FDAC Report Winter 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 Stocksnap 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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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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Spring is upon us and summer will be here before we know it. Precipitation is lighter than normal and that could mean a heavy fire season is on the horizon.

Agencies are in various stages of preparing their organizations for the potential that lies ahead.

While you are doing that, FDAC is working for you. We are diligently preparing for the annual conference, delivering COA classes and working hard at the State Capital. FDAC has embarked on a path of developing membership and marketing materials to reach out to fire districts that have not yet become members.

We also said farewell to retiree Fire Chief Bill Paskle, who was filling an At-Large Board seat. We thank him for his exceptional service on the FDAC Board and wish him well in his new adventure. Long-time FDAC Board member from Zone 6, Mark Baker, has also stepped down. Mark is a Board member from Lakeside Fire Protection District with over 12 years serving on the FDAC Board and will be big shoes to fill. We have appointed replacements Chief Don Butz for Zone 6 and Chief Lorenzo Gigliotti for an At-Large seat. Chief Kirk Noffsinger from Linden-Peters Fire District was also appointed to an open At-Large seat.

All are ready to assist in the efforts for fire districts.

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Our partnerships with other fire service associations is on-going.

The FDAC/CalChief’s Joint Legislative Task Force is hard at work reviewing current and newly introduced Bills during this second half of the two-year session. We work closely with Russ Noack and Julie Malinowski-Ball from our lobbying firm, Public Policy Advocates. PPA keeps close track of any legislation that may affect the fire service.

FDAC, CalChiefs, CPF, Metro Chiefs, League of Cities, LA and Ventura Counties just testified before the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management, regarding the current state of the California Mutual Aid System and suggested areas for improvement.

Please register for the outstanding Annual Conference this year in Napa at the Napa Valley Marriot Hotel. This starts with the PreConference sessions on March 31st and continues through to April 3rd. We have another exceptional program for you this year, including expanded exhibits and evening receptions. You are not going to want to miss the educational and networking opportunities available! It’s time to bring your Board members, chief officers, aspiring chief officers and administrative personnel. Please register online at fdac.org and we will see you there!

Regards, Chief Steve Kovacs, President FDAC Board of Directors

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Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa Conference: April 1-3 Pre-Conference: March 31 Register Today!

FIRE DISTRICTS ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA

Legislative Article

Russell W. Noack, Public Policy Advocates, LLC GOVERNOR’S BUDGET he second year of the 2019-2020 Legislative Session kick-started in January with wildfire preparedness and response again at the top of the agenda. Governor Newsom’s proposed 2020-21 State Budget has many components to address the continuing wildfire crisis including:

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• $200 Million for forest health and fire breaks.

• $100 Million for defensible space and home hardening.

• $500 Million in a proposed bond measure for community infrastructure improvements.

• $80 Million to support predictive fire analytics and monitoring.

• $120 Million for additional staff and equipment to support fire suppression.

The proposed State Budget also contains funding for pre-positioning of local government fire services under the Master Mutual Aid System from the General Fund. The Governor has touted the California system as being “second to none” and prepositioning as an essential program, which we need to “double down” at this time. Accordingly, the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management held a hearing on February 11th at 1:30 p.m. in Room 126 of the Capitol on the subject of 6

“California’s Mutual Aid System: Are Today’s Wildfires Exceeding Our Ability to Protect California From Fire?”

Our leaders provided testimony as part of the local government panel at the hearing.

PG&E BANKRUPTCY n the continuing saga of how wildfires have affected a major utility company, PG&E recently filed for reorganization in Federal Bankruptcy Court. The potential for their exposure to vast liability remains, and the Legislature’s response will be on the front burner again this year.

Governor Newsom quickly responded last week by issuing a press release stating, “My Administration will continue working to ensure that Californians have access to safe, reliable and affordable service, that victims and employees are treated fairly, and that all of California continues to make progress on our climate change goals.”

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LEGISLATURE/LEGISLATION n addition to wildfire activities, the search for affordable housing to combat the homelessness crisis is a major topic before the California Legislature. Senate Bill 50 (Wiener), a bill to compel local government to allow denser housing near transit hubs failed on the Senate Floor. The bill would have removed local control over housing decisions and added pressure to housing inspection and review process.

Despite this setback, Democratic leaders have vowed to bring back legislation to boost housing in California. Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins pledged to “meet with stakeholders on all sides to find a way forward on a housing production bill that can pass both Houses and get the Governor’s signature.”

