22 laid-off Calif. firefighters back on the job thanks to grant

By John Woolfolk
The Contra Costa Times

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Nearly half of the 49 San Jose firefighters laid off last year amid a record budget shortfall will be back on the job starting Friday thanks to a federal bailout.

The $15 million, two-year fire staffing grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency — believed to be the largest awarded to any city — will help restore all the firefighter jobs lost a year ago when city and fire union leaders failed to reach an agreement on pay cuts that city officials said were needed to prevent layoffs.

The 22 laid-off San Jose firefighters who return to their jobs this week after six weeks of a "refresher academy" to update their certifications will be joined in coming months by 27 others hired away or laid off from other departments — 14 in October and 13 in February. Last year's layoffs had shrunk the department to about 650 firefighters.

"I feel an attachment to this community," said Mike Hildalgo, 34, who jumped at the chance to rejoin the San Jose Fire Department even though he enjoyed the job he landed with Palo Alto's fire department after San Jose laid him off. Though he now lives in Santa Clara, Hidalgo grew up in San Jose where the city's firefighters inspired his career choice.

"My mom would bring me out to the street to wave at the firefighters," Hidalgo said. "It's an outstanding organization and an outstanding community."

City officials as well as Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Mike Honda, both San Jose-area Democrats who helped lobby FEMA to ensure the city got the grant, celebrated the return of the laid-off firefighters Thursday.

Mayor Chuck Reed credited the leadership of the department under Chief Willie McDonald and the firefighters' union, which was the first in the city this year to reach agreement on 10-percent pay cuts, for cooperation that made acceptance of the federal grant possible.

"It's a happy day in San Jose," said Reed, who has endured a rocky relationship with city unions and acknowledged the firefighters for making "big sacrifices."

But while the federal "SAFER" grant — Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response — bought San Jose a two-year reprieve from firefighter cuts, the city's underlying budget problems continue to simmer and threaten more layoffs in the near future.

The rehiring in the fire department comes after San Jose's first-ever police layoffs with 66 officers cut from the force in June. Police narrowly avoided layoffs last year only with federal aid and a one-year pay concession.

But even 10-percent pay cuts in June weren't enough to avoid police layoffs this year. The $7 million federal justice department "COPS" grant — Community Oriented Policing Services — secured last year spared an additional 16 officers the layoff ax this summer.

When the federal money runs out in a couple years, it remains to be seen whether San Jose can avoid further public safety cuts. Even after a 10-year run of red ink that has shrunk the city workforce by a third, San Jose officials expect multimillion dollar deficits for the next several years, including a gap of at least $80 million next year. Reed said the city may have to close every branch library and community center next year to balance the books.

The mayor has proposed a controversial ballot measure next spring to shrink employee retirement pensions whose ballooning costs Reed says are largely to blame for the red ink. Firefighters, police and other employee unions are negotiating with the city over ballot language. But the outcome remains in doubt. Union leaders have argued Reed's proposal is an illegal assault on vested pension rights. He's countered that the optional pension reductions unions have suggested won't likely deliver enough savings without big incentives for workers to accept them.

"What's become apparent is that coming to an agreement is more clearly necessary today than when we first started looking at this issue," said Battalion Chief Robert Sapien, president of the firefighters union.

Until then, firefighters like Hidalgo are just happy to be back on the job.

"I'm an optimist at heart," Hidalgo said. "We have great people leading this community and department."

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