West Covina’s finance and audit committee has recommended dissolving the West Covina Fire Department, in favor of contracting services with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The issue will next go to the City Council, which is scheduled to discuss the city’s budget at a meeting on Tuesday, June 16.
The recommendation comes after West Covina declared a fiscal emergency in late May. City Manager David Carmany has said on multiple occasions the coronavirus pandemic has stretched the city’s budget to the limit, and the city can no longer afford to offer its own fire and emergency medical services.
“Revenues have plummeted and expenditures cannot continue at the same pace,” Carmany said at the June 11 Finance and Audit Committee meeting. “Whatever package of services the city has had previously or has desired to have, we’ve got to get something in alignment very quickly to avoid unacceptable cuts in service and loss of life to the public that we serve.”
Even before the pandemic, the city was not in great financial shape: In October, the state declared West Covina to be among the cities in the worst financial shape, ranking it as 17th worst.
The next month, the city approved a 12% raise for firefighters, even though its budget was tightly balanced.
The vote to recommend dissolving the Fire Department was 4-2-1. Committee members Marsha Soloria and Jim Grivich voted against, while Jessica Shewmaker, who is both on the committee and a city councilwoman, abstained.
Members had three options to recommend to the City Council:
- Brownout a fire station and provide no overtime;
- Contract services with the L.A. County Fire Department;
- Contract medical services with Care Ambulance and layoff 30 firefighters.
Browning out a fire station meant the West Covina Fire Department would change services depending on the availability of staff, according to a presentation from fire Chief Vincent Capelle. For example, if a fire captain called in sick, service from that captain’s station would end and other stations in the city would render service for that area.
He added that the Fire Department’s current equipment, including fire trucks, fire stations and personal protective gear, is outdated and needs tens of millions of dollars for replacements or repairs.
By contracting with Care, a private ambulance company, the city would have to layoff 30 firefighters and paramedics to shift services around, Capelle said.
But, according to Capelle, dissolving the city’s own fire department and contracting services with the county’s fire department would provide increased services to the city and ensure a job for all city firefighters.
The county option seemed most attractive to most members on the board. However, committee member Jim Grivich said, at this point, it is too early to tell if the switch would indeed save the city money.
“We’re not going to save all the money, we’re going to have to spend money, a lot of money regardless,” he said in regards to paying for pensions and benefits.
Indeed, some committee members said that in recommending the county’s fire services, they also urge council members to thoroughly vet any agreement between the city and county.