The below article is courtesy of the April 6, 2012 edition of the Statesman Journal. (Click here for original Statesman Journal article)

Officials of Marion County Fire District No. 1 announced Friday that they have reached an agreement with its union that includes wage freezes, voluntary demotions and a reorganization of employees that will save more than $260,000 per year.

Two administrative staff have been laid off and two tenured staff, Battalion Chief Kim Batchelor and mechanic Jason Fast, took voluntary retirements.

All employees have agreed to take a 2.5 percent wage reduction, fire district board president Randy Franke said.

In addition, some employees eligible for promotion will take pay freezes while others will take demotions to lower positions. Chief Kevin Henson said new employee classifications had been created as part of the reorganization effort.

In all, three captains have been demoted to lieutenants, 14 firefighter-engineers were demoted to firefighters and a paramedic position was created. The duties of laid off and retired personnel will be redistributed to the remaining force, Franke said.

Franke said the aim of the reorganization was to minimize service reductions to its service area. It serves unincorporated areas of east Salem, the Clear Lake area in Keizer and Marion County east of Salem.

The fire district still faces a $1 million shortfall unless voters approve a tax levy of 29 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, Franke said. The measure will appear on the May 15 ballot. The new levy would replace a 16-cent levy approved in November 2006, which is set to expire this June.

A homeowner with an assessed value of $180,000 would have paid $28.80 under the current rate. The proposed new rate would result in the same homeowner paying $52.20 per year.

Fire district officials blame the shortfall on several factors, including property tax caps in the 1990s, declining tax revenues caused by the economic downturn, rising health insurance costs and declining ambulance reimbursements.

Based on the most current information available from the Marion County Assessor’s Office, a 29-cent levy would generate an estimated $714,000 for fire district operations in 2013-2014.

The below editorial, written by Keizertimes editor Lyndon Zaitz, supports the MCFD#1 Board position that moving on toward more collabortive relationships is the future of the fire service:

(Click here to see editorial as posted on the Keizertimes website)

“Now that the two measures on Tuesday’s special election ballot regarding Keizer Fire’s annexation of Clear Lake have been decisively defeated, it is time to move on.

But, what’s next?

First, all three public bodies involved in this issue need to let it be, mend fences and repair the damage wrought by the campaign.

The city of Keizer needs to repair fences with the Marion County Fire District including its management and fire fighters. Mayor Lore Christopher is on record saying she did not trust the management of Marion County Fire.  We understand her statements were political, she was watching out for her city. Keizer has no bigger cheerleader than its mayor, but to publicly disparage another public body and call into question their validity and credibility does neither her nor the city of Keizer any favors.

In these times where every Oregon governmental jurisdiction is struggling with decreasing revenues and increasing expenses, they all need to work together. We don’t want to shut the city borders to outside fire districts; city residents need to depend on the mutual aid of surrounding emergency services.

The Keizer Fire District will  need to turn inward and devise a plan to grapple with its own financial situation. Keizer Fire needed the tax revenues of the Clear Lake area to maintain and expand its services. That path now is blocked, and the district’s Board of Directors and its management have no choice but to review its operations to figure out how to provide emergency services. Some say that operations at Keizer Fire will be challenged with decreasing tax revenues and increasing expenditures such as PERS and health insurance.

Besides deciding how it will offer fire and medical services Keizer Fire must also be the bigger organization here and extend a hand to Marion County Fire.

There has been too much bad blood between the two fire districts during the Clear Lake annexation debate. The time has come (and the public expects) the fire districts act like professionals and the hometown heroes they are and work out any differences in a calm, dignified manner.

Marion County Fire District has its own financial issues it must face. While retaining the $500,000 of tax revenue from Clear Lake, MCFD may still have to lay off staff. That is the new normal.

Marion County and Keizer are no different than other public agencies and municipalities around the country. Though both fire districts face uncomfortable budget challenges, they are currently better off than Santa Ana, CA, which recently disbanded its fire department and now contracts with Orange County to provide fire and EMS services.

