Maximize Firefighter Salary/Benefits to Attract/Retain the Best Skilled Men/Women

By Ralph Hoffmann

For the next preliminary budget I advocate policy to CFO and Management which maximizes Firefighter compensation

Then we will be able to spend the taxpayers money where it really counts: in maximizing, with fiscal responsibility, the compensation of our firefighters/paramedics/EMTs/staff to attract and retain the most qualified personnel possible in this tight labor market.

If your house catches fire, don't you want the best trained, most qualified firefighters arriving promptly to extinguish the fire with a minimum of damage. DON'T you want firefighters who are so qualified and courageous that they can enter your house, even if in poor visibility from smoke, and reduced oxygen and are so sure of their fellow firefighters qualifications that they do not hesitate to search for persons possibly still in your house. The natural instinct of everyone but qualified firefighters is to run in the opposite direction from a fire instead of search for victims.

Firefighting involves a lot of waiting around, and little time actually fighting a fire. If the firefighter is well qualified/trained the men/women will use that waiting time productively in maintenance of equipment, housekeeping, inspections, and talks to children and groups. These productive waiting skills will prepare the skilled firefighter mentally for the next fire.

If your spouse or other loved one becomes suddenly ill, has a heart attack or stroke, or your child has lost conciousness from falling in a backyard pool, or any menber of your family is injured in a car accident: DON'T you want an ambulance with the most highly skilled Paramedics/EMTs to arrive as quickly as possible, to perform the best onsite and in transit medical services possible?

It is the personnel of the District that determine its performance! Again in these times of a tight labor market we must provide generous compensation to attract and retain them! By minimizing or eliminating sprawl we can assure that these most competent persons will arrive in time to save lives and property!

If anyone thinks I plan, if elected to set policy directing management to promote housekeeping and maintenance work for firefighters for no reason, let me pass along my personal experience in this area. I do housekeeping and maintenance in my home because it helps keep me physically and emotionally fit for any demanding challenges outside my home. It is productive and cheaper than joining a gym!

Any District Personnel who become involved in traumatic situations should be immediately provided with trauma counseling if requested. If elected I will advocate a policy of provision for this service in the Preliminary District Budget. Such provision, I believe, will save the Disrict money in increased effectiveness of personnel.

I will also advocate to Area planners that affordable housing be set aside within the District to provide easy commutes for our firefighters when called out in an emergency.

All the above can be done and still remain in compliance with Proposition 111 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 Appropriations Limit Increments.

In two nearly identical letters to the San Ramon Valley Times within a week a person claims that the Firefighters Association endorses the incumbent Board members, however the wording of the letters is rather obscure. I have attempted to contact the author of these letters by phone, but my calls have not been returned. The letters claim that the incumbents did not solicit the endorsement of the Firefighters Association, but nowhere in print have any of the incumbents stated this. This is the first time to my knowledge that the Times has printed two nearly identical letters within a week by the same author. All of this has ocurred while contract negotiations are proceding between the SRVFPD Board of Directors and the Bargaining Unit of the San Ramon Valley Firefighter's Association.

The Contra Costa County Grand Jury has recently requesed a significant amount of information from the SRVFPD.