There’s a fire in Woodside — quick, call the Menlo Park Fire Protection District!
A scenario is being floated in which the Woodside and Menlo Park fire districts would consolidate and become a single entity. The consolidated district would save an unspecified amount of money through an economy of scale, according to a state-mandated analysis by LAFCo, the San Mateo County Local Agency Formation Commission.
The scenario is a required area of discussion, not a formal proposal for consolidation, said Martha Poyatos, LAFCo’s executive officer.
Even if it hasn’t risen to the level of a proposal — yet — the Menlo Park fire district’s board of directors has been amenable to such ideas in the past. The board of directors is set to consider the report, along with the consolidation issue, at its Aug. 28 meeting.
“We’ve always been open to any opportunity out there,” said Chief Harold Schapelhouman of the Menlo Park fire district.
Members of Woodside’s board of directors are considerably less enthusiastic about the idea, saying that their smaller district would get swallowed up and service for its residents would decline.
The Woodside Fire Protection District, which includes Woodside, Portola Valley and unincorporated areas such as Ladera and Los Trancos Woods, encompasses 31 square miles. It’s larger than the 27-square-mile Menlo Park district — which includes Atherton and East Palo Alto — but is much more sparsely populated.
The Woodside district is considered rural and hard to serve while Menlo Park, for the most part, is urban. Woodside firefighters have specific skills tailored to the difficulties of their district’s terrain, Woodside fire board members said.
“I don’t see a significant savings and I do see a definite degradation of service,” said Woodside board member Peter Berger, pointing out that the district already collaborates with other fire agencies for training, equipment maintenance and emergency medical services, among other things.
Countywide, fire agencies share dispatching service and have “dropped boundaries,” meaning the nearest fire engine will respond to a call, regardless of what town it’s from.
Even if the two districts consolidated under a single fire chief and single board of directors, there’s no indication that the number of employees would decrease, Mr. Berger said. If the headcount doesn’t get smaller, there won’t be much in the way of savings, he said.
“Our greatest cost, bar none, is labor,” he said.
Chief Schapelhouman said he didn’t see any drawbacks to studying the potential for consolidation to see if it would benefit residents.
“Anybody who tells you the service delivery would be downgraded is wrong, I think,” he said. “When there’s a call, the public doesn’t care what name is on the side of the fire engine — just that someone comes.”
Even if Menlo Park’s board becomes enthusiastic about the consolidation idea, it’s unlikely to go anywhere without Woodside’s blessing. LAFCo has the authority to move forward with such mergers, but has a policy of not pressing an arranged marriage on unwilling participants. Part of LAFCo’s role is to regularly examine the efficiency of public agencies and recommend areas of improvement.
“No one is trying to force anything on either of these two districts,” said Commissioner Howard Jones.
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