During June 10, 2014 Council discussion of an agenda item (brought by Councilmembers Austin, Schipske and Neal) that proposed delaying the less costly paramedic system until FY15 Council budget discussions (August-September 2014), Financial Management Director John Gross told the Council that maintaining LB's current paramedic system (provided by every other city in L.A. County and Orange County) into FY15 would cost $1.4 million. Mr. Gross described the sum as 70% of the cost of staffing a fire engine for a year. [For reasons that are unclear to us, management's memo accompanying the then-proposed November 2013 management raises said the FY15 General Fund cost of the raises would be $1.8 million.]

Mr. Gross told the Council on June 10 that if the Council chose not to implement the test paramedic system in FY15, $1.4 million would have to come from LBFD's budget, which is true under what Mayor Foster has called "proportional budget reductions" [which have arguably had disproportionate impacts on fire and police services for taxpayers] but LBREPORT.com believes a Council majority can legally allocate fire and police budget sums from other General Fund spending as it wishes.

Long Beach currently has three "ghost" fire stations that no longer provide fire engines capable of putting out fires under previous budget cuts advocated by Mayor Foster and implemented by his Council majority. In late Jan. 2014, a house burned across the street from Fire Station 17 until an engine came from further away to douse the flames. (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

On November 5, 2013, the Council voted 7-2 (Yes: Garcia, Lowenthal, O'Donnell, Schipske, Andrews, Austin, Neal; No: Johnson and DeLong) to approve roughly 15% raises over two years for management staff (who years ago formed a union) and then voted 7-2 vote (Yes: Garcia, Lowenthal, DeLong, O'Donnell, Andrews, Austin, Neal; No: Johnson and Schipske) to grant similar raises to non-unionized city management staff. At the same Nov. 2013 Council session, management told the Council it couldn't restore Engine 8 (Belmont Shore) or Rescue 12 (NLB) without making cuts elsewhere or finding additional revenue elsewhere. [The area formerly served by rescue 12 would be covered by a firefighter/paramedic aboard a fire engine under management's new paramedic response model.]

As LBREPORT.com reported in November 2013 (without management response invited by us), the raises for non-unionized management allow Council incumbents and Mayor Foster to give their Chiefs of Staff up to 15% raises. There's been no public discussion of whether this occurred or whether such raises will be perpetuated in management's proposed FY15 budget that incoming Mayor Garcia will present it to the Council with his recommendations in August 2014 for Council enactment by mid-September 2014.

Mayor-elect Garcia, who was among the Council majority that approved the management raises and Fire Department budget cuts, was absent at the June 10, 2014 Council meeting, creating two 4-4 ties (failed motions) on whether implement or delay the less costly paramedic system. (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

LB Fire Chief Mike DuRee says the changed paramedic response system to be tested on LB residents (for up to two years) is superior on its merits and will improve patient care. The LB Firefighters Ass'n says it will result in worsened patient care and bring other unintended consequences.