Grant postpones fire department mergers in Calif.

By Claudia Melendez Salinas
The Monterey County Herald

SEASIDE, Calif. — The Seaside Fire Department has received a federal grant that will help pay for firefighters and postpone a proposed merger with other Peninsula fire departments.

The $811,800 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will fund three firefighter positions for two years. The three positions are part of a proposed reorganization of the department that will be considered Thursday by the City Council.

A possible merger "is still an option," City Manager Ray Corpuz said Tuesday. "This is just an interim organization. Because we received a grant for three firefighter positions, we're able to reorganize."

Seaside and other agencies began discussing the merger idea almost two years ago. It met with fierce opposition from Seaside firefighters who said city residents would not receive adequate fire protection if the merger went through.

The plan came to a standstill last summer, when city officials were gearing up for election and the merits of the proposed merger became a campaign issue.

Seaside administrators had said the merger would save the city about $350,000 within the first two years of implementation. In anticipation of the merger, the city's 2010-11 budget assumed the retirement of two fire division chiefs, the layoffs of three firefighters and the retirement of the fire chief.

The retirements have opened up opportunities for department personnel to move up to new positions, and the proposed reorganization of the department will be considered Thursday. It calls for three acting division chiefs, three acting fire captains and two acting fire engineers.

The promotions and rehiring of one laid-off firefighter would cost the city about $150,000. Administrators expect to offset the increased expenses with reductions of about $120,000 in overtime. How to come up with the additional $30,000 will be discussed at the council meeting.

"We're looking at savings in overtime expenditures because of the additional personnel," acting fire chief Richard Dampier said. "Some of the (captains and division chiefs) are already working in that capacity."

City officials also will consider the spending plan proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown and how his proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies could affect city coffers. Corpuz said Seaside could lose $3million to $4million in annual revenues, plus the capacity to borrow millions more. Also, money for affordable housing would be gone.

"It's hard to develop a former military base, with no infrastructure, basically undeveloped land, without redevelopment tools," Corpuz said. "It would be harder to transform Fort Ord into an economic asset."

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