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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 05031994 - IO.3 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS I .O.-3 5E ,,�...., . ...o� Contra FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE '� Costa r� April 25, 1994 County �o.` -cP�, DATE: spq_coun� SUBJECT: REPORT REGARDING BOARDS OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS IN VIEW OF THE PENDING CONSOLIDATION OF SEVERAL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICTS SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . AGREE to leave the Boards of Fire Commissioners of the following Fire Protection Districts intact as they are presently. constituted and eliminate them from the existing freeze on appointments to Boards of Fire Commissioners : ♦ Moraga Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners, as acted on by the Board of Supervisors on April 26, 1994 . ♦ East Diablo Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners . ♦ Bethel Island Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners : ♦ Crockett-Carquinez Fire Protection District Board of Fire. Commissioners . 2 . AGREE to abolish. the Boards of Fire Commissioners of the following Fire Protection Districts, effective on the date that the pending annexation of territory to the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District and the dissolution of the Orinda, Pinole, Oakley, Riverview and West County Fire Protection Districts is effective and DIRECT the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors to remove these Boards of Fire Commissioners ' entries from the "Maddy Book" on the date they are abolished: CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES GNATURE: 1 RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMIN SSTRA RREC DATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER [ 1 _ JEFF SMITH IRK DeSAULNIER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON May InUl APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER APPROVED the recommendations set forth above to include Recommendation 4 .A that provides for a 7-member Commission and consideration given to balancing geographic representation as well as including industry; REFERRED to the Internal Operations Committee for further consideration of the duties , roles , and responsibilities of the commissioners . VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT.COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ATTESTED May 3 , 1994 Contact: PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF CC: County Administrator SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Allen Little, Fire Chief County Counsel Fire. Commissioners (Via CAO) BY DEPUTY I .O.-3 ♦ Orinda Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners . ♦ Pinole Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners. ♦ Oakley Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners . ♦ Riverview Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners . ♦ West County Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners . ♦ Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners . 3 . AGREE to create a new Board of Fire Commissioners for the newly consolidated Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, effective on the date that the pending annexation of territory to the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District and the dissolution of the Orinda, Pinole, Oakley, Riverview and West County Fire Protection Districts is effective, with ,the following characteristics : ♦ A seven member Commission, pursuant to Health and Safety Code § 13844 . ♦ Provision to be made for an alternate for each member to be nominated by the member and appointed by the Board of Supervisors . ♦ The duties, roles and responsibilities of the Board of Fire Commissioners to be as set forth in Resolution 801216, dated February 26, 1980. ♦ Terms of office to be for four years, as provided for in Health and Safety Code § 13844, with terms to be staggered as noted below. 4 . _ AGREE with one or the other of the following appointment processes : A. One Commissioner to be nominated by each member of the Board of Supervisors, for appointment by the Board of Supervisors, and two at-large Commissioners to be nominated by the Internal Operations Committee and appointed by the Board of Supervisors, with initial terms to be staggered as follows, to be followed by terms to expire four years following the date of the expiration of the initial term: Nominated by: Initial term expires : Supervisor, District I June 30, 1995 Supervisor, District II June 30, 1997 Supervisor, District III June 30, 1997 Supervisor, District IV June 30, 1995 Supervisor, District V June 30, 1997 At-Large Seat #1 June 30, 1996 At-Large Seat #2 June 30, 1998 It would be the role of the Internal Operations Committee to use the two at-large seats, in part, in an effort to balance geographic or other imbalances which may exist as a result of the appointments to the other five seats . -2- I .O.-3 B. A proportional distribution more nearly related to the population and assessed value of the cities and unincorporated areas in the newly consolidated Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, the specific mechanism and method of staggering the terms to be determined by the Board of Supervisors . 5 . Having chosen the selection process to be followed as outlined in Recommendation # 4 above, DIRECT the County Administrator to advertise for applicants for any seats not nominated by individual Board members, forward the applications to the Internal Operations Committee for appointment consideration, and AUTHORIZE the Internal Operations Committee to undertake such screening and interviewing as it determines is necessary in order to recommend to the Board of Supervisors candidates for seats not nominated by individual Board members . 6 . RESERVE the right of the Board of Supervisors, at some time in the future, to appoint advisory boards representing specific interests or issues relating to the fire service to advise the Fire Chief and/or the Board of Supervisors on those specific interests or issues . 7 . REMOVE this issue as a referral to the Internal Operations Committee, except as noted above for the purpose of recruiting, screening and interviewing candidates for appointment to the Board of Fire Commissioners of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. BACKGROUND: On January 25, 1994, the Board of Supervisors referred to our Committee the issue of how to create an advisory commission that would replace all of the existing fire commissions . We had already been discussing this issue as a result of having had on referral the question of the Moraga Fire Protection District's Board of Fire Commissioners and the process by which they are to be recruited and appointed. On March 8, 1994, the Board of Supervisors approved a report from our Committee which directed the County Administrator to assemble and send to each fire commissioner in the six districts affected by the consolidation application which was pending with LAFCO at that time, certain information which would assist in formulating proposals for how a fire commission or advisory committee could be formed which would appropriately represent the interests of the citizens in these six fire districts . On April 25, 1994, our Committee met with representatives from the Contra Costa County, Pinole, Orinda, Oakley and Riverview Fire Protection Districts ' Boards of Fire Commissioners . We reviewed several written proposals and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of various configurations for a fire commission or advisory committee. The above recommendations have been formulated as a result of this discussion. Supervisor Smith initially suggested an technical advisory committee similar to one operating in Los Angeles County, which would not have the same statutory limits on it that a fire commission does, particularly on the size of the body, which, in the case of a fire commission, is limited by State law to either five or seven members . In making this proposal, Supervisor Smith indicated that he was operating on the following assumptions : • The Board of Supervisors wants a mechanism which will provide a voice for the representative opinions of the residents about what their needs are regarding fire and emergency services, recognizing that each part of the community has different needs . • The Board of Supervisors intends to continue to govern the consolidated Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. -3- I .O.-3 • The supervisorial districts do not have equal numbers of residents affected by the pending consolidation, with Districts I and III having substantially fewer residents affected than Districts II, IV and V. • Neither a five nor a sever member fire commission provides the type of fair representation we would like to see. However, there appeared to be little support among the fire commissioners who were present for this type of a technical advisory committee, although some of the commissioners suggested that there could be advisory committees operating as subcommittees to the fire commission. -4-