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“My Administration will continue working to ensure that Californians have access to safe, reliable and affordable service, that victims and employees are treated fairly, and that all of California continues to make progress on our climate change goals.”

- Governor Newsom

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Legislative committee hearings have resumed, but they have limited their work to processing holdover bills, measures introduced in 2019 and needing to pass their house of origin by the end of January. In this category, we have been successful in helping the following bills move to the opposite house and thereby stay alive in 2020: Assembly Bill 291 (Chu) a bill to promote increased funding to assist local government to prepare for emergency management preparedness and response.

Senate Bill 38 (Hill) a bill to remove a sunset clause to permit qualified volunteer fire departments to be treated as consumers rather than retailers for sales and use tax application.

Senate Bill 45 (B. Allen) a bill to provide for a $5.51 Billion bond measure to promote wildfire prevention projects as well as safe drinking water, drought preparation and floor protection.

Senate Bill 753 (Stern) a bill to develop a training program to support defensible space and home hardening assessment and education efforts.

I am also pleased to report that Assembly Bill 315 (C. Garcia), which would have placed severe restrictions on the ability for public agencies to participate in advocacy organizations, was stopped. We will stay active on this issue as the author may introduce a new bill later this year.

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ZONE 1 REPORT Richard S. Pearce, Zone 1 Director

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ver the past three years, Zone 1 has hosted several of the most catastrophic fires in California history. The Tubbs, Nuns, and Kincade fires to name a few, but all have left a lasting effect on the post-fire landscape and infrastructure in this area. During this time, there have been many lessons learned as agencies and communities continue to recover from these devastating fires. Expectations are high for the legislature, community leaders, emergency response personnel and utility companies to act on these lessons toward preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation.

Extraordinary efforts have been put into preparedness and technology.

Early recognition of problematic weather patterns to pre-position resources as well as limiting ignition sources with Public Safety Power Shutoffs combined with early evacuations have proven very effective, but there’s still much more to do. Throughout the area, agencies are working independently, or in larger groups, to implement the following: early detection and evacuation systems, improved vegetation management and fire hazard reduction plans, defensible space and home hardening evaluations, public education and neighborhood wildfire preparedness. There are multiple funding measures on the March ballot in support of these activities in both Marin and Sonoma counties. Humboldt and Mendocino counties are also reaching out on While reeling from the loss of life and property in these the ballot to improve fire service delivery, respectively. All will require fires, agencies were faced with many challenges that the super majority of 2/3 voter approval to pass. included securing adequate funding after large swaths Great strides have been made in the rapid deployment of resources of the secured property tax base was destroyed, through D-RiSC funding the pre-positioning of strike teams and task fire stations and apparatus were included in the loss forces ahead of these anticipated events has paid huge dividends. statistics, all while trying to maintain effective response Thereby, limiting obstacles to rapid response of needed resources personnel and capabilities as first responders and their provides incident commanders greater latitude in their command families were also impacted. Some Districts lost as decisions and expectations. The need to exercise and train personnel much as 50% of their secured tax property stock which and elected officials in the activation of the Emergency Operations resulted in a devasting hit to budgets and required Center (EOC), and in their roles, responsibilities and limitations, was massive reconfiguration of numerous Districts. Thanks identified early on. to strong leadership, LAFCO’s guidance, and a willing Finally, recovery and mitigation can be enhanced by your constituency, the Sonoma Fire District was formed in preparedness and response. It has been noted: EVENT + RESPONSE 2019. The formation of a single District provided an = OUTCOME. opportunity to survive economically, while ensuring The California Fire Service is amazing! We appreciate your efforts continuation of service and positioning for future success. Others are looking at this example and will do and support for Zone One over the past several years. We sincerely look forward to returning the favor for a change. whatever it takes to uphold the mission of exceptional service delivery. “Out of the fires came inspiration and motivations,” Fire Chief Mark Heine explained.

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ZONE 4 REPORT Steven Hall, Immediate PastPresident & Zone 4 Director

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appy New Year from your Zone 4 Directors, having the distinct pleasure to represent districts within San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties.

As we watched another year close, 2020 promises to be just (if not more) exciting. Through a continued effort working with our local, state, federal, and allied partners, we hope this year does not become a repeat of the past 3 years in California. As we prepare for another fire season, another national election, another legislative session, we need to ensure we are all in the know – all on the same page and all in the loop – of what could potentially impact each of our districts. Communication has to be the key.

