In other words, forcing the counties to pay more for the services they already have so the state can appear to be saving money (i.e. a shell game).
Taxpayers pay for state services, which includes SRA coverage by CalFire, which also provides them traditional fire department services such as medical aid responses, home and business inspections and other emergency planning. The politicians want CalFire to reduce services and transfer them to counties, which means state fund reduction at the cost to the counties; actually costing the counties more since they have to pick up the ‘slack’ to maintain services.
There may not BE a
The counties only recourse is to then raise property and sales taxes (add fire taxes, medical taxes, etc.) even higher to afford the services, which puts people right out of their homes (which reduces income to the county AND the state) because the people can’t afford the increases. But then the state can gloat that IT didn’t raise the taxes because the counties did. The people have to live within their budget, unlike the government. Fiscally responsible people set up and follow a budget and plan for the future; the state . . . not so much.
And when services are reduced, folks have to pay more for insurance too. Those prices are set by actuarial risk studies which include proximity to a fire department, what type of fire department (volunteer, paid, full time, part time, medics available) and other risk factors. The likely public response would then be to not have fire insurance (too pricy), which means they run the risk of losing it all and guess what will happen; the state and county (ultimately the taxpayer again) not only have to eat the cost(s) when there is a loss (the home owner can’t recover without insurance and is hard pressed WITH insurance) but they’ve lost another taxpayer when it hits the fan and the taxpayer is forced to live elsewhere.
The next logical step by the state would then be to reduce CalFire staffing even further (saving the ‘state money’ which the politicians forget its TAXPAYER money) because ~90% of all the calls any fire department responds to are medical (5-7% are fire, the rest is a mix of other). If CalFire only responds to fires, why keep as many firefighters on active duty? They don’t have to be medics or even EMTs because there is no medical need; they only have to worry about one line of training; fire. Forget any hazmat response, forget interface management, forget VMP burns, they’ll just go to wildland fires. Hey, maybe they can foist the remaining SRA off on the Forest Circus and save it all, passing the buck the other direction because yeah, the Fed can pick it up, right? [THAT fight will take YEARS in court and we’ll have to pay THAT bill too.]
Now you see why I spent a career avoiding politics whenever I could (and didn’t go as far as I could have because of my abhorrence of politics). They’re thinking short term fixes, not long term solutions; which is EXACTLY how we got into the financial bind we’re in now. Instead of fixing the core problem(s), it’s time for another shell game. [It’s no wonder CA is a green state, it’s WELL fertilized.]
If I can see it this clearly after being out of the ‘fire biz’ for 5 years, certainly some members of the public can put it together. They should be outraged. There should be pitchforks and torches (LED because we’re a ‘green’ state) on marches to the representatives houses and offices. It’s grievous mismanagement. In the ‘private sector’ the stockholders would be out for blood; why not in government?
The fire service has a LONG honorable tradition of adapting and overcoming any situation, including the (mis)management of growth into rural areas and doing the best it can with what it has. They are constantly understaffed and underfunded, yet because there is a willingness to sacrifice self, sense of service, pride, dedication, the troops make it work (the politicos have relied on that fact). This is just another political attempt to grandstand (by passing the buck). There is no savings in reducing the services that keep us safe, be it military, fire department or the crossing guards near schools.
Transfer of services is political-ese for passing the buck.
Rick (not quite ranting yet or the language would be rougher)
[“I want you to go to your window, stick your head out the window and shout ‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.’”]
From: Dan Waterhouse
My understanding is that, in many ways, the mission of Cal Fire is being redefined. Due to development in the urban interface, Cal Fire has become more of an urban type fire agency, providing structural protection and medical aid response.
Gov. Brown is pushing forth the idea of returning Cal Fire to its roots as a wildfire protection agency, and forcing the counties to assume responsibility for the interface that was created by the counties' indiscriminate development practices. Friends tell me that the discussion includes redefining what the SRAs are, and handing off primary responsibility for the foothill fire protection to the locals.
Other changes being discussed include ceasing medical aid responses, and handing those off to the local
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