Los Angeles firefighting academy offers youths a ladder to success

Los Angeles Times

05/11/08

As a sophomore in high school, Omar Estrada saw two choices for his life: run with the notorious 204th Street gang in his Harbor Gateway neighborhood or make something of himself.This summer, Estrada, now 21, heads to paramedic school and hopes to work for the Los Angeles Fire Department after he graduates.Estrada started on the path when, as a student at Narbonne High, he heard Fire Department Capt. Alicia Mathis talk about an academy where youths raised wooden ladders, pulled heavy hoses and learned first aid under the guidance of professional firefighters.He joined the seven-week program, which taught him discipline and helped him realize that there was life beyond the impoverished, overcrowded neighborhood where he grew up.'The program is the reason I didn't join the gang,' said Estrada, who works for a private ambulance company. On Saturday, Estrada was back at the drill tower at Fire Station 40 in Terminal Island helping a new group of 95 youths, all from South Bay high schools, as they participated in a rigorous day of firefighting training. About 20 of the students were struggling in school or brushing up against gangs when they were accepted into the program five weeks ago.Joshua Williams, 15, a sophomore at Banning High, said some of his friends run with gangs and have tried to recruit him. Although he never joined, he said he had a temper problem and had gotten into fights with other students.But entering the academy and learning the value of teamwork 'helped me control my anger,' said Williams, who wants to go to college and study computer technology.He and others listened to Mathis on Saturday as she reviewed the training schedule.'What are the two words we want to remember?' she asked.' 'Safety' and 'teamwork,' ma'am,' the students shouted.For the last eight years, Mathis has helped direct the program, known as the Fire Instructional Recruitment Education Academy. It's sponsored by the Los Angeles Fire Department, Harbor College and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Supplies are purchased with $125,000 in grants from the Honda Foundation.Mathis and other on-duty city firefighters supervised groups of students. Some were rappelling out the third-story window of the drill tower while others were timed against a 60-second clock as they donned heavy fire-protection pants, jackets and boots. One group of trainees, wearing black firefighter helmets, marched in formation as they sang out in cadence: 'We like it here. We love it here. We're training every day, hey!'Amanda Arvizo, 18, a senior at Banning High, said she lacked confidence when she joined the program three years ago. She was the youngest -- and the only girl among the 13 trainees. She ended up finishing at the top of her class.'That taught me I can do anything in life,' said Arvizo, who plans on enrolling at Harbor College and wants to become a firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department.Estrada, meanwhile, was teaching two students how to raise a 16-foot-long wooden ladder, which weighs about 75 pounds. One girl peeked at the top of the ladder -- and was quickly counseled by Estrada. 'Don't ever look up. Something could fall in your face,' he said.It's been more than two years since he attended the academy, Estrada said, but he still comes back on Saturdays. 'Hopefully, I can help them like I got the help.'robert.lopez@latimes.com

Consolidation's cost

Gainesville Sun

05/11/08

The question surfaces repeatedly, fostering talk of layoffs and turf wars along with dreams of budget-slashing and cost-saving: Should some or all Gainesville and Alachua County services be consolidated?

Three defeated referendums - in 1975, 1976 and another in 1990 - offered the option of unifying the city and county into one governmental body, and the topic has emerged more recently in talks about merging the city and county fire departments and law enforcement branches.

Consolidation has risen as an issue again, as municipal governments debate ways to cut costs in tight budgetary times. Two new Gainesville commissioners have said it may be time to consider the measure again, especially in reference to police and fire-rescue services.

Gainesville and Alachua County join several other communities throughout Florida that have discussed consolidation. Only one, Jacksonville-Duval County, actually succeeded in consolidating in 1968 after a successful referendum vote in 1967.

The benefits are obvious, proponents of consolidation say: Saving the cost of duplication of services should obviously lower taxes and create a more unified government.

But experts who have studied the issue say consolidation is almost impossible to achieve, and the costs and benefits of merging a county and city government are anything but cut and dried.

Consolidation fever

Gainesville and Alachua County have a long history of consolidation attempts.

Back-to-back consolidation attempts in 1975 and 1976 failed by votes of 15,109-5,084 and 13,234-6,316, respectively. There were more talks of merging the city and county fire departments in 1989, and combining the law enforcement branches was the focus of a referendum vote in 1992.

