It's interesting that the FD continues to be a financial target. While the FD may not always make the wisest decisions (no council does), it would cost the Town lots of money to move away from Menlo Fire; not to mention Atherton lowering its reputation among other county fire agencies.

If the Town really was concerned about its finances, there are other departments that could be consolidated or out sources to save dollars.

When other fire agencies are consolidating, Atherton wants to separate -- not a good decision. The Council and leaders need to move on.

Bob, actually the Town should look at other options. The ZMPFD is reckless in spending and should be challenged. Moving from MPFD may be great for Atherton but bad for Menlo. Let's see if you are so cavalier with buying million dollar homes, to rent below market, and you have to pay for it.

But then Atherton spends lots and lots of money on law suits and think nothing about spending funds to study and study issues that need to be studies and re-studied.

Having already spent or caused to be spent $80k of taxpayers’ money on their so-called Fire Services Fiscal Review and discovering, thanks to the response to a thoughtful letter (attachment 1) from a concerned citizen to the Executive Director of LAFCO, that detachment from the Fire District would be both unprecedented and very difficult, and after each of the Council members has stated that they are opposed to detachment from the Fire District the Atherton Town Council will on 21 March consider spending another $13k to further pursue this boondoggle.

And almost all of the information that Matrix proposes to provide (“understanding the LAFCO and legislative processes and requirements associated with detachment “) for a mere $13k has already been provided for free by the LAFCO Executive Director’s Feb 9 email!

Nothing that the Council has done or proposes to do will reduce the property taxes of a single Atherton resident by even a penny.

Nothing that the Council has done or proposes to do will improve the fire services provided to Atherton residents.

And the Council is fully aware that 98.5% of the Fire District residents are satisfied with the performance of their current fire agency (attachment 1).

What exactly is the Council trying to “accomplish” except to continue to waste our taxpayers’ money?

From: Peter Carpenter <peterfcarpenter@me.com>
Subject: How to actually save money on fire services
Date: February 27, 2018 at 5:20:58 PM PST
To: Cary Wiest <Cwiest4council@gmail.com>, Elizabeth Lewis <elewis@ci.atherton.ca.us>, Bill Widmer <billwidmer4atherton@gmail.com>, Rick DeGolia <rick@rickdegolia.com>, Mike Lempres <mlempres@ci.atherton.ca.us>
Cc: emibach@padailypost.com, Kevin Kelly <kkelly@dailynewsgroup.com>, Renee Batti <rbatti@AlmanacNews.com>, allanepstein@aol.com, Martha Poyatos <mpoyatos@co.sanmateo.ca.us>, Chuck Bernstein <cbernstein@MenloFire.org>, Robert Jones <rjones@MenloFire.org>, Rob Silano <rjsilano@juno.com>, virginiack@MenloFire.org, harolds@menlofire.org, Tim Cremin <tcremin@meyersnave.com>


The only way to reduce the cost of fire services while actually increasing service levels is wide area consolidation - which your Fire Board is on record as supporting:

RESOLUTION OF THE MENLO PARK FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT BOARD
REQUESTING THAT THE SAN MATEO COUNTY LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION
COMMISSION (LAFCo) PERFORM A COUNTY-WIDE MUNICIPAL SERVICE
REVIEW OF FIRE AGENCIES WITHIN SAN MATEO COUNTY
WHEREAS, the District believes that consolidation of fire and emergency medical
services agencies allows for the greatest opportunity to provide efficient and quality life-saving
services; and
WHEREAS, any action resulting in fragmentation of fire and emergency medical
services agencies within the County of San Mateo would result in increased costs and a decrease
in the quality of services; and
WHEREAS, fire districts, including the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, provide a
myriad of services to the community in addition to basic fire and emergency services, including
but not limited to, disaster preparedness, public education, code promulgation, and inspections;
and
WHEREAS, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District has been a long time leader in the
consolidation of fire dispatch services and has successfully and significantly reduced response
times in recent years; and
WHEREAS , consolidation of services allows for economies of scale, permitting
exemplary levels of cost-efficient service; and
WHEREAS, any attempt to replicate this level of services in individual San Mateo
County municipalities would be imprudent and ineffective, as such effort could not facilitate
economies of scale, resulting and in higher costs and inefficiencies; and
WHEREAS, special districts, including the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, have
the unique distinction and capability of being well managed and economically healthy, primarily
due to not being subservient to municipal government.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Board of Directors of the Menlo Park
Fire Protection District hereby direct that correspondence be transmitted by the Fire Chief, on
behalf of the District, to the San Mateo LAFCo, requesting that the San Mateo LAFCo perform a
county-wide municipal service review to evaluate fire agencies within San Mateo County.


Here are two great examples of such wide area consolidations:

Orange County Fire

The Orange County Fire Authority is a regional fire service agency that serves 22 cities in Orange County and all unincorporated areas. The OCFA protects over 1,400,000 residents from its 61 fire stations located throughout Orange County. OCFA Reserve Firefighters work 10 stations throughout Orange County.

$263,952,650 (09/10)
$188 per capita


SacMetro
Serves nearly 640,000 citizens over a 417-square-mile area, serving Sacramento & Placer counties including the City of Citrus Heights and the City of Rancho Cordova.

Historically, Metro Fire represents 16 former fire agencies, some of which were founded more than six decades ago. Today, Metro Fire is the seventh-largest fire district in California with 42 strategically located fire stations.
$148,269,642 total expenses
= $231 per capita

A concerned Town Council should pass a resolution supporting a County wide Fire Services MSR. Such a consolidation would then allow the County Supervisors to reallocate the savings to other agencies.

