San Carlos Nixes Fire Dept. Outsourcing; To Merge With Redwood City
SAN CARLOS (CBS/AP) - The San Carlos City Council voted unanimously on Monday in favor of creating a joint fire department with Redwood City.
The move was expected save San Carlos at least $1.5 million annually.
The city had also considered outsourcing fire and emergency services to Florida-based private provider Wackenhut Services, Inc.
In a separate vote on Monday, the City Council agreed to resume talks with Wackenhut in case the deal with Redwood City falls through.
A fire services contract between the two cities still has to be finalized.
Elected officials in San Carlos had been looking for ways to trim at least $1 million from the city's fire services budget, as part of a bigger effort to close a projected $3.5 million deficit citywide.
San Carlos decided in October to dissolve its joint fire department with Belmont over a disagreement about the sharing of costs.
KCBS' Chris Filippi Reports:
The proposal from Wackenhut was projected to save San Carlos between $1.9 million and $6.6 million annually, according to staff reports.
The merger with the Redwood City Fire Department is projected to bring a savings of $1.7 million to $3.5 million per year.
The decision not to move forward with Wackenhut came at an emotionally-charged City Council meeting, where many residents made clear they were strongly opposed to a private contractor being brought into San Carlos to handle fire services.
Other residents offered their support for the Wackenhut proposal, arguing it was time to try something different to save money.
KCBS and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier Comments:
This is not the first time San Carlos has explored outsourcing services - it has already been decided that San Carlos police services will soon be outsourced to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
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