Gainesville's most recent brush with consolidation came in 1990, when a referendum failed 21,840-11,006 and the Boundary Adjustment Act, a law that governs how land is annexed into municipalities, was adopted instead.

Gainesville is far from the only community to fail in its repeated consolidation attempts, said Suzanne M. Leland, associate professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Leland said of the 3,043 counties in the United States, only about 1 percent of them are consolidated with at least one city government. 'Most cities and counties that succeed in actually consolidating have long histories of repeated attempts,' Leland said. 'If you try to pass it based solely on increased efficiency, it's a hard sell.' The closest thing the country has seen to a wave of consolidations came in the 1970s, when several communities nationwide consolidated after hearing positive reports from public officials in Jacksonville and Duval County after their merger in 1968, Leland said.

Leland said in order to pass a consolidation, it usually takes not only the support of the elected officials who will lose their jobs, but a compelling campaign promise to solve economic development problems or other pressing issues in the community.

Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., which consolidated in the late 1990s, merged in part to professionalize a small county government by bringing it under the umbrella of a large, professional city government that already offered many services, Leland said. 'The county was very behind in terms of professionalism, so it was positive in that respect, but it could have professionalized on its own,' Leland said. 'The reason so few of these pass is because there are so many other options that are easier and more politically feasible.' It's not just voters who think consolidation may not be worth the effort. In Miami-Dade County which, despite its name, is not consolidated, officials say the layers of complications that emerged when they studied merging the county with the city of Miami in the 1990s made almost everyone involved want to run screaming. 'We spent some time at the county working through, if that were to happen, what our contingency plan would be, and the more you looked at it, the more issues popped up,' said Jess McCarty, assistant county attorney for Miami-Dade County.

McCarty said challenges ranged from how to equalize various pensions and retirement benefits for city and county employees to how to merge services with different standards for equipment and training. 'You almost could pick any area of government and there were multiple issues to deal with,' McCarty said. The ballot measure to consolidate failed. McCarty said he didn't shed any tears scrapping the contingency plan.

Costs and benefits

Even when voters approve a consolidation, its benefits and costs are a mixed bag, according to academic studies.

The first thing to understand, said Laura Reese, director of Michigan State University's Global Urban Studies Program and a professor of political science, is that the assumed cost savings may not be there. 'You're most likely not going to get lower taxes,' Reese said. 'Proponents of consolidation try to sell it that way, but I'm not sure I've seen a consolidation in which they've found any long-term reduction in taxes.' Jacksonville counts itself among the few to boast long-term tax savings. Reese said many other mergers see immediate tax savings as a result of slashing services the two governments believe they won't need anymore. 'But they creep back up, often rather quickly, as they realize they've cut too many services and have to add them back,' Reese said. Also, Reese said, it costs money to merge services.

Most studies are contradictory about whether services get better or worse in residents' eyes, and show a decrease in government responsiveness, Reese said. 'A bigger government means more bureaucracy,' Reese said. Leland said even the studies that are positive are hard to see as successes. 'To me, the question is, 'Where's the evidence that they couldn't have done this without consolidation?' ' Leland said. Gainesville and Alachua County have grappled with all these issues in their consolidation discussions.

Although Gainesville city officials said many departments could benefit from consolidation, the only analysis of fiscal savings was conducted regarding fire services in 2003.

That study found implementation costs would exceed $400,000 in the first year of a combined Gainesville Fire Rescue and Alachua County Fire Rescue.

However, in subsequent years the move would save an estimated $550,000, according to the study, which was conducted by an outside consulting firm. '(The consultants) said, 'Don't do this with a belief that you're going to save money,' ' said Gainesville Fire Rescue Chief William Northcutt. 'They said cost savings were based only on the assumptions that they plugged in, and the bottom line numbers could disappear.' The plan recommended a merged department operated jointly by the county and Gainesville with oversight by a board including representatives from each government.

Both commissions discussed it. Some commissioners favored it, others said annexation is a better way to accomplish the same goals. The commissioners eventually decided against a merger.

A measured approach

Experts say there are lots of ways to address the issues consolidation aims to solve by less drastic means than merging two governments.

