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East County group seeking solutions to fire district funding endorse Hardcastle for Supervisor

May 26, 2016 By Publisher 4 Comments

The East County Voters for Equal Protection (ECVEP), a group of residents who are working to find ways to fund the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District without a tax increase, have endorsed Oakley Councilman Doug Hardcastle in his race for Supervisor in District 3, for his support of their efforts.

The group supports reallocation of funds that other local agencies within the district boundaries, currently receive in property tax revenue. The fire protection district includes Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Bethel Island, Byron and Knightsen, as well as the unincorporated areas of Clayton along Marsh Creek and Morgan Territory Roads.

“This can has been kicked down the road too many times,” said Rob Broocker, the group’s leader. “Doug recognizes that it’s time the local officials sat down and worked things out.”

Sign in the window of the closed Discovery Bay fire station.

At a recent meeting with Hardcastle at a closed fire station, in Discovery Bay, Broocker, a Santa Clara firefighter, painting contractor and Discovery Bay resident said, “Of two Discovery Bay Fire Stations one is closed. Even with a tax increase the second one can’t be guaranteed to be open, according to County Assessor Gus Kramer. At the same Discovery Bay Town Council meeting David Piepho said it will never be open due to the lack of funding.”

The group has met with board members and spoken before their meetings, as well communicated with other community leaders like Hardcastle, to get them to consider a reallocation plan instead of a third attempt at a tax increase.

“I appreciate the support of the East County Voters and look forward to continuing to work with them to find a solution to improving fire protection, without another tax increase,” Hardcastle said. “Our number one priority is safety of our families. You have to take this personal. You have to ask yourself, what if it was my house on fire or one of my family members in an accident? We deserve quicker response times for all of us.”

Speaking of the only current ECCFP board member who is also a candidate in the District 3 Supervisor’s race, Broocker stated “Steve Barr is not ready to step up and be a Supervisor if he can’t handle the job on the fire district board.”

At a candidates’ forum in Discovery Bay, Wednesday night, Barr said, “There is a task force that’s been formed. The first step the fire board has taken is do a study to find out what is the adequate number of fire stations in this district. That study, came in with a nine-station model. I think we’re on the right track. I’m hopeful this next measure or however it comes to you will be right.”

Hardcastle disagrees.

“We’ve had enough studies,” he responded. “People do not want to raise their taxes again. They tried it twice, already. It’s ridiculous they even tried it twice. We just need to learn how to spend our money properly.”

While the ECVEP is asking all the agencies within the bounds of the fire district to pitch in, Hardcastle only supports reallocating funds from the cities of Oakley and Brentwood, and the County, like was done with one-time money to re-open the fire station in Knightsen.

“I feel the only ones that have the ability to approve reallocation of money are our councils and the county,” he stated. “We just did it by funding the Knightsen fire station to get them open for 2017.”

That process was explained by another member of the group.

“When the self-appointed Task Force made their initial report to the fire board on October 21, 2015, they recommended emergency funding to open one fire station for a limited period of time,” stated Bryan Scott, a member of ECVEP. “They sought and obtained one-time funding from the cities of Brentwood and Oakley as well as the county.”

“The Task Force allocated the contributions from the cities and the county based on call volume to their respective areas,” he continued. “This came out to 49% for the city of Brentwood, 28% for the city of Oakley, and 23% for the county.”

“Using these same allocation percentages to increase fire district funding by $7.8 million would mean Brentwood would contribute $3,822,000, Oakley would contribute $2,184,000, and the county $1,794,000,” Scott explained.

Brentwood will pay a larger portion for two reasons. First, because they have a larger population than Oakley. Second, they receive a greater percentage of property tax, 16% than Oakley does at just 7%. Plus, they used part of funds set aside for fire protection on their police force, instead.

“We need the cities and county to pitch in to make this happen and in a fair way,” Hardcastle added. “It’s time to get this done.”

District 3 includes all of Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Bethel Island, Byron, Knightsen and most of Antioch in East County, as well as Blackhawk, Diablo and Camino Tassajara in the San Ramon Valley. The election is June 7. For more information about Doug Hardcastle, visit www.doughardcastle.com or call the Campaign Headquarters at (925) 755-5053.

Enholm joins citizens’ group effort to fund East County fire district

May 16, 2016 By Publisher Leave a Comment

Greg Enholm

The East County Voters for Equal Protect (ECV) is pleased to announce that Greg Enholm, Trustee on the Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD), has joined the citizens action committee to help improve funding for the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD).

Enholm is Vice President of the CCCCD Governing Board, and has served the district since 2012. His community involvement includes representing non-Concord residents on the Concord Naval Weapons Station reuse planning committee, and serving on the Ambrose Recreation and Park District Board.

“I’ll be happy to do this,” Enholm said when reviewing the ECV goals and plans with Co-Chairs Hal Bray and Bryan Scott. “We must solve this problem.

“I have adequate fire protection, I’m served by ConFire” continued Enholm, a Bay Point resident. “Why don’t you? We need to start the process to solve this problem.”

