Positions on Santa Maria Fire Stations and Fire Safety

By Roger J. Evans

1. After reading the Fire Departments "Standards of Cover Study", do you feel there is a safety concern to our citizens?

I did read the "Standards of Cover Study," and I also read the article in the Santa Maria Sun newspaper, "A Burning Concern," which came out on September 22. I was appalled and disgusted that our City officials would allow the state of fire safety in our community to get to such a low point.

Yes, I firmly believe there is a safety concern to our citizens. According to the report, only 67% of the City is protected within the 5 minute response limit. One third of the population - homes, businesses, families - are not provided proper fire safety protection.

The problem has developed over twenty (20) years. Santa Maria is at least two (2) fire stations short of City needs. The three (3) current fire stations serve a population, which is nearly three (3) times greater than in was when those same number of stations were sufficient to cover the City in 1980.

A fourth fire station should have been built at least 10 to 15 years ago, a fifth fire station built 5 - 10 years ago, and we should be planning for the sixth station at the present time.

The situation is not acceptable. There are no funds to make up for two stations which should already be built and operational much less for a sixth station, which the report states is needed to cover additional growth in the Southern part of the City. There is only one solution at this point. Even though it is not politically correct, the responsible thing to do is to propose a fire station bond to the community in order to bring our City up to an acceptable level of fire safety for our citizens.

2. What issues do you see facing our city and in the order of importance how would you rank them?

There are many issues facing Santa Maria. I believe police and fire safety automatically obtain constant attention, therefore, I do not consider these areas as community issues. Rather, I consider police and fire safety "obligations" of the highest priority in the City.

The three community issues I believe are most important are described in the attached literature. These are: (1) education, (2) developing the center of town and reviving the Santa Maria culture, and (3) developing alternative revenue sources for Santa Maria through tourism and through item (2).

3. Do you support the concept of a benefit assessment to address the needs of the Fire Department. If yes, would you include other departments as part of a joint tax?

As stated in item (1), I believe the only responsible action at the present time is to take a fire station bond issue to the citizens. This bond issue would need to cover two new fire stations and funds to bring existing structures and equipment up to acceptable standards. The City budget would need to accommodate the increased needs for the additional station personnel.

4. Do you have any other creative ideas to fund the Fire Department needs?

The City of Santa Maria needs new revenue sources. If the status quo of revenue continues to be property taxes and traditional sales tax, our future is very predictable - less than adequate fire protection, portable classrooms along side all of our schools, poor streets, and decaying services.

I have proposed that Santa Maria "invent" tourism for the City. The potential for the City is outstanding. We have Highway 101 where tens of thousands of people drive by each day. When we re-route Highway 166 around the Northern end of Santa Maria, we will then "own" Main Street. By blocking Main Street from Broadway to Blosser, the City can begin to create an outdoor pedestrian cultural center. This will once again define the center of town, and also begin to define a tourist attraction. The Santa Maria Cultural Center can consist of the specialty shops, restaurants, and cultural and art museums. I am also proposing a stylish restaurant over the intersection of Broadway and Main Street, which also ties the four corners together with a unique pedestrian walkway. This will provide an investor an opportunity for investment, and provides the City with a way to pay for the pedestrian walkway.

Other areas which need to be explored are the Space Theme we have as a result of our proximity to Vandenberg AFB. Santa Maria can be the Gateway to the U.S. Western Spaceport. People are interested in space, and a space museum and entertainment center would draw people on Highway 101 to stop in Santa Maria. We also can explore the potential of wine tours and related tourist services and golfing.

There are other revenue ideas as well. For instance, soccer is already a widely played sport at every age level - youth to adult. A soccer complex would easily pay for itself, and would bring in revenue to the City through bed taxes and sales taxes. The idea for a Convention Center is also another source of revenue for the City.

These are some ideas to generate income for the City. My main point is that we need to generate income from outside out boundaries. This additional revenue will help maintain our obligations to our citizens for fire and police safety, and also provide revenue to help get out schools back on track, provide decent fields for our youth (and adults) to play sports, support our roads and other things that we want for our community.

Thank you for taking the time to care about our community. I understand the fire safety problem in our City. If elected to a City Council position, you can be assured I will work to rectify the problem as quickly as possible.