There needs to be a cooling off period for a few months, maybe even half a year. Now starts the heavy lifting. The fire districts in the region need should consider a Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue-type consolidation. Tualatin Valley Fire services a 210 square mile area including the cities of Beaverton, Durham, King City, Sherwood, Tigard, Tualatin, West Linn and Wilsonville and parts of three counties.

That’s a lot of different jurisdictions that were able to agree on the organization of fire and EMS services. The TVFR model is most likely the model that fire departments and districts across the region will emulate. With the new paradigm of tax collections, expenses and demand, the days of individual fire districts may be seeing the end of their days. All fire districts and departments in the region need to look beyond their borders and envision a  new way of doing business.”

—LAZ

On behalf of the Marion County Fire District #1 Board of Directors I want to thank our many supporters for their dedication, hard work and loyalty. I believe we prevailed in Tuesday’s election because, first, our volunteer firefighters at Clear Lake station 6 and throughout our district traditionally have done an outstanding job serving the communities in which they serve.  Next, the citizens of Clear Lake are happy with the service they receive, did their homework, and armed with the facts have spoken loud and clear to the reasons these measures should not pass.  And finally, the PAC was led by Keizer citizen, Mike Welter, who did an excellent job of getting the facts out to the voters of Keizer.

We deeply appreciate all the support we received from the Vineyards I Homeowners Association (including a $1,350 contribution), the Vineyards II Homeowners Association, the numerous Keizer citizens who put up lawn signs and wrote letters to the editor, and the many Keizer residents who contributed funds ranging from $20 to $100 for the campaign effort.

While MCFD#1 prevailed in this election, in reality there are no winners. Both Districts are facing tight budgets that will require difficult decisions in the days ahead.  Our Board began that difficult process at a special meeting last night (see last paragraph below).

MCFD#1, Keizer Fire, and the Keizer City Council have looked poorly in the eyes of the public. This is not good public policy, this is not what the fire service is about, and this is not the future of the fire service.  The future will be driven by the financial realities facing everyone in fire and emergency medical services and that future is about how we should work better together.

Collaborating with each other to share knowledge, resources, and perhaps the function of services such as training, fire inspections and investigations, accounting and more, are what we should be talking about.

MCFD #1 used to be two independent rural fire districts of Four Corners and Brooks, until under the leadership of former fire Chief Ted Miller, they were combined into one. This collaborative forward-thinking leadership by Chief Miller lead to the creation of MCFD#1 and to the improved services that we provide today.

If we had lost this election we would have been looking at a very dramatic change in the way we provide fire and emergency medical services.  If we lost the election, we may not have been able to provide ambulance service at all.  In addition, I believe we would have had to reduce firefighting personnel between 12 and 18 positions (which is close to 50% of our career firefighters).  Less revenue means less resources and most of our resources’ are people.

Senior staff members have been meeting over the last several weeks going over the budget numbers and there is no question that we are facing dramatic financial challenges.  The Board of Directors for MCFD#1 struggled with the question of either considering layoffs and a reduction in services, or the alternative of asking the voters to renew the local option levy at a higher level.  While neither option was appealing to the Board in the end we felt maintaining ambulance service was a high priority for the citizens we serve.

The number one dilemma for the Board was when to ask the voters.  The Secretary of State’s office sets election deadlines, and to meet the deadline to present this option to the voters in the May election we were required to file the paperwork by Thursday, March 15^th.  It is unfortunate that we were faced with this difficult decision so soon after the election, but we could not reasonably project our District-wide operational expenses prior to knowing the outcome of the election.

To that end, last night the board voted to approve a measure for the renewal of the local option levy at .29/1000.  This represents a .13 cent increase to our current local option tax.  The voters of MCFD#1 will be asked to make the decision whether MCFD#1 should receive this renewal, and accordingly, the measure will appear on the ballot for the May 15^th election.

Again, I would like to again say how much we appreciate your support and encouragement during this recent election. I am confident that we can continue to weather these storms together as a community as we move forward.

