Victorville Fire going SB County FD

[firemedic301]

Just got the word that Victorville FD is contracting with SB County FD. Take over is July 1 2008. I like a few others on this board were "Taken Over" by County FD and I have and had very strong opinions about this issue but all I have to say is GOOD LUCK to my friends at VVFD (formerly). Almost all the guy's I worked with at SBCOFD were great guy's and accepted us from Hesperia, but some in SBCOFD want to show you who your new DADDY is and look down their noses at you like you don't know crap and they know everything. I remember the orientation meetings that their Union Pres. at the time kept telling us how many calls they run and to "get our running shoes on because County fire runs alot of calls, so when we take over you better hit the ground running". If I only knew then what I know now!!! I will leave that at that!!! Anyway, again I have almost no bash with the Floor guy's of county just alot of heartache with the way "THEY TAKE OVER". To the VVFD guy's I hope and pray your transition goes smooth and you don't encounter the issues HFD had in it's transition. Take all the pictures off the walls and all the stuff that you knew of VVFD and store them before a Captian from SBCOFD comes in and literally throws them in the trash and justifies it by saying "Oh well it is not Victorville Fire anymore get over it" and if you don't like it leave. To that I say to my friends I have a Victorville FD and you know who you are "come on down to SB CITY FD, you will never regret it!!!!" Again for the third time, to the guy's that made my transition to SBCOFD managable Thank You and you know who you are!!! And for the ones that tried to show me and the rest of the Hesperia FD who daddy was it is a small world and what comes around going around. Remember the transition goes both ways, if you guy's at SBCO and VVFD don't play nice you have a long career together and again what comes around goes around, and look at the bright side you still have an awesome job no matter what the decal says on the side of your rig.
Oh ya for the guy's that get labelled "trouble makers at VVFD" even though we all know everything that was said negative against going SBCOFD was because you wanted to stay VVFD (Hell it has been your FAMILY forever) believe me SBCOFD will make a list and send you out of the City to bring in fresh blood, even though to your face they will lie and tell you "there is NO list" just move on and hold your head up, a few of us have been there!!!
Steve Newcomer (formerly Hesperia FD)
SB City FD

[trkmant46]

Good to the VVF guys, Hope it works out for you!.
As for the captain taking the pictures and such off the wall, screw that. He has no right to do that. Take him out back and give him a blanket party! That is history and should be left alone!

[ladderpiper]

I saw that headline on the homepage and my jaw dropped.

Well put MEDIC301.

I just hope that none of the low guys on the totem pole loose a job.

Make the best of Yucca Valley. Or maybe I'll see you at the launch ramp in Needles.

[firemedic301]

Typically nobody loses their jobs in the take overs but, EVERYTIME you say anything negative about SBCOFD in the transition, THEY will tell you to your face that "YOU should be thankful you have a job"(like they are doing you a favor) to that I always thought "you should be thankful to have taken over a QUALITY Dept. with QUALITY employees". It amazes me how SBCOFD admin can come into a well established dept. and first thing they think is that SBCOFD can run calls better than the dept has done for years. I can say that VVFD not going ALS earlier was a huge mistake and a take over by SBCOFD is better for the general public with them making all Engines ALS. However, that doesn't make it any easier for the floor personnel of VVFD. For the record LADDERPIPER I had a blast with the guy's in Yucca Valley they were awesome but Damn that drive sucked. LADDERPIPER did I run into you in Needles? What are the Initials of your Dept and your initials???
Again just my honest opinions.:cool:
P.S. VVFD Firemen my sources say you will be driving the Boxes in Hesp. Just what I heard from the inside.

[firemedic301]

Well hell while I am on a roll with this, one more bit of advice to VVFD. I hope the City pays you for your "sick time" our City only paid the guy's with over 1500 hrs (could have been 1000 hrs) like .25 cents on the dollar, and if you have less than that we lost it out right. I lost around 600 hrs. but only because the month and a half prior to the take over it was the cold and flu season for all of us but if you play your cards right you can work none of your regular days and 20 OT's in that month.:)

[FRN-FFS]

Firemedic301 do you know if VVFD personnel are in agreement with the take over by SBCOFD? I would assume that their union is involved in this take over or regionalization? If not, why?

There is a similar case happening in Half Moon Bay, fire board wants to dissolve the HMBFD and contract with Cal Fire. The HMBFD personnel aren't on the same page as their fire board and have sought outside assistance. It will be interesting to see what happens there and if the IAFF will step in.