Enholm brings a diverse background to the ECV effort to improve ECCFPD funding. He has worked as a financial economist for the Wisconsin utility regulatory commission, a securities analyst at Merrill Lynch Mortgage Capital, Inc., and was a vice president at Salomon Brothers.

He subsequently established his own financial advisory firm and published two books on utility financial and regulatory issues. Enholm has been a high school math teacher in both public and private schools, and has taught math at Heald College. He is now a professor at DeVry University where he teaches economics, finance, mathematics and statistics. Enholm earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Florida.

“Greg will provide invaluable insight into the operations of public agencies,” said Scott. “He communicates with zeal, and has a passion improving the world around him. We welcome his contribution to obtaining fire and emergency medical services for the residents of East Contra Costa.”

East County Voters for Equal Protection is a non-partisan grass roots citizens action committee formed to address the unequal funding of fire and emergency medical services existing in 249 square miles of Eastern Contra Costa County. About 110,000 residents, as well as those who work and play in Eastern Contra Costa, have services funded at a level one-fourth to one-third of those levels in other parts of Contra Costa County. For more information contact committee Co-Chairs Hal Bray at hal.bray@pacbell.net or Bryan Scott scott.bryan@comcast.net. Follow them on their Facebook page.

Guest Commentary: East Contra Costa Fire Protection District needs a new approach to funding, not another tax increase attempt

April 8, 2016 By Publisher Leave a Comment

Brentwood gets higher percentage of property tax than other cities, some should go to fire district

By Hal Bray

In 1978 Proposition 13 became the law. The legislature was given the task of reallocating property taxes according to its guidelines. As usual they made a mess of it.

Oh, the original allocation may have been alright, but the state legislature put nothing in the legislation to reallocate taxes over timebased on population shifts, growth or some other equitable measure.So those entities receiving less were, and have stayed, underfunded since 1978. Hence, our issue today for the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District.

In 1978 fire fighting in East County was made up of voluntary fire districts; therefore firefighting and emergency medical services in the area received only 7.5% of our 1% ad valorem property tax. Other, established fire districts within the countyreceived, on average 12%, some much more. If East County would have received the county average or San Ramon’s allocation of 21% or even ConFire’s 14%, or if periodic adjustments had been made, the district’s budget today would be approximately double what it is today and we would not be having this severe crisis.

Where does the funding that ECCFPD did not get in 1978 go? It went to the City of Brentwood, the County, the school districts and special districts within the ECCFPD boundaries. It is time to right this historical wrong, redirecting some of our current property taxes from these entities to ECCFPD to provide for the services necessary to save lives and protect property.

We, East County Voters for Equal Protection (ECV) , want the other public entities within the ECCFPD boundaries to adjust their allocations by approximately 5% (which in many cases is only about 1-2% of their total revenue)to provide adequate funding for the ECCFPD. This would not cut any of their current programs, but would reduce their growth rate. They can keep the bonus allocations they have received since 1978, but going forward the funding is desperately needed to protect the lives and homes, schools and infrastructure of East County.

This reallocation would provide the $7.8 million that ECCFPD needs to open and operate three more stations bringing the total number of stations to six. We, ECV, would then support a tax measure on the ballot to fund beyond six stations, if necessary; but government must do their part first.

What must the community do to get the funding for ECCFPD?

The process to reallocate property taxes is clear; we know the process and the law. It is difficult, at best, and requires the co-operation of local elected officials and the concurrence by the areas residents. We recommend starting today and, in the short term, achieve this funding with a local MOU or Joint powers Agreement (JPA).

However, since our elected and appointed officials in East County are reluctant to solve this crisis, we, the residents of East County, must create the political will for these officialsto look beyond their own parochial interests and think of the common good.

This issue is, fundamentally, about fair and equitable solutions. Fire Services are funded by property taxes. Local government and school districts are among the largest land owners in East County. They are also large consumers of fire district services. However, they pay no property taxes and, therefore, do not pay their share of the costs of the services. We believe it is their responsibility to step up and share the cost of correcting this injustice.

Assemblyman Jim Frazier and State Senator Steve Glazer have said publically that they will carry any necessary legislation to Sacramento to complete the transaction, once a local agreement is reached.

Our local elected and appointed officials hold the keys to unlock the solution to our crises.Most will tell you the process is long and difficult, but will not tell you that they are the obstacle. This issue is one, long, self-fulfilling prophecy that starts with them.

This is why we have begun meeting with local elected and appointed officials and community groups. We must build the political will, break the cycle of self-interest,in our officials or, in this an election year, vote out of office any official who will not support this effort.

We need you, the community residents of East County to contact your city council, school board, irrigation and/or water district and other special districts to make this happen.

Hal Bray is a Brentwood resident and is co-chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizen’s action committee, whose goal is to improve funding for the ECCFPD. For more information, email hal.bray@pacbell.net or like the group on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EastCountyVoters.