In Zone 4, I ask that each of our respective district’s reach out to either Chief Urquides or myself with any issues, concerns, or advancements your district may be dealing with, either pending or forecasted. We may not be able to provide all the answers but the FDAC network has the ability to reach far and wide, and we will do whatever we can to assist you – our valued members. As many of us look at how to build a better mousetrap – by merging, entering into contracts for service, or creating functional consolidations, the wheel has already been invented. I encourage you to reach out to others for their assistance, advice, and support.

How many of us have made that over-arching commitment to a New Year’s resolution? One resolution I would like each of the districts to take on (and keep) is to update your district’s information with FDAC. Has the Chief changed? Do you have new contact information? Are you no longer one District, but four! Help us, help you. If anything with your respective Fire District has changed, please call Catherine or Carmen so we can all stay informed.

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ZONE 6 REPORT Jeff Willis, FDAC Zone 6 Director/Legislative Committee Chair

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ith election season upon us, the critical need for fire districts to secure additional revenue to maintain or strengthen service levels has become more apparent than ever before. Today’s fire service is being called upon at a far greater rate than in decades past. With this increased call volume, a fire district needs to question their service level solvency as a separate question from budget solvency. A budget can be solvent, but unless it is tied to the service level their community needs and demands, that budget must be called into question.

There are numerous reasons for increased incident call volume and those reasons can become full-length individual topics on their very own. For the purpose of this article, it is fair to say that with the number of fire districts seeking additional tax revenue in various forms on the March ballot, there is clear evidence that budget reductions alone can no longer be made without a corresponding reduction in service level that directly or indirectly affects district operations.

Additional tax revenue to maintain service levels is always a difficult discussion to have with a community, elected board members and executive staff. At the end of the day, we all must carefully balance the cost of service versus service demand, reconsidering options and alternatives. The difficult discussions must be had and the question must be asked, “are we meeting the community’s performance expectations with the available revenue?”

It is not hard to find evidence that there is a substantial perception gap between the communities we serve and the fire district’s actual capability and capacity to meet response time and performance goals. It takes strong leadership and vision from our elected officials to boldly speakup regarding the cost of service today as well as for future years. The topic of seeking additional tax revenue is difficult and can be unpleasant.

However, we are best served by having upfront and open dialog about current and future cost of service. This is the only way we can correctly align a community’s expectation with a district’s actual capability and capacity. Ultimately, we either need to actively manage the community’s performance expectation or acquire the necessary revenue to meet it.

Within a district’s annual budget, there are line items that are discretionary. The governing board and executive staff have the option to incur certain expenses. I propose that creating budget solvency is sometimes unavoidably created with the deferral of discretionary expenses.

However, there is a point in time when the governing board’s discretion is exhausted after multiple years of deferred capital purchases and other expenses.

Continuous years of deferral to create budget solvency may border on willful neglect.

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PARTNER HIGHLIGHT: FIRE AGENCIES SELF INSURANCE SYSTEM (FASIS) Jennifer Jobe, FASIS Executive Director

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ASIS, a risk-sharing joint powers annual medical evaluations or OSHA (CIR), a coordinated system of services, authority formed in 1984, has respirator medical evaluations that may including critical incident stress debriefing provided workers’ compensation be performed for participating members. for responding to a critical incident coverage exclusively to fire protection Additionally, FASIS began subsidizing affecting the workplace. MHN’s in-house and community services districts an on-site annual medical examination management consultant team will create throughout the State for nearly four program. Use of this program provides a a comprehensive CIR plan to address decades. Comprised of approximately mobile exam team to the member who will the unique needs of each organization in two-hundred member districts with perform NFPA 1582-compliant medical each situation. a majority having participated and exams, including pulmonary function and In March 2019, FASIS began providing shared in the program since inception, treadmill stress tests. This on-site mobile members with access to www.firestrong.

FASIS provides first dollar coverage, solution allows for significant savings org, an anonymous online resource self-insuring up to $750,000, and of both employee time and member offering mental, emotional and physical participates in the Local Agency resources. support to fire service members Workers’ Compensation and their families. Members Excess Joint Powers Authority “Since 2007, FASIS has provided may access professional (LAWCX) for excess coverage counselors through the Fire members with access to preto statutory limits. The elevenCrisis Network Line, user employment and annual medical member Board of Directors testimonials, general mental works to ensure exceptional health information, assessments, examinations through Occu-Med. coverage for the member peer support team network Beginning in 2015, FASIS enhanced aand districts, in addition to ancillary several other resources. services focused upon the program by offering a revised Most recently, FASIS firefighter physical and mental established a Resiliency menu of medical exam services at no health and wellness.

