Council to Discuss Fire Dept. Staffing Shortages Tonight

At tonight's meeting of the San Carlos City Council, and councilmembers will consider approving an agreement to hire Redwood City fire captains, firefighters and paramedics to help fill gaps in the barely-one-year-old .

Last October, the cities of their joint fire department, and each established its own department. San Carlos city officials complained that Belmont was not paying its fair share under the joint arrangement.

According to a article in Sunday's San Jose Mercury News, only 18 of the 24 fire department positions have been filled. The city established its own department last October after splitting from a joint arrangement with Belmont.

The article quotes Mayor Matt Grocott as saying, "The thing that I am afraid of is we're spending more, or as much as we would have if we had kept with the department that we had."

As reported in a , there currently are not enough employees to maintain even a minimal staff at both fire stations in town, forcing Fire Chief Jim Skinner and Deputy Fire Chief Stan Maupin to create occasional brown outs at station 16 (located on Alameda de las Pulgas). The city has budgeted for 24 positions, however, only 18 are filled.

If hired by San Carlos,would come at a higher rate than current staff. According to a memo by San Carlos city manager Jeff Maltbie, a Redwood City fire captain's overtime pay would be $71.33 an hour (compared to San Carlos at $54.54/hour), firefighter/paramedic's pay would be $63.23 (compared to San Carlos $51.27/hour), and firefighter's pay would be $56.45 (compared to San Carlos $47.12/hour). 

The San Carlos City Council will meet Monday at 7:00 p.m. in San Carlos City Hall, 600 Elm St. For more information, go to www.cityofsancarlos.org.

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