Sincerely,

Randy Franke

Board President, Marion County Fire District #1

Marion County Fire District #1 has been protecting the residents of the Keizer area before Keizer was a city.  Our brave men and women have been on duty since 1941, protecting the property and people who now call Keizer home . Recently Lore Christopher, mayor of Keizer, has publicly stated that Clear Lake residents of Keizer are not afforded the same security and safety as the rest of Keizer.  Further, Ms. Christopher stated that the actions of Marion County Fire District #1 are reckless and frightening.   Please allow me to set the record straight.

The services provided by Marion County Fire District #1, Station 6, located in the Clear Lake neighborhood, are superior fire protection, education and emergency services.  Further, the Clear Lake neighborhood has the backing of the entire Marion County Fire District #1 force of assets.  It is a ridiculous and uneducated statement for anyone to make a claim that the Clear Lake area of Keizer receives inferior public safety services.

Many months ago the Keizer city council began a process to take land and money away from Marion County Fire District #1.  After several public hearings and overwhelming testimony from Clear Lake residents that NO change should be made, the Keizer city council voted to take land and money away from Marion County Fire and give it to Keizer Fire District.

Once again the Keizer city council, with no experience or expertise in fire protection and emergency services, makes a reckless decision … similar to risking taxpayers money on Keizer Station.

You might also recall the recent failed cell phone tax in Keizer that was to “support” fire and police.   Despite overwhelming outcries from Keizer residents the Keizer City Council went forward anyway with a cell phone tax that only applied to Keizer residents.  After continued unrest by Keizer taxpayers the additional tax was abandoned.

Keizer then moved forward together with the Keizer Fire District to put a tax on Keizer water bills to once again “support” police and fire by creating a new 911 communications public safety tax.  This was done during the worst economic recession many of us will ever see.  In November 2011, Keizer residents voted this tax down overwhelmingly, demanding that the city and Keizer Fire District live within their means.

Reckless?  The mayor and city council need only look at some of their recent decisions.

Marion County Fire District #1 is committed to providing superior emergency services to all customers within our district.  We take this responsibility very seriously.  The current actions of the Keizer city council defy common sense.  The city provides no fire protection or emergency response services and certainly has no expertise in these areas.  Yet, they continue to make claims and decisions that should be left up to the professionals who have dedicated their lives to protecting life and property in your community.

Regardless of all the political banter you might hear or read you can trust Marion County Fire District #1 to protect your community.  That is who we are.  That is what we do.

Thank you,

Randy Franke, President

Board of Directors

The saga with the City of Keizer and the Keizer Fire District continues.  Voter pamphlets will begin to arrive in the mailboxes of Keizerites starting today.  The impact to you as a MCFD#1 resident of this vote for Marion County Fire District #1 (MCFD#1) is enormous.  If the City of Keizer and Keizer Fire District are successful in forcibly annexing this area, our ability to provide the same level of services to you will be diminished.  We’ve tried to not be alarming nor overstating but like all local governments, we had a tight budget to begin with.  We’ve tried to do more with less but if this measure passes we lose over $550,000 of operating funds each and every year, plus an undetermined amount of ambulance revenue.  In short, we will have to completely redesign our current service delivery deployment model.  What does that mean?  Simply put, if the measures are successful, we will immediately reconsider the current staffing of our ambulances and fire engines.

Of particular interest, the process that the City of Keizer and Keizer Fire District is using has NEVER been used in Oregon before.  We’re challenging the process through the courts but the judge may not rule until April.  The worst part of this whole debacle is that the Clear Lake residents were not given an opportunity to vote independently.  If Clear Lake residents wanted to change delivery service they could have had that option.  That is not the process that the City of Keizer and Keizer Fire District chose to use.

I appreciate all of the residents who have chosen for themselves to investigate the facts of this issue and those who have asked the tough questions. Whatever the outcome of this pending vote on annexation, Marion County Fire District 1 will remain a highly trained professional organization comprised of volunteer and career personnel that responds to each call with the best interests of our community in mind.

Thank you for your support.

J. Kevin Henson

Fire Chief