Economic development commissions can help cities and counties recruit businesses with a common voice and vision, and interlocal agreements can merge fire-rescue or police services. Tax inequity can be addressed through tax-base sharing, and problems with the school system can be addressed by creating a regional school district. 'These options get at the problems without changing the identity or sovereignty of the local units of government,' Reese said. 'These more limited options also seem to work better.' City Manager Russ Blackburn said the city and county have combined certain services, and are open to combining more. The city manages traffic signals for the entire county, Blackburn said. The city and county also work together on municipal waste and some planning functions, and share a fire dispatch center. 'Where there is an economic or services benefit, the city and county are working together,' said City Manager Russ Blackburn. 'We've already done that in many, many cases.' Alachua County and Gainesville's fire-rescue departments are currently talking about merging some aspects of their operations, said County Fire-Rescue Chief Will May.

The first effort may be having a single public information officer shared by the departments. May said the departments are looking for other positions or duties that can be shared. May said he still favors a merged system, and said he believes it will be discussed again as Gainesville and the county try to cope with additional budget cuts and rising costs of fire service.

County Commission Chairman Rodney Long has for many years advocated fire unification, and said now would be an opportune time to rekindle discussions.

An attempt by several of the county's smaller cities to band together to create a single municipal fire authority among them could help the process, Long added.

But Long said for a variety of reasons, he doesn't believe complete consolidation of city and county government will ever be seriously considered here. Even Commissioner-elect Lauren Poe, one of the two new city commissioners to say it may be time to consider consolidating at least some city and county services, said it wouldn't be his top priority in office. 'I'd be up to reopening that dialogue and seeing if there's any political will to reopen that,' Poe said. 'If there's not, then it's not worth spending a lot of time and money on that.'

Apprentice firefighter makes grade, gets job

Miami Herald

05/11/08

Miramar Fire Rescue hired the first graduate of the department's first apprenticeship class.

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Special to The Miami Herald

As a boy, Christian Campana wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up. So when he had a chance as a high school senior in 2006 to test for Miramar Fire Rescue's first apprenticeship program, he gave it his all.

Last week, Campana became the first apprentice hired by the department full time.

''I'm more excited now than I was two years ago. I can't picture myself doing anything else in my life,'' said Campana, 20, of Miramar.

Miramar Training Chief Fred Kunz, who heads up the program, said Campana is on the last leg of his journey that began with an announcement at Everglades High School calling for candidates.

Kunz said the idea came from city officials to lead young, bright high school graduates toward public service in the city where they grew up and will likely continue to live.

''Firefighting goes back to people from the community who knew their neighbors and streets and would come to the rescue if someone was in danger,'' Kunz said.

The tradition lives today.

''Everyone benefits greatly. The apprentices grew up here, they know the city, the streets, and they want to help,'' Kunz said.

After weeks of intensive interviews with Miramar Fire Rescue department heads and a grueling physical agility test at the Broward Fire Academy in Davie, Campana and two other teens were picked.

Each was to receive a free ride at Broward Community College for First Responder, Emergency Medical Technician and Paramedics programs plus training at Broward Fire Academy.

Nathalie Metellus and Harold Santana began with Campana.

Kunz said Metellus' progression was delayed when she left the fire academy for personal reasons. She is now in paramedics classes but will return to the fire academy.

Santana left the program but is now training with Coral Springs Fire Department. In three weeks, Campana is expected to complete the entire two-year program.

Kunz said 2007 Miramar High graduate Rudy Pierre, 19, and 2007 Everglades High graduate Joshua Vazquez, 19, will likely be hired next week from the newest apprentice group.

Hiring the newer apprentices after only one year, Kunz said, is possible because of openings in the department.

Pierre said the opportunity is shaping his future.

''I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Now I don't doubt it. I'm 100 percent sure,'' Pierre said.

Diving pelican slams into swimmer's face in Gulf off Florida

Bradenton Herald

05/11/08

A swimmer is recovering after a pelican apparently diving for fish slammed into her face off Florida.

Debbie Shoemaker of Toledo, Ohio, was in the water Thursday near St. Petersburg when the pelican's beak opened a gash in her face. She needed 20 stitches. The bird died.

The chief of the St. Petersburg Fire Department says he never heard of a diving pelican colliding with anyone.

An expert surmises the bird was diving for fish and hit Shoemaker by accident.

