A local group which readily admits its lack of expertise in emergency services matters but which claims "expertise in the fields of finance, accounting, engineering and business," has issued a report critical of Orinda's emergency services provider -- the Moraga-Orinda Fire Disrict.
The group, calling themselves the Orinda Emergency Services Task Force, formed last year after city council member Amy Worth asked the council to form a task force reviewing MOFD's management and fiscal policies. Members said they formed and undertook an independent, unsanctioned review of the district's management practices after the council did not follow up on Worth's request.
The group hopes the city will review their report, in which they claim that response times are not met 40 percent of the time and that taxpayers are paying $1 million more than they need to for district services, and hope to present their findings to the Orinda City Council at its Sept. 18 meeting.
The report and additional exhibits referenced in the report are available on the Task Force web site.
Members of the group include residents: Bailey Lee, Bob Mills, Diana Stephens, Dick James, Joan Daoro, John Shelling, Sandy Gross, Steve Cohn, and Vince Maiorana.
MOFD Chief Randall Bradley was sent a copy of the report, but has not yet been able to review it, district officials said.
Are "households" for purposes of this report considered SFR's or any single unit? Are all Orinda households in the primary coverage zones of the Orinda located stations and if not how many Orinda households are primarily covered by the Moraga stations? I would wager two things; Moraga has alot more apartments/condos townhomes than Orinda; those apartments and townhomes are assessed at a much lower value than a single family home thus driving up orinda's "contribution" when percent of assessed value is used in a tax. Secondly I'll bet that a significant portion of south Orinda is primarily served by the Moraga based stations; additionally I'll bet none of Moraga is primarily served by any of the Orinda stations. The crux of the revenue statement is that Orinda pays $1M in excess. In truth I would say Orinda pays too little. A large portion of south Orinda is served/covered by the "8" Moraga firefighters while none of Moraga is served/covered by any of the "11" Orinda firefighters. If we were to sever the district to maintain the same level of coverage Moraga could probably drop 2 firefighters and Orinda could add 2 making the ratio more realistic 13/6 with Orinda "paying" 62% of the costs instead of the 58% it currently pays.
BTW, thank you to all the Task Force members.
The "only thing" blocking this logical consolidation (as far as I can tell) are two VERY VERY powerful unions (and perhaps some regulations they managed to to put in place). Imagine the response times if (for no extra money) we had 2X the cops patrolling at all times, and they were all EMT trained, with first response kits and collapsible gurneys in the trunks of their patrol car. By the time the patient is stabilized and prepped for transport, the ambulance will have arrived.... Imagine if firefighters used some idle capacity to investigate unsolved crimes, etc., etc.....