Regionalization is bound to become more prevalent as this economic crisis comes to a head and puts increasing pressure on cities to do more with less. We here in the San Joaquin valley have dealt with regionalization and I have to say personally, it has pro's and con's. As you stated in one of your messages, the people we serve will benefit from the regionalization.

I guess you could say, one has to look at the glass and decide if it is half empty or half full.... VVFD members stay strong and make the best of every day.

Again, just my 2 cents...

[TaylorMade]

There is a similar case happening in Half Moon Bay, fire board wants to dissolve the HMBFD and contract with Cal Fire. The HMBFD personnel aren't on the same page as their fire board and have sought outside assistance. It will be interesting to see what happens there and if the IAFF will step in.


I have been following that one too FRN-FFS. It will be really interesting to see how that one pans out.

I read the updated article about the SB County takeover; it said that Victorville Fire has been around for 80 years.

It is so hard to believe that a city would give up control of their own fire protection services for a measly $38,000 a year.

[F-Dub]

Good thing for county that the took over Victorville, because it sounds like there is a really good chance that they may lose Fontana. Man that would be a big loss. Hopefully the transition will go smoothly, and hopefully the county guys will respect those that have made Victorville Fd what it is today. I haven't had a chance to run with any of those guys, but I understand they have a good group up their. Good luck to Victorville hope all works out.

[trkmant46]

So the city is saving $38,000.00 to loose their Fire Dept???? Something wrong with that! Its usually because the savings is huge-like a half million dollars or more a year. The city has gone this long without Paramedics, a few more months would not have made a significant difference in the grand scheme.
It also seems as though the city council just made a rash decision and didnt't really consider eveything at stake. I know I am an outsider of VVFD, but things like this usually take several months to discuss...
GOOD LUCK GUYS!

[firemedic301]

Politics is all I have to say about these take overs. Here are the simple facts in San Bernardino County. The County has a HUGE financial drain known as IEHP (Inland Empire Health Plan - Welfare) it is a $75 million drain. So where does the County Fire guarantee $$$ - Special Fire District and Cities. They take over a city with say $5.6 million budget with career staffing, and run it when they take over with $8-10 hrs "Limited Term" FF's and PM/FF's and put the savings into the rest of County Fires budget. Next I will say that EACH of the three at voted Hesperia FD away had DIRECT ties to the County Supervisor Bill Postmus: Mayor Nowiki's wife was Postmus' secretary and no doubt he gained in some way, Jim Lindley headed up numerous County commitees and was ANTI-PUBLIC SAFETY and Finally Counselman Tad Honeycut was Bills "BEST FRIEND". What Hesperia and Victorville have proved is all it takes is 3 Counsel members change our futures good or bad. I can say that Victorville made the switch for what looks like the RIGHT reason, getting Medics on Engines, something their Chief had opposed forever until it was too late. Hesperia was PURELY for Political GAIN plain and simple. As soon as they took over they went from 13 career members on duty everyday to 11 with 2 $8-10hr "Limited Term" no benefited FF's. Thus making SBCOFD $$$$$$ in the bank. It was a SWEET deal for County. It was SWEET for us also, we LOST all our sick time, some of us got shipped out to stations 1-1 and a half hour drives away, pay cut (including medical benefits), and an admin that was semi-hostile towards most of us, yep it was SWEET. With that said I would selfishly like to THANK them, if it would have been an awesome experience I would not have left and gone to SB City FD which has been TRUELY amazing!!!!!

As for VVFD personnel for the change, from what I hear most were against it. As for the $38,000 savings, let's face it when you enter into "heated" contract negotiations with the City, it is a no-win situation and it just makes the city not want to nickle and dime and deal with FD's, they would rather just write a check and be done with it. Let's face it, cities only care that when the public calls 911 and an Engine and ambulance shows up no-matter what sticker is on the side of the rig.

[trkmant46]

Yea, I live in a special district that SBCoFD tried to take over a few years, but we stayed with CDF.
Either way, you know its politics when a city will disband their fire dept. for a mere $38,000.00 a yr! Come on, thats pocket change for a city. That is simply stopping OT for a few months. There we saved $38,000.00. There has to be more to this then whats being said. Not only that, they are giving up a 4 person Engine Co. I would love to have a 4 person Engine Co. DAMN!

