Belmont City Council members looking to pull out of the icy relationship with San Carlos extinguished any flame of hope to save the South County Fire Authority last night.
The authority board — comprised of two council members from each city — met last night to hear a report outlining options available to the department for partnerships with neighboring cities. The report, prepared by Fire Chief Chuc Lowden, didn't tackle financial aspects of potential partnerships and relied on the assumption that the two cities would remain together as the authority.
Belmont Mayor Dave Warden and Councilwoman Coralin Feierbach made it clear the city has no intention of staying in the partnership, citing its desire to go for assessment tax and increase fire services within its borders.
"We sent our notice. I don't see South County as an entity anymore," Feierbach said.
The relationship between the cities began to sour in 2003 after a fire assessment tax failed, leading to seven layoffs and service reductions. Since then, Belmont has pushed for another assessment tax, while San Carlos cautiously pursues creative budget cuts and partnerships with other cities.
Last month, Belmont decided to give an 18-month notice of termination and San Carlos issued the same notice a week later. The authority will dissolve on July 1, 2006 unless the both cities agree to make it happen sooner. Lowden told the board he'd like to see final decisions about partnerships with other cities made by this summer and all changes take place by Jan. 1, 2006.
Warden said the city was looking into its own assessment tax and wanted facts on the financial impact of splitting with San Carlos and independently partnering with other cities. Salvaging the authority is nearly impossible, he said.
"Unless some dramatic financial or political set of circumstances changes, I don't see that happening," he said.
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San Carlos councilmen Don Eaton and Mike King argued in favor of pursing partnerships with other cities first as whole and then as separate entities. That was a sentiment echoed by Chief Lowden.
"My first preference is to go as one. A sale of the whole is better than its parts," Lowden said, adding, "there are a number of agencies interested in ... picking the bones."
Lowden took heat for not reporting the financial impact of the option, a detail board members have been waiting years to get.
"We need to have some cold hard facts on the table," Eaton said. "We've asked for a year to be specific."
Lowden told the board he now has a clear understanding of their direction and would provide financial details to them at next month's meeting, but didn't guarantee specifics.
"Even though there was an expectation that I had a miracle in my pocket or I could sprinkle some black magic on the department, it's not true," he said.
Both cities are scheduled to discuss new contracts with Redwood City and San Mateo this month.
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