The 50-year-old woman returned home Friday.

Commissioner heats up fire-fee workshop | video

Florida Today

05/10/08

Commissioner demands county manager, fire chief be fired

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Brevard County Manager Peggy Busacca and Fire Chief Bill Farmer should be replaced for mismanaging the fire department, County Commissioner Helen Voltz said Thursday.

Speaking at a workshop reviewing the county's annual assessments for fire service, Voltz said taxpayer dissatisfaction about those fees and questions about the fire-rescue department's budget were hurting the commission's credibility.

'Frankly, I'm tired of taking the blame for a flawed fire department budget,' she said. 'We just keep getting beaten up, and I don't see that changing at all.'

Voltz -- who is running for Brevard County property appraiser this fall, instead of seeking re-election to the county commission -- voted to approve the assessments two years ago, when a lawsuit forced changes in how the department could be funded.

But she said commissioners didn't know at the time what the rates actually would be, and the county should have moved faster to fix inequities in the system last year.

In addition, she said a recent internal audit report about millions of unspent dollars in the fire department budget over several years had shaken her confidence about how much fee revenue was needed.

The report noted that the commission last year took back $5.4 million in general funds that had been allocated for ambulance service, which is not funded by the fees.

A county memo this week informed commissioners that another $17.5 million is projected to be unspent this year.

The reasons cited included delays in equipment purchases and construction projects; budget requests based on inflated costs in hurricane years; and the way salary increases were budgeted.

Farmer said he also underspent his budget because of county concerns about declining property tax revenue, giving the commission more discretion to approve how the money is spent or reduce the amount collected from fire fees.

'We just shut down our spending,' he said, in response to a citizen's question. 'It isn't excess cash.'

Out of this year's projected leftover funds, Farmer is requesting more than $7 million in next year's budget to finish work on fire stations or buy equipment, according to the county memo.

Another $2 million may be returned to the county's general fund later this month.

Other county commissioners did not directly address Voltz's criticism about Busacca and Farmer.

But County Commissioner Chuck Nelson echoed her budget concerns.

'I think (the internal audit) pointed out some significant inadequacies in terms of the fiscal controls within fire-rescue,' he said.

'The guys out on the front line are doing a great job,' he said. 'That's not a question. How we're managing the dollars -- that's my concern.'

The commission agreed to hold a workshop on the $80 million fire-rescue budget later this month.

Busacca and Farmer declined to comment after the meeting.

Voltz's criticism came near the end of a second workshop with a consultant the commission hired, at a cost of $50,000, to make annual fire assessments more fair, particularly for low-income and senior homeowners.

But many of the roughly 15 residents in attendance criticized the consultant's proposals -- which were based on ranges of building values or sizes -- as too confusing.

'None of us can sit here and say: 'This is what my taxes are going to be,' ' said Kelli Brain, an apartment manager from Indialantic.

The residents' comments elicited some frustration from commissioners, who noted that their attempts to address taxpayers' complaints is simply prompting a new set of complaints from a different group of people who would see fee increases.

'If nothing else has been accomplished,' Nelson said, 'this process had made the old one look good.'

A decision on whether to change the fee methodology may not be made until late this summer.

Contact Dean at 242-3617 or jdean@floridatoday.com.

We need a commission to kill the commissions

Tallahassee Democrat

05/10/08

Picture a speed-limit sign adorning a lonely stretch of two-lane blacktop. Get a little closer and you notice that local marksmen exercising their Second Amendment rights have riddled the sign with bullet holes.

Now picture Florida's Constitution. It too is riddled, not by gun shots but by a never-ending stream of constitutional amendments. The gunslingers taking potshots at your Constitution are the Legislature, the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, the Constitution Revision Commission and the initiative process. All are armed and dangerous, and the process has turned into a circular firing squad.

The immediate issue is the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission proposal, approved by a single vote, to put an amendment eliminating $9 billion of local school property taxes on the November ballot. Wow, a humongous tax cut, but, gee, isn't that going to hurt education in other words, your precious children? No, not really, because you see the amendment instructs the Legislature to make up some or all of the revenue. Somehow. Some time.

Talk about buying a pregnant pig in a poke. Not to mention that the TRBC is asking the voters to tell legislators to do something they already have the power to do under the Constitution raise taxes and cut spending. They ought to call it the Redundancy Amendment.

