There is a contract but it hasn't been finalized yet. One point that hasn't been settled yet as far as I know- Is the City going to pay for additional firefighters to be assigned to the County Fire station. If the Council truly believes in what they were preaching for last couple of years, they will pay to increase the staffing in order to provide safety to it's citizens. If they don't, they will only show that the 2-3 million that they spent on the City Fire Department was just an ego trip for the City Manager. Please Mayor Grimes, Council persons Hand, Beckham, Smith and Vernon, put your money where your mouth was.

At last week's council meeting, Caudle stated that the contract would be discussed at the next meeting, June 18th.  Show up and let your voice of concern be heard if need be.

It may be a year before the fire contract is approved, and the accompanying red tape and learning curve for new recruits will take additional time.  This is unacceptable. 

We should support our local Tehachapi volunteer fire department and give them the resources they desperately need to expedite the building of their fire station to house their equipment.  The time for change is NOW - because the status quo is not working.

If the above bureaucracy doesn't drive the point home, how about this:

• Fire is the 3rd leading cause of accidental death in the US
• A home fire occurs every 72 seconds
• Fire doubles in size every 20 seconds
• 20 people die in home fires every 24 hours

The time to act is now.  Don't point fingers.  Don't say "who's gonna help me?"  Get involved and make it happen.

Behind the curve?

So I take it, you must either be the consultant, or the brother-in-law of one of the city fathers.

Again, we must band together to support our local violenteer fire department.  Supplementing the response from the County would be great.  But don't throw away the local responders when time is of the essense.  It will take months to implement the changes you propose, or don't you know how civil servants work?

emergencyresponder,

You are very much behind the curve. First off the city government wanted the fire station and the people, us wanted the fire study done to show what would be best. The consultant was hired with an awesome resume and reported back the findings that showed just how out of touch the city was with wanting a full time fire station

Second, where were you during the past year to support or reject the study, the results of the study or the city accepting the studies findings? I was there along with many if not almost all of the regular poster to this blog.

EmergencyResponder, you posted remarks suggesting some subversive behavior regarding Concerned such as being a "consultant" or "brother-in-law" of city fathers. You are very much uninformed (I did not say ignorant) on this issue. The folks on the News blog have been writing about this topic in excruciating detail for a year or more. They have provided far more detail, expertise and accuracy than you can possibly imagine. Through their efforts, the citizenry of Tehachapi has spoken (to the City Council), and the Council has responded appropriately. No one is hammering you. It is just suggested that this topic has been thoroughly explored, and correct action is underway (we hope)--that is what was meant by "behind the curve". Why were you not involved in that discussion when the Council took up the matter--or, perhaps you were involved and you decided to engage a new name and just bring it up again? While its fine to have whatever views you choose to profess and write about, to complain about an issue or outcome after the discussion and decision begs the question as to motive. It may be that you just didn't know and were raising the issue anew (but the comment regarding Concerned being a "consultant" or "brother-in-law" leads one to wonder).