Union Talks About Fairness in Fire Station Negotiations

As negotiations proceed for a fire-district jurisdiction shift on the border of Orinda and Lafayette, the firefighters union is having its say.

Union President Vince Wells said that — with talks aimed at a 50-50 split of costs for the Moraga-Orinda Fire District to operate a new fire station on El Nido Ranch Road in Orinda — he feels that would not be fair to ConFire (Contra Costa County Fire Protection District). In a phone interview, the president of United Professional Firefighters of Contra Costa County (which represents firefighters in MOFD and ConFire) said he felt the proposed deal should be shifted more in favor of ConFire.

He said the proposal is for a 50-50 split of construction and purchase costs for the new fire station in Orinda, and a 50-50 split of annual operating costs, while the MOFD would operate the new station. That means MOFD management would deploy firefighters from that station.

"The split shouldn't be 50-50," Wells said. "Whoever occupies that station gets more of an advantage of that."

Wells said he has communicated his feelings on this to the chiefs and a couple of board members of both districts.

The position that the union takes is significant to one player in the issue. Lafayette City Manager Steve Falk, in a public email summary last week, stated: " … the whole conversation regarding a jointly operated fire station with MOFD may be moot because word on the street is that the rank and file firefighters have soured on the whole proposal. Given how these things work, that fact may make it impossible for the Supervisors to approve the deal, which would leave Lafayette where it is now: without a ConFire Station protecting the western part of the City."

Earlier this month, Contra Costa County supervisors voted to authorize ConFire to continue negotiations with MOFD toward this move. The move is sought to facilitate fire coverage and cover areas that were previously the jurisdiction of a ConFire fire station in west Lafayette, which closed earlier this year.