FDAC Report Spring 2020

FDAC F I R E D I S T R I C T S A S S O C I AT I O N O F C A L I F O R N I A

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FDAC F I R E D I S T R I C T S A S S O C I AT I O N O F C A L I F O R N I A

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2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Steve Kovacs 1st Vice President Jim Comisky 2nd Vice President Frank Frievalt Immediate Past President Steve Hall Treasurer Eric Walder

FDAC STAFF Catherine Smith, Executive Director Carmen Berry, Administrative Director David Blue Garrison, Creative Director Audie Whitt, Communications Director Angelique Grellus, Coordinator Eddie Moore, Assistant PHOTOGRAPHY Pexels, Pixabay and Unsplash ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY Peter Liebig, Lakeside Fire Protection District The purpose of this Association shall be: 1) to present a united position on fire protection issues; 2) to coordinate with other associations with similar views on fire protection, including legislation; 3) to provide advisory services and any other services deemed appropriate by the Board of Directors that may benefit member agencies; 4) to keep member agencies informed on laws relating to fire suppression, emergency medical and other related services provided by member agencies; 5) to take an active role in the legislative process affecting public agencies providing fire suppression, emergency medical and related services.

Thank you to all the authors in this issue for sharing with you their time and expertise. If you have an idea for a future article, please contact Angelique Grellus at the FDAC office at agrellus@fdac.org.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FDAC. For more information on FDAC or this magazine, please contact the FDAC office at 916.231.2137 or visit the website at www. fdac.org.

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Trusted Legal Advisors to

California Fire Districts Since 1980

FBOR | Wage & Hour | Litigation | Investigations | Negotiations | Retirement

www.lcwlegal.com

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE S P R I N G 2 0 2 0 A few months prior to the publication of FDAC News, I am given a deadline in which to prepare a President’s Message. About that time, the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting and all of us were adjusting to working remotely, shelter-in-place and wait to see what the “new normal” would be as we slowly moved out of this unprecedented time.

Chief Steve Kovacs, Scotts Valley Fire Protection District & Branciforte Fire Protection District

Although past my deadline, I am now sitting down to write my message. COVID-19 is still in our communities, we are feeling the effects on the economy, and health fears remain. We are also in the midst of numerous protests, some involving significant civil unrest, and are all assessing how that may impact the future of public safety and responses.

Many of us have had our moments of feeling overwhelmed just trying to get through the day and manage the “information overload” coming at all of us 24-7. FDAC is now being forced to discuss the viability of hosting our annual conference and Leadership Academy in October as hotels are currently under gathering restrictions imposed by the State. Although the health and safety of our members is the priority, I will certainly miss not seeing everyone in Napa if that ends up being the case.

The legislative activity in the Capitol has slowed down tremendously as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to time constraints, Legislators have been forced to prioritize bills to move forward and focus on the balanced budget challenges ahead. The CalChiefs/ FDAC Legislative Task Force remains in force and continues monitoring bills that may impact the fire service. FDAC also signed a coalition letter in support of H.R. 7073, the Special Districts Provide Essential Services Act, introduced by U.S. Representative John Garamendi. H.R. 7073 will designate specific stimulus dollars to special districts across the country in response to the pandemic.

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FDAC hasn’t slowed down during these challenging times. We are continuing to advocate for fire protection districts wherever and whenever needed. Our Education and Conference Committee members are continuing to discuss how to deliver our highquality training virtually, now and into the future, and assist our members in obtaining mandatory training, such as AB 1234. The energy of FDAC leaders, volunteers and members and their relentless passion to serve, continues to help us press on during this time. Coming together, collaborating and responding to the needs of our districts is essential for everyone’s overall success.

Our country will get through these unsettling times and evolve stronger. The end result may look somewhat different, but our core purpose remains the same and California’s fire protection districts will continue to be vital in our state. Our promise to you as the FDAC, is that we will continue to serve the districts so you can continue to serve and protect your communities.

Thank you and be safe.

