By Steven T. Jones

THE SAN FRANCISCO Fire Department – which study after study has found to be more expensive, inefficient, and resistant to change than comparable fire departments – seems like the obvious place to make deep budget cuts in this lean year.

After all, Mayor Gavin Newsom loves to tout his faith in the "best practices" models of other cities and his "no business as usual" political independence.

He wouldn't have to look far to find big dollars, either. Just consider:

• Some fire stations only respond to a couple calls a day, mostly simple medical calls, to which they usually send an engine with four firefighters – only one of whom has paramedic training. And these stations stay open even though one city study found a nearby station could answer those calls in the same four-minute response time.

• Generous "premium pay" packages and overtime boost most department employees' salaries close to six figures. The average pay for the lowest class of firefighter is $81,382 a year, almost 15 percent more than the hourly pay in comparable cities, according to an April report from the Controller's Office. Overtime costs also get jacked up by the fact that San Francisco firefighters work a shorter week (two 24-hour shifts) than those in any other large California city.

• The department's fire-suppression budget has skyrocketed in the past 20 years, even as the number of calls has plummeted thanks to fire-resistant advances in modern buildings. Most fire calls are false alarms, with the department fighting an average of less than one fire a day. Yet the vast majority of department resources goes to fighting fires, even though most calls are for medical aid.

• Recommendations by the city's budget analyst issued more than two years ago – who identified $7 million in savings and ways to improve accountability, effectiveness, and morale – have only been partially implemented by the department, which has so far resisted civilianization of some jobs, better internal affairs procedures, fire-suppression reductions, and changes in how paramedics are deployed, trained, and managed.

• A follow-up study this year by a working group that included number-crunchers, firefighters, and urban planners (headed by Margaret Brodkin of Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth) identified $50 million in savings that could be immediately realized. That's enough money to eliminate many of the painful cuts in health care and other critical services – without threatening public safety.

• A San Francisco Civil Grand Jury report issued June 24 found that "no one in power is representing the interests of San Franciscans and their EMS needs. Resource decisions are made by fire suppression-first oriented leadership in the SFFD and overly influenced by a union concerned primarily with protecting firefighter positions."

• What's worse, the grand jury found, "weak leadership has allowed for a work environment that is hostile to firefighter/paramedics and women firefighters," a situation made worse by the drinking and drug use and climate of harassment in some fire stations.

And yet, when Newsom released his budget June 1, it contained a cut of just $2.66 million, or 1.23 percent, and even that reduction is offset by the infusion of $3.65 million from the planned sale of surplus property (Newsom and his budget director, Ben Rosenfield, argue that the decision to cap overtime costs that would have skyrocketed with expected retirements represents a far bigger cut, and that a more relevant figure is the 5 percent reduction in the General Fund contribution to the department).

Even worse, the administration seemed to take a conciliatory approach to negotiating staffing changes with the firefighters union, Local 798, which resulted in the union conceding the same 7.5 percent, one-year salary reduction as other city employees, and an increase in their workweek from 48 hours to 48.7 hours (this change is subject to a vote of union membership).

That workweek change will save the city about $2.9 million, although both the controller's report and reformers called for a workweek of either 52 hours (an $11.3 million savings) or 56 hours ($16.6 million), as well as a host of other reforms, including reductions in premium pay (an $8 million savings), the elimination of the driver positions for battalion and division chiefs ($2.4 million), and schedule changes to reduce staff during nonpeak hours.

The city's negotiations with Local 798 concluded June 23, dragging on far longer than the city's talks with the other employee bargaining units and wrapping up just a week before the city would have had to forfeit the 7.5 percent giveback for the month of July.

"I've got to defend my membership, and the city needs money," union president John Hanley told the Bay Guardian about the long impasse. "But we're not going to balance the whole budget deficit on the backs of the firefighters."

Reformers also don't express much hope that the Board of Supervisors will be any tougher with the department than the mayor has been, despite recommendations by board budget analyst Harvey Rose for an additional $2.6 million in cuts. One reason is that Sup. Gerardo Sandoval – who chairs the board's Budget Committee, which will take up the fire department budget June 30 – is rumored to have been assured the firefighters union endorsement.

"When you have Gerardo Sandoval getting the endorsement of Local 798, it is not reasonable to assume he is going to be tough with them," retired firefighter Jim Corrigan told us.

Sandoval responded, "That's an accusation that I'm willing to sell my integrity for an endorsement, and that's ridiculous."

New fire chief Joanne Hayes-White also hasn't inspired much hope in reformers, who say she's too close to the union and has little appreciation for the perspective and needs of paramedics. Hayes-White told us that she denies both charges and that "I'd like to be given a chance to prove myself."

"I've inherited a lot of headaches," she said. "Are there improvements to be made? Absolutely. But we've gotten off to a good start."

