BLUE FOLDER ITEM
Blue folder items are additional back up material to administrative reports and/or public comments received after the printing and distribution of the agenda packet for receive and file.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
APRIL 19, 2022
N.2 DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING THE COMPLETION OF A
FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR THE PROVISION OF FIRE SERVICES IN THE CITY OF
REDONDO BEACH BY THE CONSOLIDATED FIRE PREVENTION DISTRICT OF LOS
ANGELES COUNTY
CONTACT: LUKE SMUDE, ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER
LETTER FROM RB FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION & PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS From: Kenneth Campos <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2022 12:41 PM
To: Eleanor Manzano <[email protected]>
Cc: Bill Brand <[email protected]>; Nils Nehrenheim <[email protected]>; Todd Loewenstein <[email protected]>; Christian Horvath <[email protected]>; Zein Obagi <[email protected]>; Laura Emdee <[email protected]>
Subject: Request for item to be added to Blue Folder
CAUTION: Email is from an external source; Stop, Look, and Think before opening attachments or links.
Hello Eleanor,
I would like to formally request to have the attached document be added to tonight's(4/19/22) blue folder for item N2.
Thank you
Kenny Campos
President
Redondo Beach Firefighters Association
Local 2787
REDONDO BEACH
FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION
IAFF Local 2787
P.O. Box 51, Redondo Beach, California 90277
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mayor Brand, Council Members, and City Staff:
I am writing today to give you the official stance of the Association in regards to the Los Angeles County Fire study. The Association feels it important to state our intentions early in this process, to avoid any possible confusion. We feel that it is imperative to fully complete all of Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Los Angeles County Fire study. Alongside the Los Angeles County fire study, we believe that it is important to completely finish all assessments and explore all options in regards to the Fire Department (IE- internal assessment, Los Angeles County Fire study, and local consolidation options). We believe that all options that have been presented in the last few years should be explored to the fullest and presented in its entirety to the council for a decision to be made.
In conjunction with completing thorough assessments of all options, we believe that it is imperative that we continue to move forward as a Department/Association. Which includes the implementation of the assessment completed by Police/Fire Chief Kauffman and Retired Chief Joe Castro. After review of this internal assessment, the Association agrees with a majority of the findings, and implementation would help continue the forward progress needed within our Department and Association.
In conclusion and in regards to the Los Angeles County Fire Study, as stated above, this is one of several options that need to be completely explored and placed in front of council for a final decision. We have been working with Fire and City Administration on this issue and hope to continue this relationship to ensure all details are covered. The Association and Department deserve to have a clear direction from the council and this can only be achieved when every option is explored to its fullest extent.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Kenneth Campos
Redondo Beach Firefighters Association
Local 2787
Board of Directors
Kenneth Campos
President
Gary Dailey
Vice President
Matt Taras
Secretary
Jasen Brown
Treasurer
Bart Waddell
Chad M. Smith
Brad Godinez
Hello,
I wanted to express my support for our fire department to merge with the LA county fire department.
I myself was a firefighter for 6 years when I was younger prior to working for the Los Angeles Police Department for the last twelve years. While having your own fire department seems beneficial, I believe that LA County can not only provide the same service but will surpass anyone’s expectations with the extra resources that they can provide; Urban Search and Rescue, Hazmat Unit, Arson Investigators, Lifeguards, helicopters, resources for large critical events, fire prevention and a first alarm fire response that does not rely on multiple cities resources. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
I payed attention throughout the ordeal with the Hermosa Beach Fire Department and I believe they made the right decision. There was a video of a fire incident in Hermosa Beach back in 2019 and I wanted to provide the link to the KTLA video.
Please watch the video to showcase the resources available by LA County Fire.
An incident like this would easily deplete our entire fire department and also create issues with coverage for the city while these resources are committed to the fire. LA County has the ability to move up resources to cover the city while other resources deal with a complex incident.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/ktla.com/news/local-news/suspicious-firedamages-5-structures-in-hermosa-beach-person-of-interest-detained/amp/ I truly believe the days of small fire departments are numbered and I believe that LA County fire may offer a contract that is fiscally beneficial for the city without any cuts to the quality of service. The RBFD Union was in support of the previous study and the exploration of going to LA County Fire. The HBFD was in support of going county.
I hope everyone on the council keeps an open mind. Thank you for your time.
