We seemed not to have learned much since President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous dictum “What we have to fear is fear itself.” The fear factor is our nemesis. The Bush administration uses it well. But it is not confined to the Bush administration. Check out our own fire fighters union which put Proposition F on the ballot. Their contention is that if not all firehouses are not open 24/7 we are doomed to a fiery inferno. What they failed to note is that ”…we have 42 firehouses budgeted with up to 1500 firefighters, to put out an average of only one working fire a day.”

1. “Study after study has found that San Francisco Fire Department to be more expensive, inefficient, and resistant to change than comparable fire departments.”
2. “For instance, 80% of calls to the Fire Department are for medical emergencies.”
3. Yet we send out a full fire truck with four firemen (with starting salaries in 2004 of $81,382.00 a year) and an ambulance for non-fire calls. This is a waste of resources and precious tax dollars. However, this measure seems to be a well-disguised effort to maintain firefighter’s lucrative overtime pay.
4. There is no separate revenue source of income for this measure. In City jargon it is known as unfunded mandate. It is also written in excruciating details leaving no room for flexibility. It actually freezes into law the number of engines and personnel at each station. Worse, it will take $6.6 million or more every year out of the general fund. Health Services, Human Services and Recreation Services will be severely impacted possibly causing layoffs and cuts in essential services. “Proposition F freezes in place a system that may not be viable in the future and prevents us from finding better ways to serve the needs of all city programs.”
5. This proposition is being opposed by all Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local unions, such as health care workers, social service workers and those workers that provide paramedics and ambulance personnel. “Out of a fleet of 20 to 21 ambulances Proposition F only guarantees funding for four ambulances. In terms of saving lives and providing good emergency services, it simply does not make sense to guarantee 42 fire stations with all their fire fighting equipment and only 4 ambulances.”

6. The City has a democratic process for coming up with a budget each year. Prop F says the Fire Department doesn’t want to be part of that democratic process.

   Instead of putting this regressive ballot measure before the voters, the firefighter should have used their influence, money and high standing in the community in fighting against Proposition 74 and 75. These state ballot measures have far greater implications for the firefighters and all public employee unions. Proposition 74 will increase the probation period for teachers but could likely be the first salvo on probation policies of all public employees. Proposition 75 will make it harder for unions to participate in political campaigns but does not to curb campaign spending by corporations. The latter directly affects the firefighters union along with all public unions. In the wings are State initiatives to privatize public employee’s pension benefits. Firefighters’ image as selfless public servants is marred by this selfish measure to enhance not the safety of the public but their economic self interest.

   Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth see this measure as taking away needed services for children. It proclaims “Why families who love firefighters are saying NO to the “FIREHOUSE PROTECTION ACT”

7. All San Franciscans need to say NO on Proposition F.

Denise

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 1st, 2005 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Local Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.