If you don't want to lose our high quality paramedic/firefighters, contact MB City Council
Call to Action; A cancer is growing in the MBFD; Residents voice their concerns.
Attend the City Council meeting this Tuesday with several of your fellow residents. Voice your opinion and show support for a resolution by Council with our MB Fire Department.
When: Tuesday, July 19
Time: 6:00 PM
Where: Council Chambers located in City Hall at 1400 Highland Avenue.
See the Action Points needed below.
Attend on Zoom: If you can’t attend in person, click the link [HERE] to participate via zoom. You will need to use the “raise hand” button through Zoom when the time for Public Comments is announced.
Meetings will be broadcast live via Manhattan Beach Local Community Cable, Channel 8 (Spectrum), and Channel 35 (Frontier).
WRITE AN EMAIL TO CITY COUNCIL: citycouncil@manhattanbeach.gov
“There is a growing cancer in the MB Fire Department that is causing firefighters to leave and it will eventually lead to losing the department to LA County. The same thing happened to Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa, and others.”
This was a statement made by a retired Fire Chief from another city, in attendance at a gathering last Thursday night to hear the MB Firefighters present the current state of affairs in our FD to a crowd of about 40.
MB residents have always been very protective of their firefighter/paramedics, especially since 80% of the calls to 9-1-1 made by residents are medical emergencies where every minute counts. City Council recently received a number of letters from residents calling for our MBFD to be treated with respect and provide them with a fair contract, but Council has insisted on unreasonable terms for over 2 years.
When MB City Council considered punting MBFD to LA County in 2019, the residents responded a resounding “NO.” Council Member Nancy Hersman concluded that feedback from the residents indicated that no amount of cost savings would compel residents to contract out emergency medical and fire services to LA County.
Ever since City Council lost this battle 2 years ago to contract with LA County, the City has taken a multitude of actions that are decimating our Fire Department. As a result, almost half of our highly trained firefighters/paramedics with 15 to 30 years invested in our community are looking for work in other cities. This cancer caused by the City will eventually make conditions ripe for City Council to claim they have no other choice but to contract with LA County.
All eyes are on Council to make an about-face. They can start by executing the action points outlined below with no further delay and stop claiming that it’s too late to resolve all open issues.
WRITE AN EMAIL TO CITY COUNCIL: citycouncil@manhattanbeach.gov
Basic Action Points to bring about resolution:
Action Point #1: To fulfill the common goal of both the City and Firefighters complaining about excessive overtime, instruct Human Resources to fill all open positions without delay and fill future positions in a timely manner.
MB taxpayer dollars have been wasted on overtime pay due to the City not filling vacant positions in a timely manner. In 2020, $2,494,525 was spent on OT (per State Controller’s Office). Some positions were left vacant for 21 months. As a result, firefighters are forced to work 80 to 100 hours a week to cover their own shifts, plus vacancies. One employee was forced to work 2500 hours in OT in a 12-month period, and another worked 1900 hours of OT in 10 months. This is equivalent to working 2 full-time jobs. The City is causing wasteful spending and burning out our emergency professionals, which puts Public Safety at risk.
Action Point #2: Do not hire the 2 Battalion Chief candidates from other Fire Departments the City Manager is considering, and allow our equally qualified personnel from within the department to advance into those positions.
The City Manager, Bruce Moe has blocked rank and file personnel (firefighter/paramedic, engineer/paramedic, and captain/paramedic) from advancing to the Battalion Chief and Fire Chief management positions. Advancement from within is standard practice in most Fire Departments because it retains dedicated personnel in the department throughout their career. The City Manager has blocked internal advancement by forcing MB firefighters to take a cut in pay when moving up. Here’s an example of why it’s not good to hire non-dedicated personnel from the outside. In the last 4 years, hiring Fire Chiefs from outside MBFD resulted in 5 Fire Chiefs coming on board only to spike their retirement pay and then leaving soon thereafter because they lacked dedication to MB.
Action Point #3: Give the Firefighters/Paramedics a basic Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) equal to all other City departments.
The City has given all other departments in City Hall a Cost of Living Adjustment in their pay. However, the City has withheld any pay increases from our Fire Department for the last few years. This is being used by the City as a way to strong-arm our firefighters into accepting the City’s one-sided contract terms, which include major cuts and changes that will have a negative impact on our firefighters and on the emergency services to MB residents. To add insult to injury, the City Manager hired our current Fire Chief from outside MBFD and gave him a 10.5% raise before his first year ended.
Action Point #4: Do not cut firefighters/paramedics from our Fire Department, the stats below show MB is already understaffed.
Beverly Hills has a population of 33,709 and 27 firefighters on duty each day.
El Segundo has a population of 16,575 and 14 firefighters on duty each day.
Manhattan Beach has a population of 35,064 and 9 firefighters on duty each day.
The chart below speaks for itself on how underequipped MB is on a comparative basis.
Action Point #5: Stop publicly villainizing our firefighters/paramedics for overtime costs actually caused by the City and start giving them the respect they deserve.
