The City recently embarked on a campaign to effectively unite the Seaside Fire Department with those of the Cities of Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel through a new Joint Powers Authority (JPA).

From the simplistic questions the council asked staff at the May 20 meeting, it sounded like the deal was just about approved.  Then the item was opened to public input and the situation changed rapidly.  Thanks to the insightful questions posed by citizens and business owners and a number of Seaside Firefighters at this and subsequent meetings it became clear that the structure of the JPA document might benefit the City of Monterey far more than any other participating jurisdictions.

Public comments inspired one council member to demand the agreement be amended before adoption, a sentiment which then took a little root amongst the rest of the council.  The City of Carmel followed suit and has apparently requested a more balanced arrangement as well.

Proposed Solutions:

From Council members’ early behavior and questions at the initial JPA meeting described above, it seemed like each member (with possibly one exception) had not had enough time to properly and completely review the proposed JPA structure.   Let’s give the Council adequate time to review agendas before a public hearing.  Similarly, staff must be given enough time to properly prepare agenda items and confer and negotiate with stakeholders.

Joining forces with other jurisdictions may be an effective way of reducing costs for local government.  It is, however, critical that our leadership insist on equal treatment within such arrangements and that we never subsidize other jurisdictions unless there is a compelling benefit to doing so (i.e. our revenues would have to rise or services be improved at no out-of-pocket cost to Seaside taxpayers).

One still unanswered question about the JPA is what would occur in a dissolution of the JPA.  If Seaside pays into the JPA and the JPA acquires equipment, can Seaside take out a pro rata share of that equipment if we leave the JPA?  Proponents of the JPA did not wish to (or could not) answer such questions and made statements along the lines of “trust a little and we’ll improve the structure as time goes on.”

Like wealthy individuals entering a marriage, good management for our City entering into partnerships requires a clear “pre-nuptial” agreement (in this case a clearly defined JPA agreement).  Until we know how we will handle a possible failure of a JPA, we simply can’t enter into such an arrangement.

We should also investigate alternatives such as not participating in all three phases of the JPA.  It is possible that the greatest cost savings come from phases 1 and 2 and that phase three, while saving some further money would lead to unacceptable reduction to service levels.

Fore more details on the proposed JPA please read the Weekly’s brief article and take a look at the Seaside Firefighters Association website.  The firefighters have a particularly well written overview here (requires Acrobat Reader).

 

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