Sacramento County, CA November 3, 1998 General
Smart Voter

Position on Fire District mergers

By Douglas R "Doug" Leard

Candidate for Director; Sacramento County Fire Protection District; Division 6

This information is provided by the candidate
The right merger at the right time may be appropriate.
I have been involved in two mergers of Fire Districts. I have seen that there are definitely costs to merge. When and IF the citizens can be shown clearly and fully that a merger is advisable, I could vote for it in good conscience. The present situation in this County is this. The Sac. County Fire Dist. has recovered from the costs of the mergers of Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova Districts, and then taking in the Fair Oaks District. There have been benefits to the citizens of the Districts, and wise fiscal policy/economizing have brought stability to the District. The future looks very tight financially, but the District is sound and has a reserve. In contrast, the American River Fire District administrators and Board have mismanaged their finances, been plagued by retirement scandals, and expanded too fast. In their immature rush to be the biggest fire district, they have taken on too much debt ( as in the former Florin Fire District). They were betting on a merger with Sac. County to bail them out of their poor management-induced debt. When the Sac. County Board wisely refrained from rushing in to merger, the A.R. plan was devastated. They actually blame Sac. County for their troubles. Worse, their attitude is not so much merger as it is "hostile take over", as it would be termed in the business world. They want to raid the assets of Sac. County and totally control all the terms of the merger, with no regard for the citizens or employees of the Sac. County District. I would vote against a merger unless and until A.R. has it's financial house in order AND engages in a fair and open negotiation on policies, employees, and benefits to the citizens. In other words, the right merger at the right time.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 28, 1998 17:24
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