The negative campaign waged against our firefighter/paramedics by City Council on our City’s website and in the public square is unwarranted and shameful. Our MB Firefighters are all licensed Paramedics, which is the highest level of emergency medical education and training. Unlike Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), which is a level below, Paramedics provide the most advanced emergency medical care available outside of an emergency room.
Paramedics
are trained to use complex equipment, like Defibrillators, intubate patients with a breathing tube, start IVs, and administer medication,
are trained to make split-second decisions when arriving on a scene to determine and administer medical treatment necessary to save lives,
work an extensive number of clinical hours performing medical procedures in emergency rooms alongside ER doctors and nurses,
continue their advance medical training throughout their careers and pass exams to earn advanced certifications in specialized skills such as water rescue, infant emergencies, etc.
are trained to treat a wide variety of emergency medical calls, such as heart attacks, strokes, and delivering babies, plus major trauma calls such as car accidents and gunshot wounds,
are trained to treat multiple patients at once as experienced in severe traffic accidents involving multiple vehicles.
The base salary and advance certification bonuses of MBFD are in line with surrounding cities. And all of our paramedics are also trained firefighters who risk their lives to save others, so residents are getting two emergency service personnel for the cost of one. A wise Fire Chief and Council from years ago created this model and other cities across the country have used MBFD as a model for best industry practices.
WRITE AN EMAIL TO CITY COUNCIL: citycouncil@manhattanbeach.gov
Press Release from City Council regarding the MB Fire Association negotiations:
Excerpt: “The Manhattan Beach City Council and the Manhattan Beach Firefighters’ Association (MBFA) have been in negotiations for three years without a resolution.”
You can read the entire Press Release points by Council and the MB Fire Association’s response [HERE]. See the 5th document on the website.
The Fire Association is a group of 4 MB Firefighters who volunteer to speak on behalf of our 25 Firefighters. Although the term union is used to describe the Association, they are not a union in the same sense as the Teacher’s Union or the Teamsters.
WRITE AN EMAIL TO CITY COUNCIL: citycouncil@manhattanbeach.gov
Read the recent article in the Easy Reader HERE.
Firefight – The conflict between the City of Manhattan Beach and MBFD reaches a boiling point
MARK MCDERMOTT|JULY 14, 2022
Rudy Meija, a two-decade MBFD veteran and president of the MB Fire Association, appeared by himself at the May 3 Council meeting and delivered an emotional plea.
“I’m here on behalf of our firefighter/paramedics. I’m here asking you, with all due respect, stop the mismanagement, stop the rhetoric, stop misleading the public. Question the information that you are being told (by City Manager, Bruce Moe). Bring the Fire Chief into these discussions. If any of you truly believes the words that you’re seeking to proclaim tonight…I ask you this: create a stable work environment for your Manhattan Beach firefighters. Support your Manhattan Beach firefighters. If not for us, do it for the community we serve. Make the words you proclaim mean something.”
WRITE AN EMAIL TO CITY COUNCIL: citycouncil@manhattanbeach.gov
A few Comments from Residents (names kept confidential)
“The question here among other things during contract negotiations becomes what is my life worth, and what are the lives of all the others that the paramedics have saved and helped in this city worth?”
“I believe we had the best and most immediate medical attention for my child because those guys knew where we lived, knew the best to get there, and navigate the truck in the tight alley with impossible turns. Keep MBFD local. They are always there for us!”
“I know many people in Hermosa Beach who regret changing to A County.”
“And why are you (Council) cutting salaries to Captains that move up to Battalion Chief? Do the right thing and stand up for the firefighters in the City of Manhattan Beach.”
“We live in an area where knowing how to around and where our house is located is really important (during a life-threatening medical emergency).”
“We need to keep our MB firefighters and police officers local. Please get everyone back to the talking table and let’s sit down and figure out a way to make it happen. We deserve full-time police and fire department all working for the city and people of MB.”
“The City Council needs to address these issues publicly and do so with all deliberate speed.”
“I think it is of the utmost importance to provide our firefighters with a fair contract, a fair opportunity to promote, fair benefits to attract and retain the best, and safe working conditions for the dangerous and very important job. Please be reasonable and continue negotiations to support our local heroes.”
“I’d love to the city come back to the table with an offer to our firefighters to promote from within.”
“Our family supports our local firefighters. Come back to the table.”
“I’m writing to request our officials to come back to the table and do the work to keep our city safe.”
“Please come back to the table to support MB Firefighters!”
“I have read the firefighter’s open letter. Nothing that they have laid out in the letter seems unreasonable to me. Please keep that in mind, and do right by them.”
“Please support our Fire Department. Please settle with an equitable contract.”
“Please go back to the bargaining table and keep our city safe.”
WRITE AN EMAIL TO CITY COUNCIL: citycouncil@manhattanbeach.gov
About MBStrong…
We are MB residents bringing common sense, not politics, to the conversation.
Email us your comments and opinions: MBStrong2021@gmail.com
