Fire Assn., city at impasse

Labor negotiations between the Laguna Beach Firefighters Assn. and the city have come to a standstill.

Meetings have been held since March, without the two sides able to come to terms on a proposed pay increase and other issues. The association claims Laguna Beach has the lowest-paid fire department in the county and has been campaigning for a large increase.

The association has declared negotiations at an impasse and has refused to continue negotiations, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the city.

Later in the day, the association responded with its own press release in which union spokesman Andrew Hill said the firefighters have tried to work within the system, but that hasn’t worked for them.

“After 20 years, we have had enough,” Hill said.

City Manager Ken Frank said the city’s offer to the firefighters was more than adequate.

“The city has offered a 20% increase over three years: 10% the first year and 5% in the second and third years,” Frank said. “This extraordinary increase for Laguna firefighters would place them above the median for fire agencies in Orange County.

“They have absolutely rejected it.”

The union counters that more than salaries are at stake.

“Ten percent is a nice raise, but we would still be the only department in Orange County that doesn’t have post-retirement medical benefits,” Hill said. “They [city officials] are not interested in any of our issues.

“We would be happy to talk to them if they came up with any substantial offers that address our safety and pay issues.”

Frank said the City Council urges association representatives to return to the bargaining table so that their members can be competitively compensated.

“The City Council is committed to rewarding and recognizing its hardworking firefighters and stands ready to continue negotiations,” he said.

In advertisements and letters to residents, the association has laid out their issues, which include: no city-owned ladder truck or what the association considers an adequate number of reserve engines and no engines equipped with mobile data computers.

“We had to rent engines in 1986 and in 2006,” Hill said. “So this has been going on for 20 years.”

The city has a mutual and automatic aid agreement with Newport Beach and the Orange County Fire Authority that provides for backup engines and a ladder truck to roll on any response to a structure fire in town, Division Chief Jeff LaTendresse said.

Another association concern is that no battalion chief is on 24-hour duty.

One of the city’s two battalion chiefs, the division chief and the fire chief live in Laguna, but they are only on-call, not on-duty, in a station after office hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and could be out of town, Hill said.

As a result of the low pay, Hill said, the city is having difficulty in attracting job seekers and is losing qualified people to other departments.

“There are two types of jobs: firefighters and firefighter paramedics. We have no problem in any way, shape or form getting applications for firefighter positions, if we advertise and we never, ever lose firefighters until they retire,” Frank countered.

“But there is competition for firefighter paramedics. We do have at least one position open, and we did lose one [candidate] to Newport Beach. We could fill the vacancies from the firefighter staff, but we are looking to increase the number of firefighter paramedics.”

Hill said many other departments offer extra pay for certified skills, such as paramedics, that are deemed useful.

“The average program pays up to $334 a month,” Hill said. “We don’t get any.”

Frank said certified paramedics in Laguna Beach get a 15% bonus.

“We are asking for the average in salary, certification pay, post retirement benefits and medical benefits,” Hill said. “The average post-retirement medical benefit is $432.68. The highest in the county is Fountain Valley, which pays $1,000. We get none.”