Steve M. Kovacs, Fire Chief President, FDAC

Save the Date 2 0 2 0

2021 FDAC Annual Conference Pre-Conference – April 13 Annual Conference – April 14-16 Napa Valley Marriott

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Fire Districts Association of California L E G I S L A T I V E A R T I C L E

Russell W. Noack, Public Policy Advocates, LLC

Legislature Returns

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he long wait for the resumption of legislative activities at the Capitol is finally over. The Assembly officially returned to Sacramento on May 4, 2020, and the Senate announced it will return May 11, 2020. Both houses reconvene under severe social distancing limitations in terms of staff support and public attendance at hearings. Witnesses are strongly urged to use dedicated phone lines rather than try to be one of the select few to get into the hearing room. Additionally, committee hearings have been reduced to only a couple a day and the bills to be heard have been restricted to high priority measures.

Governor’s Budget

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ay also signals the annual “May Revise,” which will see the Newsom Administration updating financial information for the allocation of funds for programs contained in the original State Budget unveiled in January.

Without question, the COVID-19 impact on the General Fund will be profound and immediate. We will know soon how much of the Rainy-Day Reserve Fund will be tapped and how many new and existing projects will be put on hold to shift resources to dealing with the current crisis. All indications suggest the Governor’s wildfire-related programs will not be materially diminished. As reported in the most recent article, Governor Newsom has budgeted nearly $500 Million for wildfire prevention and suppression and has included an additional $750 Million based on one of the Climate Bond measures

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passing and being supported by the voters in November. The Budget augments Cal OES by $76.5 Million and includes the $25 Million allocation for the pre-positioning of resources by local fire agencies that we have fought so hard for in recent years.

PG&E Bankruptcy

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G&E moves closer to emerging from bankruptcy. The plan includes over $25 Billion to cover losses from the 2017 and 2018 catastrophic wildfires in their service area. The PG&E Board will look very different when they come out with 11 out of the 14 members being brand new. Further, it has been reported that PG&E plans to plead guilty this month to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the 2018 Camp Fire that devastated the town of Paradise.

Legislative Update

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lthough legislative leaders are recommending that their members only pursue high priority bills, many of them will be important to the fire service.

The funding hit on local government due to the COVID-19 crisis will be a major focus as the legislative process reboots. An important COVID-19 bill on worker safety has been introduced and is expected to be fast tracked. Assembly Bill 664 by Jim Cooper of Elk Grove would establish a conclusive presumption for workers’ compensation eligibility for state and local firefighters, fire and rescue officers, peace officers and hospital workers who contract COVID-19.

AB 664 is an urgency bill and would become law upon enactment.

As mentioned previously, the Climate Bond seeks to place a $5 Billion bond on the November ballot for wildfire, water, drought, and other natural resources. Senate Bill 45 (Allen) and Assembly Bill 3256 (E. Garcia) are the two legislative vehicles in play to qualify the bond. Additionally, Assembly Member Adam Gray of Merced is hoping to move his Assembly Bill 3198, known as the CA SAFER bill to create increased grant opportunities for local fire districts to participate more fully in the Mutual Aid System.

Affordable housing and efforts to limit mitigation impact fees as a contributing factor reducing development will continue to be a topic at the Capitol. Although many of the dozen or so bills on this subject are unlikely to move, Assembly Member Tim Grayson of Concord has announced his intention to push for enactment of some reform during this Session and he has Assembly Bill 1484 positioned in the Senate.

Emergency Medical Services has been highlighted during the recent crisis and the effort to enact Assembly Bill 1544 (Gipson) establishing a statewide community paramedicine program will be a high priority for the CPF and us. We have been active in amending Assembly Bill 2836 (Chen) to synchronize the existing quality assurance fee program with last year’s enactment of Assembly Bill 1705 (Bonta), Chapter 544, Statutes of 2019, creating a Medi-Cal emergency medical transportation reimbursement act for public providers. Additionally, we anticipate a renewed attempt to provide a necessary boost for air ambulance service funding as set forth in Assembly Bill 2450 (Grayson).

Emergency management and planning is expected to receive attention as the Legislature returns. Assembly Bill 291 (Chu) would establish a local government preparedness and hazard mitigation fund.

Various bills are designed to provide for greater public notice for public safety power shutoffs, see Assembly Bills 1915, 2178, 2179, 2705 and Senate Bills 862, 884 and 1312. And bills to promote the use of backup generators, especially for healthcare facilities and electrical utility companies will be advanced, see Senate Bills 802 and 1099.

As in recent years, fire prevention legislation will be a major topic with Assembly Member Laura Friedman leading the effort. Her Assembly Bills 3074 and 3164 would establish ember-resistant zones and create an advisory group, which includes FDAC, to develop a wildfire-urban interface wildfire risk model.

