Over the last year the La Verne City Council and City Administration have prioritized the pursuit of both short and long-term solutions to address the La Verne community’s fire and emergency service needs. This has included reopening La Verne Fire Station 3 and repairing the relationship with the La Verne Firefighters’ Association for the betterment of the community.
Station 3 initially closed last year due to lack of staffing and, since then, the City has been in a state of constant recruitment to hire two firefighter paramedics needed to staff the station. Once those assignments have been filled, Station 3 will reopen immediately to provide paramedic and ambulance transport services to the La Verne community. It is important to note that, during this time, the second transport services have been covered by a contract with CARE ambulance.
As to the Mayor’s recent proposal to utilize $1.5 million from the City’s reserve funds to expand fire staffing, the remainder of the City Council do not believe it would be responsible to move forward without a sustainable funding source or adequate analysis via the Standards of Response Coverage (SOC) report to determine how to best improve both fire and medical response services.
Additionally, the Mayor’s statement regarding the former interim fire chief’s support for this proposal was a mischaracterization of his opinion on the matter. Such statements, unfortunately, only serve to harm the rest of the City Council’s efforts to revitalize La Verne’s fire and emergency services including recruitment efforts to reopen Station 3.
The discussion of the City’s fire and emergency services will continue, and updates will be brought to Council in the coming months as additional analysis and information becomes available. The City Council remains committed to balancing fiscal responsibility and safety of the La Verne community as well as the employees.
For more information on the action Council took during the May 17th preliminary budget discussion, click here.