[jude23]

Most municipalities enjoy having absolute control over their own respective fire and police departments. It just doesn't seem like $38,000 would be enough of a savings to give up autonomy. There has to be more to the story, like the cost savings gained by losing overhead positions and not having to fund your own paramedic start-up. I don't know what the contract says, but please tell me we didn't just lose another "city" fire department for $38,000. VVFD guys, make sure you do hang onto as much of the VVFD memorabilia for posterity's sake. I used to work for a smaller, landlocked city and we wondered what it would be like to work for a bigger department...hopefully, this will be an opportunity for you guys to get new experiences in different parts of the county...should you choose. Good luck, guys.

[hottie4fire]

The san bernardino county fire department has good guys working for them. Most of them that we run with are nicer to us than other departments. They seem to have no ego problems. I am glad for them that they are expending into other areas.

I hope noone loses their job in victorville fire department. We covered the high desert division one time and those guys seemed like they were nice too.

[GirlMedic03]

As for VVFD personnel for the change, from what I hear most were against it. As for the $38,000 savings, let's face it when you enter into "heated" contract negotiations with the City, it is a no-win situation and it just makes the city not want to nickle and dime and deal with FD's, they would rather just write a check and be done with it. Let's face it, cities only care that when the public calls 911 and an Engine and ambulance shows up no-matter what sticker is on the side of the rig.

The $38,000 that they claim to be saving does not seem like much. One would think that it would hardly be worth giving up control over your own fire department for such a little amount.

My Dad has been in the fire service for many years, and I agree with him when he says he thinks that Victorville should have kept their fire department and phased in paramedics over the next couple of years.

Does anybody know how many stations that will bring San Bernardino Cpunty Fire Department up to?

[DuneDude]

Just in the high desert, it brings SB county to 3 stations in Hesperia, 2 in adelanto, 1 in lucerne valley, 1 out on the 15 fwy past barstow. I know they have much more. You can go to the SB county website and it shows a map of the county stations.

[firemedic301]

Hey Keith I called your Dad back, but he hasn't returned my call how long is he staying in Havasu? Why aren't you out there and don't give me the lame excuse of work. I'll be out tomorrow night through next weekend.:D

[firemedic301]

The $38,000 that they claim to be saving does not seem like much. One would think that it would hardly be worth giving up control over your own fire department for such a little amount.

My Dad has been in the fire service for many years, and I agree with him when he says he thinks that Victorville should have kept their fire department and phased in paramedics over the next couple of years.

Does anybody know how many stations that will bring San Bernardino Cpunty Fire Department up to?

The $38,000 is a smoke screen, we all know it is a drop in the bucket. This move was for the simple fact the County NEEDS special fire district funds and a nother "FEATHER IN THEIR CAP" and VVFD needed to go ALS 10 years ago like almost everyother FD out there, it is just how it is. So when the City Council wanted ALS VVFD showed how much it would cost to train and hire medics and they said it would be $1 mil and some change. In the Councils defense County FD was their ONLY choice to get ALS in a timely manner. However, that choice has consequences and the major one is giving up control, but lets face it ALL the City wants is for the public to call 911 and have an Engine and PARAMEDICS show up in 4-5 minutes regardless of who it is!!!!! And not hear people at Council Meetings blaming them for not providing ALS care. NOW if anything goes wrong the Council can simply tell the public "we will advise County of your problem" or BETTER yet they will have a DC from County at every meeting for a while and HE will give them the typical song and dance lip service about how he will look into it. City Council comes out smelling like roses.

[FRN-FFS]

Since the origination of this posting I have given some thought to the consolidation of V.V.F.D. with S.B.C.F.D. and a few things come to mind.

As I stated in my earlier post, my department has recently dealt with the issue of consolidation. The main driving force behind the consolidation here was the unstable financial future the local Fire Protection District faced. The district was loosing land and revenue associated with its tax base through City annexations. The F.P.D. would have remained solvent for an estimated five years before the financial impact of the lost revenue from annexations would have put them in the red. This produced a dim outlook for the future of the F.P.D. which ultimately prompted the F.P.D. board of directors to look into consolidation efforts with my department.

