THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE VOLUME 133, ISSUE 4 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2013
SERVING THE UC DAVIS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1915
MISHA VALESQUEZ / AGGIE
Firefighters and supporters protest outside City Hall before a public hearing regarding a joint powers agreement between the Davis and UC Davis fire departments.
City, University fire departments to share management Uncertainty, controversy regarding city council decision GABRIELLA HAMLETT
city@theaggie.org
The City of Davis Fire Department (CDFD) and the UC Davis Fire Department (UCDFD) will be entering a oneyear “joint powers agreement” (JPA) for a Shared Management Services trial period. The motion passed in a 3-1-0 vote at the Oct. 15 City Council meeting. The JPA California Legislation came about in 1921.The legislation allows public agencies to work in concert as separate institutions. The purpose is to cut costs, increase efficiency, reduce or eliminate overlapping services and share resources. It is so flexible, according to past CDFD Interim Fire Chief, Scott Kenley, that it can apply to almost any two entities that involve cooperation with no set formula. For this reason, many fire departments all over California have formed similar intercity agreements — San Mateo County, North County Fire Authority and Central County Fire Department, to name a few. According to UC Davis Vice Chancellor for Administrative and Resource Management John Meyer, the UC Santa Cruz Fire Department is currently in the process of a similar agreement with the City of Santa Cruz Fire Department. CHANGES FOR CDFD
The fire department has been through many changes in the last few years to arrive to this point. In September 2010, the CDFD and the UCDFD had a “Management Services Agreement” (MSA). The
"In Davis alone, over 200 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees cannot work. Eight government websites are shut down altogether, while over 42 are severely limited"
Aug. 2011- Budget Control Act
2013 Jan. 2012- American Taxpayer Relief Act
Nov. 2011- Impasse of the Super Committee
Oct 2013-US faces prospect of a willful default
Mar. 2013Sequester began
Vancey Le / Aggie
I N SI D E 2/3 THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
NE W S I N B RI E F Police search for armed suspect near Olive Drive Tuesday night On Oct. 15, Davis Police searched the area surrounding Olive Drive in pursuit of an armed suspect. According to Davis Police Lt. Glen Glasgow, activity began around 6:40 p.m. An officer attempted to stop a vehicle near westbound Interstate 80 near Mace Boulevard, but the driver refused to comply. The pursuit ended when the suspect exited on the Olive Drive exit and crashed into a parked car. The male suspect then ran into the apartment complexes on the south side of Olive Drive. At around 10 p.m., the Davis Police sent out an alert warning people to avoid the area as they were still searching for the suspect. The police said the suspect was a tall white male in his 40s, wearing flannel, jeans and a black backpack. Residents of the surrounding apartment complexes, Lexington and Arbors, were not allowed to go in their
FIREFIGHTERS on 11
Financial aid secure, but research, industry suffer
2012
Davis police officers come out of The Arbors after a failed search for the suspect.
MSA dictated that the two departments would share a fire chief and an assistant fire chief as a trial to see if full consolidation would be an optimal choice. However, it was paused two years later due to “unresolved conflicts,” Kenley said. Though it provided positive contributions, such as Engine 34, it wasn’t the ideal situation. “One reason we discontinued the MSA, until we came to some other agreement, is we wanted consistent leadership and not interim leadership,” Meyer said. Since then, the UCDFD has hired a full-time fire chief. The CDFD, however, has had a series of interim chiefs. And though the UCDFD and the CDFD do not remain in a MSA, they continue to work together — most recently in regards to the boundary drop implemented in September 2013. The boundary drop separates the response districts such that now the closest resources are dispatched to all calls for service. “Over the past couple years, there’ve been some challenges in the [City’s] Fire Department … [due to a lack of] a full time fire chief since 2009,” said Joe Tenney, CDFD fire captain and a member of the Davis Professional Firefighter Association — Local 3494. “There’s been a lack of leadership and direction … [the City has] cut nine positions which has had a real effect on the staffing for emergency response. We are concerned not only for the firefighter safety but for that of the community.” Local 3494 compiled data showing that in the last two fiscal years, there has been a 220 percent increase in overtime and call volumes have more than doubled. “[In the mid-80s] we were running with 36 firefighters and 40,000 citizens.
Government shutdown affects UC Davis, city community
2011
BRIAN NGUYEN / AGGIE
NEWS
Sept 2013-Continuing resolution expired. Houses reject Senate's budget, shutdown begins
4/5 OPINION
VALENTINA NAKIC city@theaggie.org
On Wednesday Oct. 16, Congress voted on legislation on to reopen the government after a 16 day government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. A failure to reach a decision regarding the appropriation of funds was the reason for the federal government shutdown. Federal agencies had to work with a skeleton staff, scientific databases were no longer being maintained and funds were no longer being distributed. The shutdown has drawn criticism from the public and elected officials, mostly due to the lack of discussion between disputing factions. The bill passed by Congress will reopen the government until Jan. 15 raise the debt ceiling until Feb. 7.
6/7 P.8 MUSE
SCIENCE
homes for about an hour while the police searched. Davis resident Dragily Ryucer was in Cesar Chavez apartments while the police were searching and said police told him and others not to leave the building while they were searching. “The perimeter was set up shortly after the minor crash, so from about 7:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. officers were actively searching for the suspect,” Glasgow said. Davis Police had assistance from a California Highway Patrol helicopter, West Sacramento Police and a K-9 unit. Police were not able to find the suspect Tuesday night and Glasgow said they are now working on identifying the suspect. Anyone with information about this incident should call the Davis Police Department at (530) 7475400. — Paayal Zaveri
Within two weeks, hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed. In Davis alone, over 200 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees cannot work. Eight government websites are shut down altogether, while over 42 are severely limited. Farmers cannot afford to harvest their crops because federal inspectors cannot visit the sites. If they can harvest it, they will be forced to sell their crop immediately rather than wait until spring for better prices since the Farm Bill subsidies only carry over through this fall season. Businesses cannot apply for alcohol or import/export licenses. Facilities which make processed food for the masses are only being inspected by 976 out of 1,602 FDA investigators. SHUTDOWN on 11
P.9 16/17 I L L U S T R AT I O N
BACKSTOP