Yet it remains to be seen whether a relative newcomer (with just 14 years at the department, something she considers an advantage) has what it takes to challenge this traditional bastion of male power. Because, as the grand jury wrote, "to remedy these long-standing, deep-seated problems will require very strong leadership."

Perspectives

Hanley, an affable but resolute 24-year veteran firefighter, spoke with us just minutes after wrapping up negotiations with the city. He was tired but buoyant, having successfully completed three weeks of meetings without having to accept many concessions.

It was a pretty amazing feat, considering the string of reports that slammed the department, as well as the extensive media coverage of the debate over station closures (which resulted in Newsom's pledge that no stations would close) and a substance-abuse scandal earlier this year that resulted in three firefighters being disciplined for on-the-job partying.

"The bravery, dedication, and the good job we do hasn't been reflected in any of these reports," Hanley said, dismissing them as prompted by disgruntled employees or outsiders who don't understand fire fighting.

For example, he took issue with the controller's detailed findings that as many as six stations could be closed – with corresponding reductions in personnel and equipment costs – without affecting response times. Hanley said the seemingly wasteful staffing levels have benefits that get missed by strictly financial analysis.

"When we fight a fire, we throw bodies at it, which is why we lose rooms but we don't lose blocks," Hanley said.

Even the controller's comparisons of pay and working conditions between San Francisco and Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, Fremont, Richmond, New York City, Boston, and Baltimore – all of which indicated the need for reform and cost cutting at the SFFD – were misleading, Hanley said.

"When you look at big-city fire departments, our numbers are comparable," Hanley said, taking particular issue with the unfavorable comparison the controller's report made with other California cities, which he likens to comparing apples to oranges. "No California city can compare with our numbers and our density."

His main position – later echoed by Hayes-White, who said Rose is brilliant but "he doesn't have expertise on fire issues" – is that firefighters best know how to run a fire department.

"When those reports say things like that, it's not an expert opinion – it's a budget analyst's position," Hanley said, contempt sneaking into his tone as he uttered those last three words.

Yet it isn't just budget analysts like Rose, Brodkin, and City Controller Ed Harrington who've criticized the department, but also several longtime SFFD employees who spoke with us, including inspector John Darmanin, firefighter-paramedic Michael Creedon, and retired firefighter Jim Corrigan.

Darmanin has spent much of his 22 years with the SFFD as somewhat of a maverick, starting in 1995 when he blew the whistle on safety violations at the department's airport station, going to the media and cooperating with a state occupational health inspection. The department's good ol' boy network turned on him, and he was fired for going outside the chain of command.

"I knew what the fire culture was like, but I took a 'hey, it doesn't affect me' attitude," Darmanin told us. "I didn't let the culture become an issue for me until that culture started to go after me. There are real problems with that culture, which is a throwback to 20, 30, 40 years ago."

Darmanin sued the city and was eventually given a financial settlement and his job back. Since then he has been a staunch advocate for reforming the department, unafraid to challenge department and union leaders and speak out when he sees problems.

Last year, after SFFD firefighter Mindy Ohler was killed in a fall from an engine, Darmanin gave an interview to KRON 4 News about safety deficiencies that might have played a role. A few hours after the broadcast, someone firebombed his Geo Metro convertible, which was parked outside his Redwood City home.

Although that crime was never solved, Darmanin believes it was payback and a warning from his SFFD colleagues. Yet he was undeterred, this year joining Brodkin's working group to help identify possible budget cuts and testifying before the grand jury.

He criticizes Hayes-White as "beholden to the firefighters union," which he sees as the major impediment to helping the SFFD reform itself. Hayes-White said she prides herself on being able to work well with the union but said, "I'm the one in charge." As an example of her independence, she cited her recent recommendation to terminate a firefighter accused of sexual harassment, as well as the random-drug-testing requirement she just got the union to agree to. "In a very traditional department, that's a huge gain," she said.

Newsom also expresses great confidence in his chief. His spokesperson, Peter Ragone, told us, "Chief Hayes-White is perhaps the most qualified fire chief in the history of the department."

Darmanin thinks there can safely be fewer stations and firefighters, he doesn't want individual employees to suffer.

"I think the pay the firefighters get, they deserve," Darmanin said. "But the city is hurting financially, so we have to look at reality."

Darmanin tried to reform the union from the inside, serving on the board in 2001 and 2002. He told us he was often the sole dissenting vote. But the fact that he was elected at all, he said, shows that other firefighters share his concerns with how the union is run.

But Hanley considers Darmanin and others like him to be bitter malcontents: "There is a small element, very small, of employees at the department who just want to break down the system."

