Juan Ovalle. Courtesy photo.

People Post is a space for opinion pieces, letters to the editor and guest submissions from members of the Long Beach community. The following is an op-ed submitted by Juan Ovalle, a candidate to represent District 8 on the City Council, is a member of the Long Beach Reform Coalition and co-founder of the watchdog group People of Long Beach, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Long Beach Post.

This is in response to Councilman Al Austin, who co-authored (with Councilwoman Stacy Mungo) a recent People Post asking the City Council to budget for the restoration of Fire Station 9.

The sudden and permanent closure of Bixby Knolls’ Fire Station 9, a decision apparently made final by city officials in July due to mold concerns, yet only revealed to the public after the fact, in August, and without advance public input, leaves the entire northwestern middle section of Long Beach (especially Council Districts 8 and part of 7) more vulnerable to medical emergencies and fires. Yet the message dispensed at Councilman Al Austin’s recent town hall meeting on this matter, after three weeks of intense discussion on community social media, verging on outrage and occasionally spilling over, was that we the public are the problem, not our public safety infrastructure.

Virtually every official speaker, from the councilman to city staff, including the fire and police chiefs, had a single refrain:  You the public are the problem for spreading “misinformation” online. The reality is that the authorities, starting with our council representative, continue to fail the public in their most basic duty: full transparency. They blame the people for being upset that response times for heart attack and stroke and kitchen fire calls are now suffering and trying to piece together answers from the dearth of information provided.

That frankly is unacceptable.  Our public safety network is like a piece of fabric weakened by a tear now. That affects not only the service area of Fire Station 9, but the adjacent fire station service areas, which FS9 would ordinarily supplement from its location on the 3900 block of Long Beach Boulevard when those areas are especially busy. Now the FS9 personnel and apparatus must come from the airport until nearer temporary facilities can be erected. The public has a right to know why we suddenly find ourselves in this position, and get real answers, not just defensive posturing.

The reality is that Councilman Austin’s town hall and two related city manager memos have left far more questions and inconsistencies than any real answers:

  • Why won’t officials release the mold remediation report and any other structural analysis on which the permanent closure decision was made?  We asked for this information in conversation after the town hall and were told, point blank, “No”, by Fire Chief Espino. He refused to say why not. So, why not? Why hide this critical information for public confidence from view? I call on Councilman Austin to release this report or reports immediately for full transparency.
  • A city manager memo regarding FS9 dated Aug. 20, 2019 stated that the mold remediator recommended “an extensive study…by a water intrusion specialist” before any further action. Instead the decision to close the station was made without further study, and Fire Department officials confirmed in conversation after the town hall that the recommended water intrusion study never occurred. Why not?
  • Why won’t officials discuss the nature of the illnesses reported by Fire Department personnel over the last few years at FS9?  The public has a right to know if our taxpayer-supported facilities have been making our workers sick and in what way. Again, we were refused at the town hall meeting even a general description of these illness categories or types.
  • Why wasn’t the public ever informed that FS9 was in such apparently disastrous, deteriorating condition in recent years that it was near total condemnation? For a structure that is crucial to public safety to be so far gone that it must be torn down is a stunning revelation. How could the city not know this previously, and if they knew why didn’t they convey the severity to the affected public?
  • The city manager memo dated Aug. 30, 2019 states that, “The City is currently working with environmental experts to evaluate the severity of [FS9’s] structural challenge.”  Why would the city be “currently” analyzing the severity when the decision had already been made, as the memo itself makes clear and Assistant City Manager Tom Modica made clear at the Aug. 27 town hall, to raze FS9 to the ground and build a new station?  Such an incredibly illogical statement suggests incompetence in this process, or the lack of a rational process, and further emphasizes the need for the city to release any reports on FS9 currently on hand.
  • Is the rush to close rather than thoroughly rehab FS9 motivated by political concerns, in particular justifying the city’s decision to put a permanent extension of Measure A on the ballot next year? The people of eastern Long Beach have already been told they will finally get Engine 17 restored, but only temporarily if future revenue currently unidentified isn’t found. The price tag on replacing FS9 has been estimated at up to a whopping $20 million. In each case, the city pleads poverty and the strong implication is not cost-cutting at City Hall but rather further taxation.

And the real question is, why does our city apparently always have so little money that it cannot maintain its own key public safety buildings, as well as our parks, libraries and streets and other basic infrastructure?  Why has Councilman Austin, a member of the Budget Oversight Committee, failed to maintain this essential asset in his own district rather than allowing it to degrade to the point of no return?

Councilman Austin should not be bragging about seeking emergency funds for temporary prefab structures to house the personnel of FS9 for the next few years. He should be explaining to his constituents how this public safety disaster happened in the first place.