I want to take a few minutes to explain my vote yesterday on fire services and provide you with important context.
Fire protection, putting deputies back on the street and road funding have always been my top priorities. In 2018, before I was even seated as a County Supervisor, I asked the Board at the time to make fire the top priority in its legislative platform. Since then, fire coverage in this county has expanded significantly. We went from two fire stations to five – that is huge! The expansion was made possible by ARP funds and the SAFER grant from the federal government.
Our contract with CAL FIRE began in 1977 and is still in place today. In 2023, when the SAFER grant was approved, staff brought forward a memo clearly stating that this level of fire staffing was not sustainable without a new, permanent source of revenue, such as a special tax measure. The Board approved the grant with that understanding. I approved it knowing that if new revenues did not materialize, difficult cuts would be required and I stated I would make those cuts. This situation is not unique to fire. When grants expire in other departments, the positions funded by those grants typically expire as well, yes even for the sheriff’s office.
The ARP funds ran out and the SAFER grant runs out in March and the board previously approved funding through June. Now we face a $1.8M shortfall in fire funding for the fiscal year starting in July. The good news is that we have figured out how to prioritize and permanently fund four stations without relying on grant money. The bad news is that we currently cannot afford the fifth station.
Over the past several years, we have also made major investments in the Sheriff’s Department—without relying on substantial grant funding—to recruit and retain deputies. Those investments have resulted in more deputies on the street than we have had in years. We have restored critical programs like the narcotics team and are working to place deputies back in our schools.
At the beginning of 2025, a new Board was seated. And I want to say clearly that this Board has been getting things done. One community member at yesterday’s board meeting said that this Board has accomplished more in the last year than the previous Board did in their entire tenure. That progress has required making hard decisions. We made 15% cuts right away to start living within our means. We merged services, consolidated technology, reorganized departments, and moved staff out of rented buildings into county-owned facilities. Yes, we invested in capital improvements, but we are doing that to stop paying rent. That saves money every single year going forward, money we can then put toward fire, law enforcement, and roads and cost of living increase to our hardest hit employees. There are more rented buildings we need to move out of and we are working on that – and yes, that costs money too.
We have also discussed revenue options over the years. Ideas like a Community Facilities District, which is essentially another tax on property owners which I opposed. There have been multiple tax measures – all failed except for raising the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). On Measure A, voters clearly told us: if money is raised, they want it spent on fire, roads, and law enforcement.
Yesterday’s discussion was about how we react when the SAFER grant runs out leaving us the option of five stations or four, one of which operates only eight hours a day (Mono Vista) while still meeting our required response time standards. That question should have been answered a year ago and was punted to the last second… CalFire’s deadline was yesterday.
For the last year, I have consistently said that if we want to fully fund fire, law enforcement, and roads, we must make cuts elsewhere, not pit public safety against each other. I have not been fully supported in that approach.
I also recently proposed—and this Board adopted in principle—that TOT revenues be removed from the general fund and placed into a dedicated line item for accountability, consistent with what we told constituents: these funds should support law enforcement, fire, and roads. That consensus was reached just a few months ago, and work is underway to achieve it in the 2026-27 budget.
Yesterday, I made a motion to fully fund ALL FIRE STATIONS which would require a cut of 5.6% across all departments, excluding fire, law enforcement, roads, parks/recreation, library, and the Visitors Bureau. That motion did not receive a second.
Let me be clear. I motioned, as I have in the past, to make the hard decision to fund this fifth station. It was not seconded and my motion died.
Supervisor Campbell made a motion that would allow cuts to law enforcement and roads in order to fund the fire station. I cannot support that. I am not going to rob Peter to pay Paul when our constitutional obligation is to both.
When Paul’s department wins a grant, hires people and then the grant runs out, should we then go to Peter’s department and lay people off?
Supervisor Campbell’s motion would have started a dangerous pattern: fund fire today, then come back in a few months and cut deputies to make the numbers work. I will not support that approach because public safety losses and the community is less safe.
Supervisor Campbell also advocated for dipping into contingency funds to fill the gap. This Board solidified a budget policy that we do not use contingency funds for ongoing
expenses, including public safety staffing. Contingencies are one-time reserves. If we use them to fund permanent positions, they will be drained quickly, and we will be in a worse position next year.
Supervisor Holland made a counter-motion to close the Mono Vista fire station and not make any other cuts. That matters because fire and law enforcement are both constitutional responsibilities. I am not willing to protect one by weakening the other. That is not balancing priorities that is shifting risk onto the public. That is why I voted for Supervisor Holland’s counter-motion.
Supervisor Holland’s counter-motion accepted a hard reality — the SAFER grant has ended and we are not going to violate our Board policy by dipping into contingencies. That policy matters.
Earlier this year, I proposed hiring a sheriff deputy and a District Attorney investigator to focus on crimes against children, women, the elderly, and hate crimes against the LGBTQ community. The cost would have been about $300,000 per year. At that time, the argument against my proposal was that we should not use contingencies to fund ongoing positions.
That same principle applies here. We cannot say “no” to using contingencies for law enforcement in one moment, then turn around and say “yes” to using contingencies for fire staffing the next. That is inconsistent, and it is exactly how budgets get out of control.
Between now and June, the Mono Vista station will remain open eight hours a day, just as it is today. Ultimately, under the new CAL FIRE staffing model, no positions will be lost. With the SAFER grant ending, staffing will temporarily decrease from 36 to 30 positions, but under the new, so called “3/0” staffing ratio required by the CAL FIRE contract, staffing will return to 36 positions. This means that instead of every engine being staffed with two fire fighters, each will have to be staffed with three. And that is another hidden cost increase we will have to address.
And let me be clear: my advocacy for this community does not stop here. The public has been clear—you want us to live within our means AND increase funding for law enforcement, fire and roads. In the months ahead, I will continue bringing forward proposals to fully fund fire, this station and “3/0” staffing without cutting law enforcement, roads, the Visitors Bureau, parks and recreation, or the library.
Finally, I also want to address a concern that was raised today by some CAL FIRE employees. There was some concern the County might be considering ending the CAL FIRE contract completely. Let me be very clear: that is not happening.
This county has not and probably will never agree on a single alternative service model. We have multiple fire chiefs, districts, and boards with different opinions. That is exactly why, years ago, the County made the decision to stop entertaining other models and commit to CAL FIRE. We are sticking with that contract. And the board affirmed this yesterday,
In summary, my commitment to fire, law enforcement, and roads has not changed and remain my top priority, even when temporary grant funding runs out and hard decisions must be made. Fire funding has taken three steps forward and one step back. Going backwards is not ok. I am committed to finding a way to take another step forward.