Pilot Program, additional cost to the members via a Training Since 2007, FASIS has provided providing reimbursement to members with access to presubsidization of associated costs.” participate in the upcoming employment and annual First Responders Resiliency, medical examinations through Inc. Resiliency Conference, a program Occu-Med. Beginning in 2015, FASIS FASIS continues to offer members developed to decrease stress and enhanced the program by offering a access to MHN’s employee assistance enhance resiliency in first responders. revised menu of medical exam services program (EAP) at reduced costs. EAP The Resiliency Conference provides at no additional cost to the members via participants are provided assistance with training and education vital to the mental, a subsidization of associated costs. This emotional, family and other personal physical and emotional well-being of first annual subsidy provides all members matters; guidance on financial and legal responders and their families. with the opportunity to conduct preissues; support regarding healthy living FASIS continues to be committed to employment and annual medical choices and much more. In response to identifying and implementing effective evaluations at a pre-negotiated rate the heightened awareness of firefighter physical and mental health and with designated health care facilities. mental health matters, FASIS works wellness initiatives for the member Additional testing components are with MHN to maintain an up-to-date districts of the program. available that augment the FASISlist of “culturally competent clinicians” covered testing to provide full, NFPA by geographic region who may be For additional information, please visit 1582-compliant medical evaluations. In accessed through the EAP. Also available www.fasisjpa.org or contact jennifer. order to encourage maximum use, there is to participating members, is access jobe@sedgwick.com. no cap on the number of pre-employment, to MHN’s Critical Incident Response

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LEADERSHIP CORNER: ARE WE CEDING ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP TO TECHNICAL TITANS? Frank Frievalt, 2nd Vice President and Zone 5 Director

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very generation, similar to the technical knowledge, but what if you’re that have become so vital to the collective individuals that comprise them, in the business of applying technical health of modern societies.” matures from infancy through knowledge? Indeed, what if you’re in the These leadership failures are not technical elderly – it is inevitable. Every generation business of leading an organization to in nature, but moral and ethical failures, struggles with its own identity, first trying fulfill strategic outcomes? The headlines which means they are failures of social to escape the controls of an older and academic literature suggest that the expectation in the communities we serve. generation, only to find itself, eventually, accumulation of technical knowledge Looming large among these failures is the concerned that the newer generation(s) (at Moore’s pace) and the efficacy of well-intentioned but mistaken overreliance lack some core characteristics necessary leadership are on different trajectories. on technical knowledge, more specifically, to carry on the human race. When the The following excerpt from the opening Boomer generation first arrived, they were pages of a 2010 Harvard Business School overreliance on the experts of technical knowledge, in the decision-making sphere the future – they were “cool”; as we (I) Leadership Handbook on 100 years of of organizational leadership. We have enter our late 50’s and early 60’s, they’re leadership literature gives evidence. come to realize there are many now the past, and a literal kinds of intelligence in addition “drag” on the future from the “At a time when societies around to the technical type associated view of the next generation… with the longstanding intelligence the world are crying out for more or two, or three… We humans quotient (IQ). Lennick and are still here though; our crossand better leadership, when our Kiel in Moral Intelligence 2.0 generational frustrations and call technical intelligence a current leaders (especially in fears are overrated. “threshold” competency “… business, but also in government Our progress is reliant on the because [it is] the price of transfer of knowledge across admission to the leadership ranks. and other spheres of public life) have generations. It’s an imperfect necessary but not sufficient lost legitimacy, questions are being [Itforis]exceptional process, as “repeated history performance.” lessons” will attest regarding The threshold competency of asked, sometimes angrily, of the knowledge in the social intelligence cannot institutions that school these leaders” technical sciences and humanities. serve as a proxy for the Much more efficient is the exceptional performance required of transfer of technical knowledge. My “At a time when societies are around organizational leadership. generation didn’t have to rediscover the world are crying out for more and As with nearly any profession, the fire tetrahedron, and being able to better leadership, when our current technology has permeated every square advance from that way-point of technical leaders (especially in business, but also in inch of the contemporary fire service, knowledge, we have since discovered the government and other spheres of public especially the management of data in importance of thermodynamic flow paths life) have lost legitimacy, questions are mission critical systems and equipment, in the protection of lives and property from being asked, sometimes angrily, of the the peril of fire. The accumulation and institutions that school these leaders: What yielding remarkably positive outcomes.

