May 14, 2009
New Threat to California Cuts, San Quentin Prison
Last week California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger threatened to cut firefighters from the state budget in a deliberate attempt to scare voters into accepting his package of initiatives coming to market May 19.That didn't impress anyone so I guess selling San Quentin prison and the L.A. Coliseum and a few other odd holdings like the Cow Palace will?
The Santa Cruz Sentinel has a run down of the properties proposed for sale but not after looking at the list I say sell it all.
I toured San Quentin as part of a class field trip in college and my first thought as we approached the grounds was why do prisoners get to live on beachfront property?
San Quentin is situated on 450 acres on Point Quentin in Marin County. It's on the leeward side of the San Francisco Bay, sporting perfect weather all year long. Not too hot, never too cold.
Sell to developers and hold out for a pretty penny. We have a lot of cheap desert land in California featuring endless views of cactus and Joshua trees for incarcerated convicts.
I do think Arnold will be forced to lay the smack down on Cal Fire but I have a feeling it will not include any direct firings. Positions will likely be lost by attrition. Retirees will not be replaced by new hires. Seasonal firefighters will be affected to the extent that engine crews will sport one or two seasonal firefighters to assist the captain or engineer.
Three engine stations will become two, two engine stations become single engine stations.
Rural counties like Merced could see stations closings. Planada may have to contract with Merced City, Dos Palos with Los Banos. In time Cal Fire might become a seasonal firefighting force. Does California in the condition it's in can support a full time wildland firefighting force? I believe we do but some might argue we don't.
The state is contracted with numerous cities to provide fire service but the writing is on the wall, some of these contracts will have to be renegotiated.
My suggestion to some of these communities is to beef up your volunteer force, be ready to protect yourself.
You have to think a day of reckoning is coming to larger city departments as well. I look for stations to consolidate, head counts to drop. For a number of reasons there are fewer fires, fewer big fires. Cities will be forced to lean on volunteers more in years ahead.
The fire service in California is not a growth industry at the moment. From the looks of it it may not be for some time to come.
