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Story and photo by Mike AllenMarch 21, 2024 (Santee) -- Santee firefighters are asking Santee voters to pass a half-cent sales tax increase this November to pay for two new fire stations they say are essential for the protection of both lives and property, and that are long overdue.
Time is of the essence to get the new stations and personnel. Today, the city has two stations to serve a city of about 60,000, the same number it had more than 20 years ago, when the city was much smaller, says Santee Fire Department Capt. Patrick Henry.
“Every year we wait (to build the new stations) it’s just costing us more,” Henry said. “If we push this can down the road any longer, it will take this city under.”
Could a station closer to the northern part of Santee have made a difference in a fatal fire at a mobile home on Woodside Ave. March 11 when a 57-year-old man died, East County Magazine asked Santee Fire Chief Justin Matsushita.
“That’s hard to say. That was an amazing response time (four minutes, or at the target threshold)… Could it have been different if there was a northern station? There are so many factors that go into it, but seconds do matter,” Matsushita said.
Just four days later, Santee’s Fire Department, along with units from Lakeside, San Miguel and Heartland Fire Departments responded to a structure fire in the Bostonia area of unincorporated El Cajon on North 1st St. While four residents of the home escaped injury, an “elderly woman” didn’t make it out, and died, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Yet another fatal fire occurred in the city’s northern part on Ashdale Lane near Santana High School in October that resulted in the death of an 80-year-old woman.
Henry, who was involved in that response, said Santee’s firefighters are stretched too thin, and that puts certain areas at higher risk if there is a fire, and other units are responding to a medical related call. “If there’s one fire engine on a call, we’re exposed with regards to our ability to respond to a fire.”
Matsushita said that Santee hasn’t kept pace with its fire infrastructure to meet the needs of a city its current size. “Our city has grown dramatically since 2000, but our fire department has not grown at all since 2000,” he said. “It’s just common sense: two stations will not meet the needs of a city in the same way it did back in 1964.”
Henry isn’t blaming the current City Council for not budgeting for building new stations. He said in 2018 after a study was done on the issue, the current council worked on a plan for new stations but “then Covid hit,” and everything stopped, he said
He also noted the city had allocated some $11 million in redevelopment funds for new fire stations, but in 2012, the state Legislature abolished redevelopment agencies and just stripped those funds from Santee and other cities and counties in the state.
Starting in 2023, Santee has begun converting part of its operations yard off Olive Way to a temporary fire station, but that’s a band aid solution at best, Henry says.
The plan being pushed by firefighters would build a permanent new station at that site, replace the dilapidated station No. 4 next to the Las Colinas Detention Center, and build a new station at City Hall off Magnolia Way along with a fleet maintenance center. It would take about $54 million, which would come from bonds issued by the city.
To repay those bonds, the plan espoused by the firefighters would entail increasing the city’s sales tax by a half a cent to 8.25 percent, assessed on every retail transaction within the city for 15 years.
Originally the proposal was to assess the special tax over 30 years, but the firefighters union worked out a slimmed down plan that will sunset in 2040, assuming a majority of voters approve the measure.
The first order of business is obtaining about 6,000 valid signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot, which is far more than the minimum 10 percent of the registered city voters, Henry says.
In addition to fire fighters, friends and some 60 volunteers, the union is also contracting with the elections consulting firm La Jolla Group to assist in this effort.
As to why the union decided to seek raising the funds through a sales tax hike rather than an added tax on property owners in the city, Henry said it was only fair to assess both residents and the many non-residents who work or shop in Santee and use this city’s services.
“A lot of people come to Santee and use our services while they’re here… We think this (higher sales tax) is a more equitable way to pay for the services that are being provided for those coming here during the day,” he said.
Even staunch conservatives like Henry and some other Santee citizens are backing the solution that usually inflicts higher costs on lower income people. “We can’t put the burden on existing homeowners,” Henry said.
Matsushita said the city’s fire protection under the current arrangement has caused some calls from some outlying areas of the city to have response times that are twice what the industry threshold is, and without some changes things will inevitably get worse, resulting in more catastrophes.
“If we don’t do anything, there will be a greater loss of life and property without a doubt,” he said. “That’s just an unequivocal fact.”
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