Clark firefighters forgo raise to forestall layoff

Three years into the economic downturn, firefighters who protect Battle Ground and Ridgefield are mowing the lawns at their stations, as opposed to hiring landscaping crews.

They’re turning off the lights when they leave a room.

These Clark County Fire & Rescue firefighters are voluntarily planning their vacations and other time off further ahead, so that only a couple are off at a time, which helps the department reduce paying for overtime and part-timers.

They’re not filling the position of a training captain who left the department, and they’re keeping Deputy Chief Larry Bartel’s official car, a Ford with 140,000 miles on it, for another year.

And, to avoid laying off a firefighter, they voted in their union to forgo the 3-percent cost of living adjustment in their contracts for next year.

That sacrifice alone, approved by the firefighters’ union early this month and approved by the board just before Christmas, saved about $85,000, said Chief Dennis Mason. That’s enough to pay the salary, benefits and equipment costs of a firefighter, and, as a result, none will have to be laid off.

“In that respect, we all feel pretty fortunate,” Mason said.

Mason said his crews feel like family to each other. “To lose a firefighter would be pretty devastating.”

Serious budget challenges are persisting because of devaluation of property and tax revenues, officials say.

The department now has 35 paid, full-time union-represented firefighters, including four battalion chiefs. Also, there are four chiefs, including Mason, eight part-time paid firefighters and about 30 volunteer firefighters.

Mason views his department as thinly staffed, saying that, on calls, two firefighters normally staff an engine when there should be three.

These days, however, managing to avoid laying off a firefighter was a big goal, and it happened only after the department and employees made budget cuts and sacrifices for this year and next year.

In 2009, faced with a $988,000 shortfall for this year, the department laid off 19 paid part-time firefighters and lost its public-education coordinator and another support position.

This year, budgeting for 2011, they face another revenue hit of about $330,000.

Now, Mason said, employees are asked to get thrifty in many ways, including to save fuel in the department’s vehicles.

“If they can do two or three things in one trip, we encourage them to do that.”

A number of items like hoses and nozzles won’t be replaced as scheduled, and will be used another year.

And having firefighters agree to schedule their vacations better, avoiding having as many as three to five off at a time and the resulting overtime costs, was a big winner.

“You’d be amazed how much money that saved,” Mason said, estimating it at $60,000. “It just means they need to look a little further ahead about when they take a vacation.”

The union vote to do without members’ 3-percent pay increase next year, was based on economic realities and also on the job’s inherent dangers, Jason Leavitt, its president, said in a bulletin.

“It is important to our body, as well as the department, to keep our staffing as is,” he said. “Whenever staffing is reduced, it becomes a safety issue for the firefighters and reduces the level of service to our taxpayers.”

Leavitt added: “The economy has taken its toll on nearly every sector, both public and private. Taxpayers want to see their dollars spent as wisely as possible. We feel the department and the union are doing their part to make sure that happens.”

“The union recognized that the district was in a difficult position financially and the firefighters rose to the challenge and made the right decision,” Mason said in the bulletin.

It’s not the first time. Near the end of 2009, planning for this year, firefighters agreed to not take all of their cost of living pay increases.

“Who knows what the next year’s going to look like?” Mason said later.

John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.