Grand Jury report echoes much of County's plans

Since the San Diego County Grand Jury has an oversight function, its recommendations to the County of San Diego and other jurisdictions may seem redundant.

On May 29 the 2007/2008 San Diego County Grand Jury issued a report titled: “The Fire Next Time: Will We Be Ready?” and included recommendations for the City of San Diego and the County of San Diego.

“I am reviewing the report with great interest and hope its release will spur action to make our region the best prepared that we can be for fire and other disasters,” stated Supervisor Dianne Jacob. “I immediately agree with the report’s recommendation to consolidate the fractured network of fire agencies struggling to put out fires in our backcountry, where large wildfires tend to start.”

One of the grand jury’s recommendations to the County of San Diego was to approve and fund the consolidation of fire agencies according to the Phase I plan of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) or a substantially similar plan. LAFCO held several hearings on the reorganization of fire agencies in unincorporated San Diego County, and the Phase I option consolidates six agencies into the San Diego County Regional Fire Protection District while adding the territories served by six volunteer fire departments to that regional district.

Phase II would investigate the remainder of the fire agencies in unincorporated San Diego County, although the consolidation would not cover Indian reservations, military bases, or national or state forests.

The volunteer fire departments will retain their autonomy and are expected to work with the regional agency.

Hearings at both LAFCO and at the San Diego County Board of Supervisors stated that a long-term stable funding source will be necessary for the reorganization to be successful.

On January 29 the supervisors directed county staff to explore funding sources as well as both the LAFCO plan and a hybrid plan incorporating other proposals into the LAFCO recommendation. A hybrid proposal is expected to be heard at a June meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

The June proposal will require minor modifications from existing plans due to the June 2 LAFCO approval of a merger between a Phase I district and a Phase II district.

The Grand Jury report also recommended that the Board of Supervisors review the county policy on the allocation of Proposition 172 funds.

Proposition 172 authorized a half-cent sales tax for public safety and was approved by the state’s voters in November 1993, but the county allocated the entirety of Proposition 172 revenue to law enforcement. The Grand Jury recommends earmarking a portion of Proposition 172 revenues for firefighting purposes.

The Grand Jury also recommended that the supervisors create the position of San Diego County Fire Commander, either as a Deputy Chief Administrative Officer or reporting directly to the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for the county’s Public Safety Group, which includes the Office of Emergency Services.

The Grand Jury recommended that the county’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) include the Executive Director of Volunteer San Diego or a designee as a participant in OES training exercises and as a representative at the Operational Area Emergency Operations Center in actual incidents, that OES revise the county’s Memorandum of Understanding with the San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter of the American Red Cross to include a quantification of its ability to staff and equip emergency shelters, especially in the first 48 hours of a major disaster, and that OES maintain a complete roster broken down by ZIP code of county staff members who are trained in shelter operations and who speak languages other than English.

The recommendations to OES also include requesting of the Red Cross that the Red Cross roster of trained shelter staff be coded to identify language skills.

The Grand Jury also recommended a revision of the multi-jurisdictional Operational Area Emergency Plan, which is coordinated by the County of San Diego, to include a plan for the establishment and operation of a mega-shelter.

The Grand Jury report also recommended that the City of San Diego prepare a ballot measure proposing a 2.5-percent increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax to be used solely for the purpose of improving fire protection levels including additional stations, engines, firefighters, training, and equipment.

The County of San Diego will respond to the Grand Jury report within 90 days of its issuance.

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