I went to wash my car and there was a CHP with a huge gun at the drive in by Henry's. There were also sheriff's all over the place with guns!

Needless to say I didn't wash my car! I'm a little freaked out right now.

Thought I'd give everyone a little refresher! Are you sick of me yet! lol

THEN: Posted by editor Fri Apr 28, 2006 -City explores options of fire and other service coverage

According to Tehachapi City Manager Jason Caudle, the city has two choices: to contract with Kern County Fire department or to do it themselves.

“We are exploring both possibilities,” Caudle said. “We are looking at both sides of the option. The county has changed its policy and city must pay the county for fire service.”
Caudle said the question is: Do we save by using the KCFD and get rid of the city fire department?

He said it is time to either have a full-time fire department so the city can retain their employees, or have the county take over all the protection.

“It would be easy to get rid of our fire station, but if the council’s goal is about saving money, then the contract is the option,” Caudle said. “If the council's goal is to increase the level of service, then the city’s fire department may be the better option.”
According to Deputy Chief Mike Cody of the KCFD, under the present contract, the city receives unlimited resources from the county, without any cost to the city.

“We handle every type of emergency available, from petroleum fires, hazardous material incidents, structural fires and forest and wild land fires,” Cody said.“If it’s an emergency, we are going to be there.”

He also said that when a large disaster occurs, the county will pull from their resources from all over the county. Currently the county has 45 fire stations, 46 in the summer.
Numerous questions have been raised regarding why the city would want to spend that amount of money when the county presently provides the protection at no cost to the city.

Although Caudle acknowledges it is cheaper to stay with the county, he believes the city needs to look at some variables. Aside from growth and cost, the city faces another ongoing problem— the high amount of firefighters that leave to go to larger departments.

Caudle said the city foots the cost to train firefighters, yet many leave to go to other departments. He believes a full-time department would retain firefighters.
Caudle said the people of Tehachapi need more control over their emergency  services provided and that currently the county has the control and not the electorate of Tehachapi. ( Seriously, this is worth reading twice! lol)

However, the county disagrees that the city has no say in the KCFD’s operation.

In a letter dated July 18, 2005,  Thompson wrote Caudle and the Tehachapi City Council stating:

“The city manager’s concern about working in the existing Agreement regarding ‘at the fire chief’s discretion’ does not preclude ‘local control.’ If there are concerns or questions that any of the council or the city manager’s office have about fire protection issues or the services provided, this department stands ready to address those questions or concerns.”

[ Quote : On Oct. 2, the city council voted to open the bidding process for fire consulting services to prepare a comprehensive analysis and comparison of the city's fire services’ needs. Mayor Ed Grimes and Councilwoman Linda Vernon agreed to act as the reviewing committee for the incoming proposals.

Tehachapi's City Manager Jason Caudle said that the fire study will include public forums and focus groups to include and reflect the community's expectations as well as costs and all other related applications.

“Phase One of the study will be a needs-based analysis to determine just how much fire service we need. Phase Two, will be comparative, not only by cost, but by community expectations, training, experience, equipment, all aspects, not just financial, but to produce the most effective results,” Caudle said.

Phase Three of the process will include optional implementation of final strategies based on the council's final decision.

Deadline for submission of the proposals is scheduled for Oct. 25, with the contract to be awarded by Nov. 6, at which time, the city will have received all the details related to the renewal of a county contract. According to Caudle, the county's deadline for renewal is Jan. 1, 2007. The city's current contract with the county for services will expire on July 1, 2007. ]

Does anyone know what is going on with the study? I haven't heard one thing! What happened to the public forums we were supposed to have? It's been two months and as usual things have been extremely quiet with not a whole lot of answers. Speaking of answers I'd like some for a couple questions I have, such as, Are we going to see an ad in the paper for the new hires they're going to need or have those positions already been filled by their reserves? Have their reserves been through a professional academy? If not, will that show up in their study under the training and experience section or are they using the backrounds of their previous employees? What about the grants? These grants were supposed to be used for "extra" firefighters, but will they now be used to fill the 3(possibly 5) positions that are now open. Also, if I'm not mistaken( please correct me if I am) the grants can only be used for entry level positions. What will they do to fill captain positions if or should I say WHEN needed? Anyway I could go on and on, but I won't. So let me know if you have heard anything. I would LOVE to know what's going on! :)