David Martin
From: Charles Hammond <charles [email protected]>
Date: April 16, 2022 at 1:55:32 PM PDT
To: Bill Brand <[email protected]>
Cc: Eleanor Manzano <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Request for comment about outsourcing RBFD CAUTION: Email is from an external source; Stop, Look, and Think before opening attachments or links.
Thank you Mayor Brand for the detailed response. Eleanor, my questions and comments for the city numbered below.
I agree with your policy of funding detailed analyses but, in my view, your choice of provider, LACFD, makes no sense from a public safety or finance perspective.
Question 1. LACFD does not have any ISO Class I districts, how could they possibly give us an apples to apples comparison?
Question 2. By LACFD’s own omission they are "underfunded and underresourced”, "falls short of national staffing standards” and is reporting the heartbreaking statistic of "more firefighters have lost their lives to suicide than in fires in recent years”. In my opinion, the thought of subjecting our firefighters to the conditions at LACFD is just cruel and getting a detailed quote from them is a waste of city resources, why are you even considering it?
Question 3. Why not request a quote from other Class I FDs in the South Bay, I know Torrance has a world class FD?
Comment 1. Public safety should be this cities elected official’s top priority, please go against recently retired police chief and interim fire chief Kauaiman’s request of not hiring a new chief until a quote is complete.
Question 4. Please ask our city attorney if interim fire chief Kauaiman’s request of not hiring a new chief until a quote is complete is a conflict of interest?
Comment 2. LACFD will no doubt be the cheapest option for the city but not for its citizens. LACFD "needs at least $1.4 billion just to upgrade and replace equipment” and in 2020 wanted to tax parcel owners with Measure FD, which had 53% approval just needed 14% more to pass.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions, ~ Charles Hammond
On Apr 16, 2022, at 10:15 AM, Bill Brand <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Mr. Hammond,
I have been asking for an assessment and quote from LA County Fire for over 10 years. My position being that the City should better understand what services we are receiving and at what cost, and do we have options.
Contrary to the belief of some, I am not going into this analysis with the predetermined policy that LA County Fire will be cheaper and provide better service, and that a feasibility analysis will demonstrate this and I will then follow suit with a recommendation to close the Redondo Beach Fire Department and contract our services to Los Angeles County.
My policy is that we should fund detailed analyses, both a self-analysis, which is complete, and one by LA County Fire, so we can compare apples to apples and learn how we can improve this critical safety function, and possibly at less cost. Without detailed analyses for all to see, we will miss a huge opportunity to make important improvements and possibly save money.
If there is a large cost and service difference between what LA County Fire can provide and what our own department provides, I would only support a public vote to consider contracting with them. That is too big of a decision for the City Council to make on their own, even a unanimous decision.
Our recently completed self-analysis will be discussed at this Tuesday's Council meeting that begins at 6pm. You can read this analysis at the link below by clicking on Item N1. file:///Users/billbrand/Downloads/Agenda%20(90).pdf
Feel free to participate in the meeting, and/or send your comments and questions via email to our City Clerk at [email protected]. I have cc'd her on this email.
Have a good weekend!
Bill Brand
Mayor
City of Redondo Beach
(310) 809-4405
All communications are accessible via California Public Records Act requests. Records retention policy for Redondo Beach is 30 days.
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From: Charles Hammond <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 15, 2022 11:12 AM
To: Bill Brand <[email protected]>
Subject: Request for comment about outsourcing RBFD
CAUTION: Email is from an external source; Stop, Look, and Think before opening attachments or links.
Hello Mayor Brand,
I am putting together a community flyer and I would appreciate it if you could answer the question so I can share it with my neighbors.
Would you vote to contract with LA County Fire Department to replace any service Redondo Beach Fire Department currently provides?
Based on your previous comments of supporting a feasibility study of contracting with LA County Fire I wanted to check with you to see if your position has changed.
Also, please also let me know if you have any comments on the article below.
LA County Places 6 Cent Parcel Tax for Fire Department on March Ballot https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/los-angeles-lafd-parcel-tax-pay-for-firefighters/2272443/? fbclid=IwAR0Sp2QtkIVWjWJ-rs58SOE7MWjpOrdAwqKBitq F81dsHtjk-o1c4gJbv8#l20qqm7cumda4aqy3m Thank you in advance for your reply.
~Charles Hammond
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