‘I’m pissed.’ Fresno staff defy council direction, don’t apply for firefighter grant
Some of Fresno’s top administrators decided not to apply for a grant that could have funded nine firefighter positions over five years — even though the City Council directed them to do otherwise.
The council voted 6-1 in March to seek a federal grant that funds firefighter positions. The grant would require a 25% match from the general fund for $6.5 million over five years for nine firefighters.
The council adopted the direction to staff while raising fees for inspections. Only Councilmember Paul Caprioglio voted “no.”
City Manager Wilma Quan and Tim Orman, the chief of staff for Fresno Mayor Lee Brand, said Monday they decided not to seek the grant despite the direction from the council.
“I wouldn’t say council’s direction was ignored. My office collectively with the mayor’s office made a decision collectively not to apply,” Quan said. “The decision was prior to COVID and we were doing everything we could to cut expenses.”
Quan said the decision came during the “unusual times” the city is facing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Orman also noted the unusual circumstance. “We’ve had to make a lot of decisions in a very short period of time over the last 89 or 90 days,” Orman said.
Quan and Orman apologized publicly during a budget hearing on Monday, but six council members expressed their displeasure with the administration. The deadline to apply has passed.
“Frankly, I’m pissed,” Councilmember Miguel Arias said.
Councilmember Esmeralda Soria said the council made the decision and it should take another vote from council to reverse the first one.
“It takes me back, given the fact that council had taken action, that you wouldn’t even come back to let us know and then to let us make the policy call,” Soria said during the meeting. “I feel like if we’re a team, we need to be acting like a team.”
The news comes with the extra sting that Fresno Fire Department is underfunded at about $74.4 million. Chief Kerri Donis said the fire department is funded at the same level as it was in 1980, when the call for service was about half of what it is today.
“The department has been and continues to be the lowest staffed fire department in the state and the country that serves a similar population and runs a similar call volume,” she said.
The Fresno Fire Department has about 0.55 firefighters for every 1,000 residents in a state with an average of 0.8 per 1,000 residents. The national average is about 1.5 firefighters per 1,000 people, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
There are about 80 firefighters on duty on any day, according to Donis.
Multiple members of the council noted the administration has proposed rolling this year’s budget into the 2020-21 fiscal year until officials have a better idea on the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Called a “continuing resolution” budget, the proposal would continue spending status quo into the first quarter of next year. Without the approval of a new budget, the council needs to be able to trust the administration is spending its money wisely, multiple council members said.
Councilmember Garry Bredefeld, after expressing anger toward the administration, motioned to take $1 million from the mayor’s budget and reprogram it to the fire department. He appeared to get the support of the council.
“The chief of staff (and) the mayor should apologize to every firefighter that works for you that is now more unsafe because we didn’t apply for nine more firefighters,” he said. “That’s where the apology belongs.”
This story has been corrected from an earlier version.
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 2:15 PM.
