5:00pm | The Long Beach Firefighters’ Association (LBFF) is awaiting a response from the City regarding its concession offers made in consideration of Long Beach’s $7 million budget deficit.
But LBFF Vice-president Rex Pritchard says that although the LBFF has gone through several rounds of discussions and submitted a proposal that “encompasses just about everything they asked for,” the City has since cancelled numerous meetings on the subject, and he is unaware of any further meetings being scheduled.
“We brought [the proposal] to them several weeks ago and still haven’t heard back,” says Pritchard. “It’s confusing beyond belief for us, especially considering that the sooner we get this wrapped up, the sooner the savings come to the City.”
An LBFF press release says the proposal involves “pension reform and deep compensation give-backs,” but seeks to maintain staffing levels.
“Though we have families of our own to support, we felt it important to take the cuts in compensation rather than staffing because personnel cuts will affect the safety of all our families,” says LBFF President Rich Brandt. “We are optimistic City Council will share our belief that public safety must be our number-one priority.”
According to the press release, the Long Beach Fire Department has lost 30 sworn positions in 2004, putting it at 1970s staffing levels, when the department responded to about one-tenth the call volume it receives today.
The press release points out one of the less obvious consequences of low staffing: since California law requires a minimum of four firefighters on scene before personnel can deployed into a fire, a unit that arrives with only three firefighters has to wait for back-up, which can have deadly consequences, since on average a fire doubles in size every minute.
On Thursday, August 3, Fifth District Councilmember Gerrie Schipske is holding a community meeting regarding LBFD staffing issues.
“This issue is too important not to engage the community right now,” says Schipske in a press release. “In light of the fact that the City continues to ‘brown out’ stations, and now apparently management is floating proposals to cut staffing further, I think the community needs to hear a full presentation and provide their input.”
Schipske’s community meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 3, at the El Dorado Community Center (2800 Studebaker Rd.).
Residents wishing to otherwise provide the City with input on the topic are encouraged by the LBFD to call City Hall at (562) 570-6801.
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Reporting by Greggory Moore.
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