So pervasive is our use of, and reliance application of technical knowledge is self- kinds of leaders are these institutions on, the technology of managing accelerating; Moore’s Law of Exponential developing that have caused so much data (i.e., information), that we have Progress is a ready example applied to hardship for so many? Are these dedicated entire organizational segments our personal computers. This is great news institutions developing leaders who have (e.g., departments) to Information if you’re in the business of accumulating the competence and character necessary Technology, or “IT”. to lead the web of complex institutions 12

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Remember the introduction of EMS, Hazardous Materials, Special Rescue Operations, Domestic Terrorism, and WUI over the past forty years? When our organizations needed off-the-shelf competence in these rapidly emerging specialties, we latched on to people who had demonstrated at least relative expertise in them, and rapidly elevated them into organizational roles (i.e., Company and Chief Officers). In those roles they could, within the specialty we recruited them for, solve problems, offer advice, and make decisions. Unfortunately, the leadership responsibilities at the Company and Chief Officer level are not filtered by specialty. Similarly, rapid advancement in rank based on the threshold intelligence of IT results in large gaps between the full spectrum of advanced-rank leadership responsibilities, especially those pesky soft skills so elusive to the hard sciences, and the significant but narrow technical expertise of IT. Moreover, IT expertise is different than just another technical specialty area because it connects, supports, and leverages every other specialty and mainstream service we provide. Consequently, the cost of failures from overreliance on that kind of technical knowledge in organizational leadership is relatively high.

Steve Sample, former USC President, in The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership offers, “…I would agree with Warren Bennis that it’s essential for an expert to be a ‘deep specialist’ and for a leader to be a deep ‘generalist’…the leader’s role is to be sufficiently broad… [integrating] the advice of several experts into a coherent course of action.” Integrating varied advice into a coherent course of action…this is not a technical skill; it is a requisite capability for the exceptional performance of organizational leadership.

My concern is that IT has become, with our encouragement, all-powerful, mythically god-like…a Greek Titan among our fire “services”. We must remember IT is only an enabler of services, and not the

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end service itself. Emergency service delivery is about organizing the chaos of something which was not supposed to happen, and to do so in a way that intentionally improves the outcome. At the point of delivery, the best “IT” answer regarding the technological aspects of a service area (e.g., fire, EMS, HazMat, Rescue, Communications, etc.) may not be the best “end user” (i.e., emergency responder) answer. Misadventure and outright failure stemming from technical expert advice is no stranger to experienced leaders. During the Cuban missile crisis, a young President Kennedy was surrounded by technical experts (e.g., military, foreign policy, legislative) who vigorously advised aggressive military intervention.

Kennedy had recently followed that advice with disastrous results at the Bay of Pigs and is purported to have said during the missile crisis, “There is something immoral about abandoning your own judgement.” I agree. Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in My American Journey, “…I began developing another rule: don’t be buffaloed by experts or elites. Experts often possess more data than judgement. Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world.” As paramilitary organizations, Powell’s “rule” has some street credibility in the fire service.

Notwithstanding the unprecedented rate of change we presently face, and subsequent dilemma of the Technical Titan, there is, as an ancient King once wrote, “…no new thing under the sun.” We once understood the necessity of linking liberal arts (e.g., humanities and soft skills) to technical knowledge; during the Italian Renaissance it was called “artifex polytéchnes.” Medical, engineering, and even business academic programs have recently recognized the need for a moderation of technical primacy and are reintroducing the forgotten balance it once shared with the other areas of knowledge. Hopefully this will curb the scalding failures Harvard stumbled into when setting out to celebrate a centennial of leadership “advancement.” We in the fire service can be remarkably slow adopting new trends. I hope we’re early re-adopters of artifex polytéchnes. Until then, do not cede organizational leadership to the Technical Titan. Use technical expertise along with other areas of expertise, as your judgement determines, to lead your organization in a coherent course of action. Do not bow to the Technical Titan – it is, after all, just a myth we’ve created.

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CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT IN FIRE DISTRICT LEADERSHIP PROGRAM 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.

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

FIRE DISTRICT LEGAL ASPECTS (MODULE 1)

• Discuss what is a strategic plan, its components, and the process for development

How Not to Get Burned

• Discuss standards of cover

• Definitions of laws, regulations and codes

• Explore risk analysis

• Knowledge of enabling legislation

• Define master planning and how it differs from strategic planning

• 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

• 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

• Understanding board roles

• Understand the roles and responsibilities of fire protection districts

• Understanding perceptions and problems of organizational success

• Pros and cons of cooperative fire protection approaches

• 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

• 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!

• Understanding the Brown Act

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