The Session will shift into high gear now as legislators return to the Capitol and their zeal to move priority measures quickly through a truncated process will require the concentrated and vigilant scrutiny of the Legislative Task Force to ensure another successful year in Sacramento.

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Partner Highlight F D A C E B A

T Bordan Darm, Lead Consultant to the FDAC EBA

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he FDAC EBA benefits program continues to see healthy growth. Over the past four years, we have seen:

renewal costs year over year for the past six years. Please see the six-year average in the chart below.

• 107.5% growth in the medical program, • 65.6% growth in the dental program, • 86.1% growth in the vision program, and • 56.5% growth in the Life insurance program.

For 2020, FDAC EBA added a critical illness policy for all employees enrolled in the medical program. The policy provides up to $5,000 to fire fighters in the event of a critical illness (including cancer). For 2021, the FDAC EBA looks forward to continuing to provide affordable healthcare coverage and further enhancements to benefits.

Key to this growth has been developing the appropriate risk share model, taking control and being conservative in our underwriting approach, offering competitive benefit plan designs, and providing fire districts an extension of resources and staff to manage their benefits program. This has resulted in low

Respectfully submitted,

Bordan Darm Lead Consultant to the FDAC EBA

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Leadership Corner L E A D E R S H I P I N C R I S I S A N D U N C E R T A I N T Y

D Chief Richard Pearce, Tiburon Fire Protection District

uring these unprecedented times, those who seize the initiative and act decisively to solve our Nation’s problems will be defined as our future leaders. With such uncertainty in our communities and around the world, we can become overwhelmed and task-saturated with wants and needs streaming in from every direction. This is where true leadership is required. Through calm hearts and level heads, we will overcome and prosper after being forged in the fire of this great crisis. As Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated during the Great Depression,

“This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously.

There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly.”

Our chosen profession as public safety servants constantly leads us into many microcrises in which we use certain processes to control and mitigate hazards. The difference now are the size and scale of the problems that we are facing and those that will arise as we move through the unknown. As leaders, it is our intent that will dictate the course our organizations will travel and we must be very clear as to WHAT we are trying to accomplish/solve, WHY we are undertaking the actions that we are, and WHERE these actions are likely to take us.

Before we move brashly into our problemsolving nature, we must first DEFINE what it is that we are trying to solve. This can become very problematic when we are being pulled in many different directions by other department heads, politicians, constituents, employees, etc. Therefore, we must look deep into our organizations and PRIORITIZE the biggest threats we face to the overall accomplishment of our missions. These usually 10

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get focused down into the pillars that keep us running: employees, funding, supply chains, etc. Once we prioritize the big items and move to safeguard those from threat, we can move to the next priority and so on until we are confident in the controls and mitigation we have put in place.

Throughout any operational period we go through, we understand that there is no substitute for a well-thought-out PLAN. Working with our fellow department heads, and especially with our fellow organizational leaders, we can efficiently and effectively create judicious primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency plans for those issues that we have prioritized. It is very important that we not get bogged down into the minutiae that seems to plague many great ambitions. As we move through our planning cycle during times of great uncertainty, we must take into account a few very important factors. Problem solvers tend to shoot for the moon based on our inherent nature, but the end result may tend to be a feeling and perception of failure. Therefore, we must stay REALISTIC in our expectations and remain FLEXIBLE and ADAPTABLE to the dynamic environment that we find ourselves in. As Charles Darwin said,

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

As we navigate the treacherous journey ahead, we must never forget our greatest asset: ONE ANOTHER. Nothing is worth anything if we are not taking care of our crews. We will be stressed and we will be tried but greatness was never born from seeking comfort. Focusing on our RELATIONSHIPS within our teams will ensure a solid footing as we walk this path together. As leaders, we must always remember that we are servants to those we have been entrusted to lead; our focus must be steadfast. In the words of Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”

In summary, Leaders Lead! Get out in front and be present to hear the concerns and absorb the uncertainty. All of us can read fear vs. confidence and fear can be crushing to emotions and problem solving.

Expectations should be clear and reasonable on your path forward. We have always said people are our greatest resource and with so many variables in the economy, personnel are faced with countless challenges outside of work that may impact their work environments. Remember to remain cognizant of employee health and safety.

Go forth with confidence!