Actually, that probably isn't a statement Darmanin or Corrigan – who spent 18 years with the department – would strongly disagree with. "Change is something that is not in the cards for the fire department," Corrigan said. "If there's going to be change, it needs to be forced on them."

Hayes-White said she wants to try. "I don't want to change just for the sake of change," she told us. "But I'm sure we can come up with some efficiencies."

Corrigan said both the police and fire unions have tremendous power to make trouble for an uncooperative mayor, as they did with former mayor Art Agnos when they played a major role in helping relative unknown Frank Jordan defeat him 1991.

"If the mayor doesn't seem to be able to control the police and fire departments, it seems like he's lost control of the city," Corrigan said.

Yet Darmanin noted that a strong mayor committed to reform and willing to weather the political storm could make major changes in the department through the employee bargaining process. Because of a no-strike clause and a binding-arbitration requirement in the union contract, any reasonable demand by the city – such as those outlined in the many recent reports – would likely be granted by the arbitrator and forced on the department.

"Why doesn't the city take a hard-line position?" Darmanin said. "Because they don't want to piss off the union."

Ragone said the mayor doesn't believe in such confrontational approaches. "He tries to manage through consensus and bringing people together."

Yet Darmanin's point about the need for strong leaders is echoed by the grand jury: "Department leadership should confront the commonly held perception that Local 798 is 'running the department' rather than the Chief."

Culture clash

If there's one problem area that got the most attention from all four reports that were reviewed for this article, it's the inequities and conflicts between the department's fire-suppression and emergency medical services (EMS) functions.

The dynamic between these functions is where we see problems with the use of resources, the dysfunction of the fire culture, management shortcomings, aversion to change, and distrust of outsiders.

The oversight of medical responses had been under the purview of the Department of Public Health until 1997, when EMS merged into the SFFD as part of a national trend toward such consolidations.

"To me, the story is how the vast majority of the work is EMS and the vast majority of the resources go to fire suppression," said Creedon, a 23-year veteran.

Creedon's observations were reinforced by the grand jury (of which he is a member, although, because of that conflict of interest, he didn't take part in the interviewing for or the writing of the report).

"Few in number, the firefighter/paramedic providers of EMS are surrounded and led by firefighters and firefighter officers who have a limited appreciation of EMS work," the grand jury wrote.

Creedon also echoes Darmanin's criticism of the chief, but from a slightly different perspective.

"Joanne Hayes-White is a single-function firefighter in a dual-function department," he said. "She doesn't understand EMS."

That myopia is reinforced by the fact that there are very few officers in the department who have medical training, which the controller's report noted was a big problem: "Current training and promotional practices make it difficult for the Fire Department to bring people in with emergency medical experience into the command ranks."

That's because working conditions are tougher on medics (who take more and longer calls) than on firefighters, creating a high paramedic attrition rate, and because the department hasn't conducted a promotional exam since the merger, making it tough for those medics who remain to advance.

"It's no coincidence that there haven't been any promotion exams since the merger," Darmanin said, noting that the lack of exams allows department leaders to promote employees based on loyalty or favoritism rather than on qualifications.

"You aren't going to get independent thinkers," Darmanin said. "You're going to get people who toe the party line. And the union has a say over this promotion process."

With so few paramedics making decisions about how to distribute department resources, it's no surprise fire suppression gets the lion's share.

The controller's report found that "the City's emergency services workload is primarily medical, is heavier during certain times of day, and can be significantly reduced by eliminating certain types of wasteful responses."

Hayes-White said she has already made a top priority of fixing the problems with EMS. She's making plans to offer a promotional exam and has ordered a study on reconfiguring EMS that will address working conditions and response levels. Study recommendations are due July 19.

"I'm the first administrator to fully embrace the concept of EMS," she told us. "I place equal value on both sides of the house."

Hanley said the analysis of how much resources go to fire suppression versus medical calls isn't as black-and-white as the analysts make it sound because many assets serve both purposes.

"All of our engines, which have fire-suppression and medical equipment, respond to medical calls," Hanley said.

Yet Creedon said it doesn't need to be that way. To illustrate the waste involved, he said simple calls for chest pain often get responses from two engines – because the city requires two paramedics to respond to all Code 3 medical calls, but there's only one paramedic an engine – and the firefighters end up just standing around doing nothing.

"We're paying for Cadillac care, and we're getting Hyundai care," he said.

The department's classifications divide medics between fire-rescue paramedics (or H1s, the lowest-paid classification, below H2 firefighters) and firefighter-paramedics (or H3s, who are paid about 15 percent more than firefighters).

While firefighter-paramedics cost more and require more training, Creedon and both the controller's and grand jury's reports said this sort of cross-training actually saves the department money by requiring fewer employees to carry out department functions.

"Members who can both fight fires and deliver ALS emergency medical services are essentially performing two jobs for a salary that is 15 percent higher than that of a regular firefighter," the grand jury found.