Let's get real. The large majority of our legislators hate taxes. They'd rather have a leg sawed off without benefit of anesthesia than raise any tax any amount.

The TBRC also, after a frenzy of wheeling, dealing and vote-switching, exceeded its authority by putting an amendment permitting school vouchers on the November ballot. What do vouchers have to do with tax and budget reform? Zilch. The proposal would rewrite a 1998 CRC amendment. No wonder that CRC tried, but failed, to eliminate the TBRC.

The Florida Constitution has been amended 114 times since voters approved a new one in 1968. The U.S. Constitution, approved by the Feuding Fathers in 1787, has been amended just 27 times, and the first 10 were adopted at once as the Bill of Rights, including the right to ventilate road signs.

Proposing constitutional amendments is one of the Legislature's most important jobs. It's not very good at it, but at least the Legislature is accountable to the voters sort of. If legislators muck something up there is the possibility admittedly remote their constituents will vote them out of office in the next election. And, thanks to a 1992 initiative, legislators are term-limited out of office after eight years.

For better or worse, the Legislature ought to be the incubator of infrequent but necessary proposals to revise the Constitution. Florida should eliminate appointed, unaccountable commissions with the power to put amendments on the ballot.

Look at the record of the two appointed commissions. It's not pretty. Each has met twice since a bunch of liberal do-good reformers opened the Constitution to ventilation when they wrote a new one 40 years ago.

And what have those sterling appointed commissions accomplished? Not much of anything. The first Constitution Revision Commission came up with eight proposed amendments, including one that would abolish the Cabinet. Voters in their infinite wisdom rejected all eight.

The second CRC, deciding it knew better than The People, hatched a scheme to cut the Cabinet to three members: the governor, the attorney general and a new chief financial officer. But the agricultural lobbyists got all worked up and persuaded the CRC chairman to add the agriculture commissioner to the revamped Cabinet. Now the majority no longer rules. In the event of a tie vote, the side the governor is on wins.

The first TRBC tinkered around the edges of budget reform but did nothing to make sense out of Florida's tax mess. The current one should have met under the big top at Florida State, because it was a circus. Enough is enough.

Let's sum it up this way: Appointed bad; elected better. It's time to get rid of the Taxation and Budget Reform and Constitution Revision Commissions. If only we had a way to do it. Hey, wait a minute, how about an initiative? Where can I sign a petition?

Assistants take over fire chief duties in West Palm

Palm Beach Interactive

05/09/08

WEST PALM BEACH City Administrator Ed Mitchell has put Assistant Fire Chiefs Kenny Jones and Phil Webb in charge of the fire department while the city searches for a permanent new chief. Former chief Robert Ridgeway resigned Thursday amid allegations that he has made off-color remarks about black f...

Police reports from local municipalities

Miami Herald

05/09/08

Police arrested a 20-year-old woman on a charge of theft at Macy's, 19535 Biscayne Blvd., after she shoplifted a shirt valued at $39 at 3:30 p.m. May 3. Police arrested two women, ages 22 and 23, on charges of grand theft at Macy's, 19535 Biscayne Blvd., at 2 p.m. May 4. Store security saw the wome...

Overtime, pension likely targets of Miami Beach budget cuts

Miami Herald

05/09/08

Before Miami Beach adopts a new budget this fall, it has to plug a $12.5 million deficit. Complicating the matter: The city will lose nearly $3 million in property taxes this fall because Florida voters recently passed Amendment 1, which limits property-tax assessments. The looming deficit forced ...

Legislature doles out little to Dade

Miami Herald

05/09/08

Miami-Dade municipalities, like the rest of the state, came up against a tight budget year in the legislative session that just ended, but still managed to get some allocations. Diggdel.icio.us AIM reprint print email The outlook for state lawmakers and local leaders trying to secure money for hom...

Kids get eye-opening look at work of firefighters, paramedics

Miami Herald

05/09/08

Jose Perez has been a firefighter with the Hialeah Fire Department for 23 years. So when he got an opportunity recently to share his experiences and lead a presentation with other veterans, he jumped at it. ''As a kid, you always have questions about the life behind a firefighter or fire truck,'' P...