Chief Richard Pearce Tiburon Fire Protection District FDAC Zone 1 Director

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Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) S T I L L I M P A C T I N G F I R E P R O T E C T I O N D I S T R I C T S A F T E R A L L T H E S E Y E A R S

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or those of us who have been involved with fire protection districts for many years, the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) is part of the history of local government finance. For those newer to fire protection districts, ERAF may just be a dollar amount you see transferred somewhere on the district’s county auditor report.

Catherine Smith, FDAC Executive Director

ERAF is a mechanism enacted in July 1992 by the State Legislature to shift local tax revenues from cities, counties, and special districts to the State controlled Education Revenue Augmentation Fund. The state uses this fund to reduce its obligation to the schools and community college districts.

Why was ERAF created?

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n 1992, the State had a significant deficit position. Proposition 98, passed by voters to increase mandatory state funding to schools, was putting a greater squeeze on the limited discretionary revenues available to the State. Prop 98 added constitutional provisions setting forth rules for calculating a minimum annual funding level for K–14 education.

Without adequate funding to fulfill the minimum guarantee in 1992, the state enacted legislation that shifted partial financial responsibility for funding education to local government including cities, counties and special districts. The State did this by instructing county auditors to shift the allocation of local property tax revenues from local government to ERAFs.

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ERAF Continues to Shift Today

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lthough there have some attempts to address the impact of ERAF, the original ERAF shift, continues today.

As part of Proposition 1A passed in 2004 to protect local government revenues, cities, counties and special districts agreed to two additional years of ERAF shifts in FY 04-05 and FY 05-06. Prop 1A, passed by a recordbreaking 85% yes vote, continues to provide heightened protection from further raids by the State into local government coffers. But it does not protect fire districts from the original ERAF shift. Since 2003, fire protection districts shifted $439,866,507 in local property tax dollars to ERAFs. Fire protection districts have limited capabilities for generating essential service dollars outside of its allocation of property taxes. Special districts that provide public safety are rarely included in the distribution of Proposition 172 revenue, which provides sales tax funding for police, fire and other public safety programs. Fire protection districts struggle not only with limited funding resource opportunities, but from tax dollars either taken or otherwise unallocated to fire protection districts.

FDAC leadership continues to focus on ways to help California’s fire protection districts establish a stable and fully funded position allowing districts to protect their communities and environmental resources. ERAF may be part of fire protection district history, but it shouldn’t be part of our future.

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Certificate of Achievement I N F I R E D I S T R I C T L E A D E R S H I P P R O G R A M

FDAC offers a “mobile” training program specifically designed for fire protection district board members and professional fire leadership.

Governing a fire protection district has similar aspects to other special districts but yet unique requirements which is why FDAC offers the Certificate of Achievement (COA) program.

DAY ONE: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

FIRE DISTRICT LEGAL ASPECTS (MODULE 1) How Not to Get Burned • Definitions of laws, regulations and codes • Knowledge of enabling legislation • Knowledge of California Government Code, Health and Safety Code, Public Resources Code, Labor Code and other labor laws pertaining California fire districts • Knowledge of California code of regulations that impact fire districts • Knowledge of standards that impact California fire district leadership FIRE DISTRICT LEADERSHIP (MODULE 2) Awaiting the Backdraft • Definition of governing board of directors • Understanding board roles • Understanding perceptions and problems of organizational success • Knowledge of effective board/fire chief relationships • Understanding board meeting dynamics • Tools on how to build positive Chief/Board relations • Gain insight on how a board should handle a crisis • Understanding the Brown Act

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DAY TWO: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

FIRE DISTRICT PLANNING (MODULE 3) • Response Route to Success • Discuss the need for planning • Discuss the 10 basic planning steps • Discuss what is a strategic plan, its components, and the process for development • Discuss standards of cover • Explore risk analysis • Define master planning and how it differs from strategic planning • Discuss business plan development FIRE DISTRICT TRENDS & ISSUES (MODULE 4) Latest Hot Stuff • Identify trends and issues related to California fire districts • Identify common operational trends in the fire service • Understanding public expectations of the fire service by fire protection districts • Gain knowledge of financial and budgeting for fire protection districts • Understand the roles and responsibilities of fire protection districts • Pros and cons of cooperative fire protection approaches • Basic understanding of legislative impacts • Identify technological issues and tools for fire protection districts Please contact FDAC staff at (916) 231-2941 if you’re interested in hosting a COA program in your district!

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