve always done what’s best for Gilroy and I’m sure the other cities have done the same thing,” Tucker said.
Councilman Dion Bracco, who said he disagreed with Woodward, added the City of Gilroy had been following a simple model: “If it’s not broke, don’t try to fix it.”
“It’s kind of tough. It makes you kind of wonder, ‘Who’s the grand jury to tell us how we’re doing business in Gilroy?”‘ Bracco said.
The grand jury reports also arrived on the heels of recurring frustration over a bleak economic climate, which has led to some targeting police and fire personnel, Bracco said.
Bracco said he’ll stand by the current firefighter-first responder model because he think it’s the most timely.
“Anybody who sits there and says we’re better off using paramedics from the county (than city fire crews) for first responders, they’ve got their head in the sand,” he said.
Timeline
Jan. 28: Council requests bid from CalFire for services in Gilroy during annual retreat
March 28: Council chooses not to explore contracting out for third-party fire services
June 16: Grand jury releases reports on fire services, emergency dispatch, pensioners
Sept. 12: City approves responses to grand jury reports
Today: Deadline for sending responses to grand jury reports
