CAL FIRE CHIEF DISPUTES CANDIDATE STATEMENTS IN SAN MIGUEL FIRE RACE

Reply to Chief Meacham’s Allegations Thank you for the opportunity to provide comment to Chief Meacham’s allegations which I will address in more detail now. 1. One-Minute Delay: When I submitted a request to CalFire under the California Public Records Act (“PRA”) for MVU/CalFire’s dispatch procedures specific to dispatching delays, the reply I received from the State was “CAL FIRE…could not locate documents referencing the processes referred to in your request.” Interestingly enough, a separate PRA produced the September 1, 2014 email from Chief Christie to Chief Chaney wherein he wrote: “There is a one-minute penalty on Engines from Lakeside, El Cajon and Santee which affects responses coming into San Miguel…” I was able to confirm this as recently as October 13, 2014. 2. Chief Meacham’s Alleged Misquote: Without question, Chief Meacham told me he shared some of my concerns that he “could not admit publicly.” The only possible way I could have misquoted him is if he said, “Publicly, I cannot admit” the issues. There is even a witness to his statement. 3. I take issue with Chief Meacham’s comment that the Citizens of this District “are receiving the same level of service today as in previous years at a fraction of the cost.” That simply is not true. Let’s consider the issues with CalFire’s Dispatching Center. Time and time again, I have brought dispatching issues to the Board’s attention. In my efforts to obtain copies of Incident Reports to provide the Board evidence of these dispatching issues, I had to pay the District $120.00 for twelve (12) 8-1/2 x 11 single-sheets of pieces of paper. One incident in particular was call in Spring Valley wherein San Diego Fire Department’s Engine 32 beat CalFire’s San Miguel Engine 16 to a fire call on Dictionary Hill. Engine 16 should have been on scene long before Engine 32. It wasn’t. Instead of admitting the mistake, CalFire’s Chief Chaney provided a questionable Detailed Report on the incident in which the on-scene times listed for Engine 16 conspicuously conflict with one another. One area of the Report shows Engine 16 on scene before Engine 23, even though San Diego Fire Departments Report and eye witnesses say otherwise. It appears to me the on-scene time for Engine 16 was intentionally altered to make it appear as though Engine 16 was on-scene ahead of Engine 32 when it was not. I find the Report produced quite suspicious and it raises more questions than answers. 4. Chief Meacham Disputes my reply about State Personnel being Transferred: The question posed by the ECM reporter was: “Since suppression personnel are state employees, can personnel be transferred from the district to any other unit in the state?” My answer: “Yes; State personnel can be transferred from the District to any other Unit in the State….” That is a true statement. The question did not ask why or how transfers of employees take place. While it is true that a few firefighters left the District to work closer to home or for career opportunities, some left because they felt targeted by their supervisor(s) and forced to leave the District rather than endure repeated harassment. Some have filed complaints against one Supervisor in particular who they feel has been targeting the former San Miguel firefighters, trying to force them out of the District; however, the behavior continues and more and more firefighters who had served this Community long term are leaving. Certainly Chief Meacham is aware of Section 9.2.1 of CalFire’s MOU with its firefighters wherein it is pretty clear that [w]hen the State deems it necessary to fill a vacant position, the needs of the State must be given first priority. Needs of the State include the right to fill vacant positions using such methods as involuntary transfer, reassignment, reinstatement, etc. Some feel the CalFire Union’s local leadership, (which, interestingly enough, is endorsing and providing funding to Incumbents Winter and Augustine, as well as a CalFire Chief’s wife also running for this District’s Board, Cindy Croucher), cares more about keeping the $68 million contract with the District in place than they do about the working conditions of their members. 5. Chief Meacham alleges Firefighter Fatigue problems were Never Brought to the Attention of Labor: I believe Labor leaders are well aware of the fatigue issue. Are they that disconnected with its members, and Chief Meacham that disconnected to his personnel as to not know the extent of the Force Back/firefighter fatigue issues? A well-respected CalFire firefighter relayed to me today, the bottom line is, firefighters do not want to take the engine out of service to allow them to catch up on sleep because it causes a decrease in service to the community by closing a station. This firefighter said, “I can’t, in my right mind, take an engine out of service and not be available to go [to a 911 call] and at least do something.” They expressed that they couldn’t live with themselves knowing they had slept and were unavailable to respond while a child two doors down drowned. Firefighters are trying to do everything they can to maintain the level of service because that is what they get paid to do, and they pride themselves on being there to help when that 911 call comes in. Personally, the problem as I see it is there are not being enough firefighters working in District to allow firefighters to go home after their 72-hour work shift. If, as Incumbent Winter alleges, the District has “saved” over $2 million since the Contract with CalFire, how about spending some of that money to solve the problem of there not being enough firefighters working in the District to prevent firefighter fatigue? 6. Chief Meacham takes issue with my concerns that CalFire is not adequately being involved with students: When an elementary school teacher invites the fire department to visit their classroom, they are (and as are the children), expecting to see a fire engine and meet the firefighters. Sending a Community Outreach person to give a lecture to a group of 1st Graders with a very short attention span, in my opinion, is not adequate. I have praised the Steele Canyon High School CERT Program; a fabulous opportunity for the students and the Community. I have no doubt that ECM readers can easily read between the lines on this one. CalFire Chief Meacham, his Battalion Chief, Randy Scales (the local CalFire Union Vice President), and Incumbent Chris Winter are all attacking me especially, because I am bringing some every serious issues to the public’s attention. These are the same issues I have brought to the Board’s attention since the Contract went into place December 2012. To date, many of these issues still exist and, while I do know CalFire has made forward progress in their Dispatching Center, more needs to be done. When my 13-year-old son makes a mistake or does something wrong, or, dare I say, speaks a mistruth, I tell him he needs to admit the mistake, fix what was broken, and own it; not make excuses, blame someone else, or try to deflect a problem by attacking someone else. My message to Chief Meacham, CalFire Union Vice President Scales, and Mr. Winter is simple: Own it. Thank you, again, ECM, for the opportunity to comment. Theresa McKenna Candidate San Miguel Fire Board