This is bogus. For instance, Atherton pays in far more than it receives from the

1) school district
2) County, State and Federal government
3) Harbor, Hospital and Vector Districts.

Thus why pick on the Fire District other than they are more visible? Don’t waste your money- the service you are receiving is outstanding. End this personal pursuit at taxpayers’ expense.

Even the Atherton former mayor wrote two letters and personally spoke at the February City Council meeting strongly recommending against a divorce with the Fire District. You need to respect his opinion, having service on the LAFCO Board for many years.

Perhaps the large amount of money being spent on this pursuit may more wisely be channeled in other greatly needed ways.

"Perhaps the large amount of money being spent on this pursuit may more wisely be channeled in other greatly needed ways. "

Ironically if this $80k had been given to LAFCO for a County wide MSR on Emergency Services to add to the funding that the Fire District provided to LAFCO for this MSR then we would actually be moving in the direction of both improved emergency services and lower cost for those services.

Why hasn't the Town Council supported County wide consolidation of emergency services as has the Fire Board?

Yet another article about Atherton possibly leaving the Fire District, with no discussion of what the impacts would be to MP/EPA of that. Is it that hard to call up some Council members of those cities?

The Town Council voted to toss another $13k down the drain to get answers to questions which the LAFCO Executive Director has already answered and with the full knowledge that there is no way that this effort will reduce our property taxes by a single penny or improve our fire services.


The only way to reduce the cost of fire services while actually increasing service levels is wide area consolidation - which your Fire Board is on record as supporting. Such a consolidation would then allow the County Supervisors to reallocate the savings to other agencies.


Why hasn't the Town Council supported County wide consolidation of emergency services as has the Fire Board?

$80K is a drop in the bucket compared to the millions a year they contribute over the services they receive. They owe it to the tax payers of the city to get value for their investment. If the person managing my money was spending my money the way MPFPD spends tax dollars I would fire them and find someone new. Common Sense.

This seems like a good issue for the ballot, people of Atherton can decide if they want to subsidize other cities and if they agree with the wonton spending the MPFPD has engaged in in the last few years.

"This seems like a good issue for the ballot,"

Bring it on!

98.5% of the residents surveyed are satisfied with their current fire services and only 9.5% support a separate fire department for Atherton.

Also note this election result:

Shall the appropriations limit applicable to the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, which is currently set at $40,000,000 and set to expire on June 30, 2016, be reauthorized for four years at a level of $50,000,000 beginning on July 1, 2016?

Vote Count %
YES 6,299 79.1%
NO 1,666 20.9%

And compare that to the failure of the Town's Parcel Tax which only received 52% of the vote - far short of the required 66%.

What should be brought to the ballot is a referendum on whether to outsource the fire department, given an impartial analysis of what the costs and benefits/detriments of the alternative(s) would be. Where I disagree with Peter Carpenter is whether that should be done before such analysis, and it's okay to spend some money on the analysis.

HOWEVER, the same analysis should be done for a referendum on whether to outsource the police department, with the same cost and benefit/detriment calculation of the alternative(s). The town council, perhaps due to political patronage, is adopting a "double standard" approach by hawkishly questioning costs on fire, but turning a blind eye to the
enormously costly police department with the presumption "everyone supports it". The same basic refrain could be said about the fire department, as Peter correctly points out.

Ballots - great idea.

And the County wide emergency services Municipal Services Review could easily produce the information desired for both police and fire services.

Another interesting fact which reports on this matter have totally overlooked is Atherton's presumption that the Town can in fact conduct a Municipal Services Review of another agency.

By law that responsibility has been given to LAFCO:
"The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 requires LAFCO to review municipal services. The requirement for service reviews is in response to the identified need for a more coordinated and efficient public service structure, which will support California’s anticipated growth. The service review provides LAFCO with a tool to comprehensively study existing and future public service conditions and to evaluate organizational options for accommodating growth, preventing urban sprawl, and ensuring that critical services are efficiently and cost-effectively provided. "

Peter,

You alwasy throw out those numbers but they are irrelevant. Have you asked the residents of Atherton if they support paying several million dollars over the cost of the services they are receiving?" I have a feeling if that question were asked they answer would be a resounding "NO". MPFPD may have a high "satisfaction" rate but that is besides the point. I like my gas station and would rate them high on service but would stop going there if they charged me more that double what I would pay at a different station.

And given the mismanagement of the MPFPD and the carefree spending on everything from overtime to property that the fire department does not need now nor will for a decade or more I think that the majority of residents are getting fed up.

Brian - I look forward to the results of the poll which you propose to conduct.

Brian:

comparing a gas station to a fire department is laughable. It's apples and oranges.

What I see is a breakdown of communications. Both sides are avoiding talking to one another like the plague. Even at the 2016 and 2017 joint meeting with the Atherton City Council and the Fire District Board, this "hot" topic was avoided, in preference to "safe" topics, such as the size of address numbers and whether they should have adequate lighting.

Maybe what is needed is the services of a professional mediator or facilitator to help the two parties resolve their differences. It seems like they are talking "at" each other instead of "with" each other. Better communication may make a difference.

Observer -In my personal opinion this Council has no interest in dialogue on this issue. I can provided you with dozens of emails to the Town Council that were never even responded to. And the Fire District bent over backwards to provide information to the Town's consultant.