Regionalization on a larger scale or consolidation on the smaller side is a reality that we may all face at some point in the near future; from one side or the other, due to the fact that "the times, they are a changin’ ". Was it prudent for the F.P.D. board to consolidate, was it done prematurely, did the board have a vision, was it customer service driven, was it done with the best interest for the employees, what are the long term effects going to be? These are just a few of the questions that came up during negotiations on consolidation here and I'm sure there are many more.

Smaller departments are going to face tough times if this current financial climate persists. This brings to question the intentions of the V.V.F.D. board of directors. Is the V.V.F.D. board or council full of visionaries, were they misinformed, are there ulterior motives, is this the best for the people of Victorville, etc, etc, etc… As tough as it is to admit, sometimes public servants need to look a little farther ahead and see where the future leads. The welfare of those we serve should be the basis for our entire decision making process.

I'm not from the Victorville area so I can't speak personally on the board’s motives for change. Honorable I would expect. I sincerely hope the V.V.F.D. union is well represented in the negotiations with S.B.C.F.D. and the board respects the commitment the men and women of the V.V.F.D. have to serve. I hope the transition goes smoothly and the concerns brought to light on this message board are minimized by the professionals on both sides of the equation. Hopefully the consolidation will bring increased service and protection to the citizens of Victorville as well as protect the department members’ best interests.

Optimistically, this will become a consolidation effort that other departments will want to duplicate in the future. The situation in Half Moon Bay and Vallejo are definitely not viable options for any department or board. To the men and women of the V.V.F.D., stay committed, stand strong and most importantly stand TOGETHER. My thoughts and prayers will be with you in this tumultuous time. You are surrounded by many brothers and sisters in the fire service and if you need to lean on them for support, comfort or advice please do so.

Just my two cents, sorry for rambling on…

[DuneDude]

Well spoken FRN-FFS. Its all how you look at the situation. For every action there is a reason.

[FRN-FFS]

Here is a link to a story that came out today in the Modesto Bee about consolidation in Stanislaus county. http://http://www.modbee.com/opinion/story/308762.html

Didn't see this article before my last post, really...

[lvladder1]

The 38K is a total smoke screen, along the medics "NOW". This was just a way for Caldwell to get other council members to jump on his wagon. All Caldwell really wanted was to wash his hands of Becker. As a former firefighter himself I figured the mayor would've had his "brothers" back. But it's done and I all I can say is goodluck to all my buddies in Victorville.

[FRN-FFS]

Read an article in the paper today that stated the city of Vallejo is filling for bankruptcy protection. The chapter 9 filing would protect the city from creditors as well as allow the city to renegotiate the contracts of their police officers and firefighters. Here is a clip from one of the many stories on the net.


"Like many California cities, Vallejo promised its employees salaries, benefits and retirement packages that it can't afford to pay, signing generous labor contracts during economically flush times Vallejo faces soaring payroll costs for its firefighters and police officers, whose pay and benefits make up nearly 80 percent of the city's general fund budget. Vallejo officials have been negotiating to reduce pay and benefits to firefighters and police officers, but have so far failed to reach agreement with their unions."
Regionalization and consolidation can at times be bitter sweet. In another thread, a member made a valid statement that I think applies here, "firefighters hate change". I wonder what kind of change the men and women of Vallejo are facing now?

[firemedic301]

Just got an e-mail that I found interesting and it shows that SBCOFD are amazing story tellers when negotiating with a City.

As of the budget meeting last night, the Fire District has budgeted for a 17% reserve next fiscal year - $1.5 million. The fire budget when they contracted us out was $5.3 million to county. Last years spending for the fire district was $9.9 MILLION. They have increased the budget by more than one million dollars per year.

Almost 10 million dollars a year and IF it was STILL Hesperia FD WE would have been running the calls for the same $5.3 million and giving the citizens of the City BETTER service!!!!!

[desertmedic]

DuneDude... Thats two stations past Barstow... 46 (Harvard) and 53 (Baker). Also, Needles has FS31. And lets not forget 10's in Phelan

[DuneDude]

Thats right! There are more stations out in "BFE":eek:
P.S. I know who you are!!! "GK" Do you know who I am?;)

[desertmedic]

Uuummmm, Im hopin' Marissa Tomei! :D Cuz I need you to autograph something of mine... :eek: Actualy, no clue. Gimme a hint.. ;)

[Ash702]

Good Luck tomorrow Victorville FD!!!! Hope it is a smooth transition!!!

[jude23]

It looks like it's a done deal...who's next in County's sights?