Windsor firefighters want out of partnership with Rincon Valley

Firefighters in Windsor, who for three years have shared management with Rincon Valley’s fire department, want out of that arrangement, saying they feel sidelined while their partners seek a new relationship with Santa Rosa’s fire department.

Windsor firefighters have been left hanging without a future plan amid Rincon Valley’s efforts to leave the Central Fire joint powers agency and join Santa Rosa, said Jason Jones, president of the Windsor firefighters association.

“We’re definitely an afterthought,” Jones said. “We would like to know what type of contingency plan is in place if that (Santa Rosa-Rincon) relationship does go forth. As far as we know now, there is nothing.”

Rincon Valley firefighters have pushed to have Santa Rosa to take over firefighting in their sprawling district, a move they said would best maintain future firefighting services and could be largely supported by the district’s current fire fees. Any decision could have wide repercussions on both the long-term cost and look of fire services in a swath of the central Sonoma County home to more than 220,000 people, including Windsor and Santa Rosa residents.

If the Rincon-Santa Rosa effort moves forward, Windsor firefighters will be back on their own, Jones said. That could mean the Windsor district’s dozen firefighters would return to having their own chief - provided the department’s budget supports such a post - while looking for an opportunity to save money and join forces with a different nearby agency.

The firefighters suggested one revenue stream could come from approaching the city of Windsor for a firefighting contract. The city currently pays nothing to the district, which extends beyond city limits. The Windsor district’s funding comes from property tax fees.

Windsor firefighters’ request to break from the Central Fire partnership is the latest call for change throughout Sonoma County’s complex network of more than three dozen fire departments.

With rising firefighting costs straining budgets and services, many of the county’s 40 firefighting agencies are jockeying over their future.

A number of proposals, studies and negotiations are underway, including a Sonoma County Board of Supervisors-endorsed review of the county’s larger firefighting picture.

In that effort, a series of 11 community meetings wrapped up two weeks ago, with county officials explaining the extensive study. An advisory committee of about 60 people - mainly fire chiefs and fire agency board members from throughout the county - has started the lengthy process of hammering out a recommendation.

John Nelson, president of Windsor fire district’s board of directors, said that in light of the many potential outcomes of that process, including the potential consolidation of some agencies across the county, Windsor firefighters appeared to be jumping the gun.

“There are so many moving parts. With Rincon talking with Santa Rosa and the county talking with all of the fire districts, how do you change things mid-stream?” Nelson said. “My take on it at the moment is to keep things status quo with Central Fire and investigate all options.”

Nelson said the district has started exploring options and that while he’d consider returning to being a wholly separate entity, he doubted the district could afford it. He said the board would take up the firefighters’ request at an upcoming meeting.

But Jones said Windsor would be better off planning for its future now.

“We ask that rather than waiting … (that) we act pro-actively to become a stronger, more structured, leading department, ” Jones wrote in a letter delivered Nov. 19 to the Windsor fire district board.

For three years Windsor and Rincon have shared management, including one fire chief, as a cost-saving move. The move meant fewer administration positions and helped avoid firefighter layoffs following the economy’s downturn.

Firefighters voiced appreciation for the lack of layoffs, but claimed that the reduction in leadership positions had led to a “strain on current administration staff causing confusion in areas of responsibility,” Jones wrote in the letter to the Windsor fire district board.

Central Fire Chief Doug Williams agreed the management cutbacks have been tough on the department and meant a redistribution of workload.

“We all recognized we made huge sacrifices to keep the fire engines” rolling, he said.

Williams has long been an advocate of consolidating fire agencies, including Rincon and Windsor, but said he was aware of the sentiment by both agencies to go in a different direction and that he was open to options.

Early this year, the consolidation of Rincon and Windsor into a single department appeared on track as it was favored by several board members, although not by firefighters.

But Rincon Valley firefighters came out against the idea, and urged their board to ask Santa Rosa to consider taking over firefighting in Rincon Valley’s huge jurisdiction for a fee.

The Rincon Valley fire district includes 30,000 residents, many of whom receive primary response from Santa Rosa firefighters, according to Rincon Valley fire officials. The idea of a merger has been lurking for years because of how closely the two agencies work together.

The board agreed in late March to move forward with the request to Santa Rosa and the Central Fire consolidation was put on hold. Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tony Gossner said the two agencies and city officials met last week to kick off discussions.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi?Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.?rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. ?On Twitter @rossmannreport.