Creedon said more of this kind of cross-training would also change the culture in the department: "If half of them were cross-trained, this would be a very different department."

Both Creedon and the grand jury said firefighters routinely deride paramedics as "fucking medics," and the controller concluded that "the department needs to communicate a new department-wide culture to all staff throughout the organization, and to employ team-building strategies to unite the two sides of the house."

Hanley denied there's a culture clash between firefighters and paramedics. But in the most recent issue of the union publication Mainline, his own description of calls to place more paramedics on engines seems to drip with the same kind of disdain observed by the controller's and grand jury's reports.

"That's a great idea to have a medic on every engine but where would the funds come from?" Hanley wrote. "At a time when bureaucrats are out to close engine and truck companies this small brain trust of paramedics is out to enhance their own self interests at a cost to the whole. Maybe I'm missing something here or maybe this group missed the 'sharing time' in kindergarten when we all shared milk and cookies."

The grand jury indicated the differences were based on both resentment over the distribution of resources ("Firefighters thought the merger was saving the jobs of paramedics. Paramedics thought the merger was saving the SFFD from having to cut fire stations") and class differences ("descriptions of the two cultures ranged from old school versus stepchild to jocks versus brains").

Indeed, while paramedics have jobs that require better people skills, firefighter culture is marked by a macho attitude of the sort generally held by police. In fact, in the same article in Mainline, Hanley wrote of his union's solidarity with the San Francisco Police Officers Association over the fatal shooting of Officer Isaac Espinoza, which he attributed to the "evil of urban terrorists."

The grand jury said the differing attitudes have hurt the department's unity and effectiveness.

"What was not planned was the culture clash that occurred between the two services," the grand jury wrote. "Also unanticipated was the extreme reluctance to change that is characteristic of SFFD (and fire departments in general). The planners did not establish criteria to measure the merger's success or failure."

Such cultural problems may be endemic to all fire departments, yet other large cities across the country have found ways to reform themselves.

Money for nothing

The controller's report made extensive use of comparisons, and some are quite telling. For example, San Francisco's average of nearly one fire station a square mile is well beyond the density of stations in similar cities like Baltimore, Boston, Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland, Ore.

From there the report analyzed how busy San Francisco's stations were and found that eight stations answered three or fewer calls a day, at an annual cost of almost $2 million a station. A travel-time analysis showed that six of those stations could be closed without a big impact on response time, although Hanley questions the analysis.

"If your house is on fire, seconds count," Hanley said.

Yet even with 50 percent fewer stations a square mile, Baltimore Fire Department spokesperson Kevin Cartright told us firefighters there cover the city well with four- to six-minute response times, and the department has largely overcome the gulf between firefighters and paramedics.

"Cross-training has been a real focus for us, so the individuals are of more benefit to the department," he said.

That controller's data and other research was used by Brodkin's group to identify $50 million in potential savings, although she sees little political will to make the cuts, particularly given that Newsom has already largely wrapped up his work.

"The Mayor's Office is in a much stronger position to negotiate these things than the [Board of Supervisors]," Brodkin told us, because the Mayor's Office initially proposes the budget and conducts negotiations with the unions.

Yet it's still within the power of the Board of Supervisors to undo that damage, something Brodkin said this board doesn't seem inclined to do. "So far the board has shown no leadership and very little initiative to do anything about this. We have to beat on their doors just to get a meeting."

Gabriel Metcalf, a planner with the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association who was also part of Brodkin's working group that analyzed the fire budget, told us successes in fire prevention should lead to savings in fire suppression.

"We have made the conscious decision as a society to significantly increase the cost of construction to promote safety," including both seismic and fire safety, Metcalf said. "At some point we should be able to reap the dividend of that investment by spending less on putting out fires."

But that hasn't been reflected in the SFFD budget, which has grown steadily every year until 2003, when the city's financial crunch forced the city to scale back.

"We're getting to the point where we need to fundamentally rethink our deployment patterns," Metcalf said. "So rather than firefighters and paramedics, we'll simply have emergency service providers."

The Board of Supervisors' Budget Committee discusses the fire department budget June 30, 10 a.m., City Hall, Board Chambers, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl., S.F. (415) 554-6975. Read the civil grand jury report at www.ci.sf.ca.us/site/uploadedfiles/courts/Emergency_Medical_SFFD.pdf, the controller's report at www.sfgov.org/site/controller_page.asp?id=24430, and the Board of Supervisors' budget analyst's report at www.sfgov.org/site/budanalyst_page.asp?id=7002. A Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth fact sheet can be found at www.colemanadvocates.org/Coleman%20Fact%20Sheet%20on%20SFFD.pdf.

E-mail Steven T. Jones