Stanislaus County makes leadership change at troubled Consolidated fire district
Stanislaus County leaders have appointed two new members to the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District board, replacing the former president and a board member whose furniture sales to the district were exposed in 2017.
The county Board of Supervisors last week appointed Jonathan Goulding and Steven Stanfield to four-year terms on the board, which is composed of city and county appointees. Goulding and Stanfield replace former board president Susan Zanker and board member Dave Woods, whose terms expired Sunday.
County Supervisors Vito Chiesa and Kristin Olsen had recently conducted interviews with applicants.
Local officials and residents have criticized the district in eastern Stanislaus County for turnover in the fire chief’s position, for the district’s financial struggles and for soured relationships with neighboring agencies.
The city of Oakdale and Oakdale’s rural fire district recently entered a contract with Modesto for emergency services after they couldn’t agree to terms of renewing a five-year service agreement with Consolidated.
“We just think that board has had its share of issues,” county Board Chairman Terry Withrow said. “It was time to get some new blood in there ... It was multiple things.”
Zanker did not return a message from The Modesto Bee on Monday.
“I am disappointed we were not reappointed,” Woods said. “We worked extremely hard under difficult conditions to bring the district back … It takes some time for a new board member to really come up to speed on the operations of the district.”
The district, with close to a $15 million annual budget, provides emergency services in Riverbank, Waterford, Empire, Hickman and a portion of Modesto. The county appoints three of the five board members; Riverbank and Waterford each appoint a board member.
The terms of the three county appointees, including Gregory Bernardi, who joined the board in February and was reappointed last week, expire in June 2023. Michelle Guzman and Steve Green, who are Riverbank and Waterford appointees, respectively, hold seats that expire Dec. 31.
The fire district came under the glare of media attention in fall 2017 when its board took action to dismiss Fire Chief Rick Weigele after only five months on the job. Citing the short-lived tenures of two previous chiefs, some residents and elected officials raised questions about the disciplinary action and demanded a more stable administration.
In November 2017, The Bee reported that some of the furniture in district fire stations had been purchased from a business owned by Woods. Records showed that the district purchased nine recliners from Woods’ online business in 2016 for a total of $6,160.
Woods participated in board votes in October and November 2016 that approved the payments for furniture purchases from his business. Ethics laws in California prohibit public officials from using their positions for personal gain. After the story was published in The Bee, Woods returned the $6,160 to the district.
In the past six months, Oakdale asked for more transparency and control of district costs in sometimes rancorous discussions over a renewal of the service agreement with Consolidated, which expired June 30. Oakdale reached out to Modesto after Consolidated didn’t agree to a six- to 12-month extension so that details could be negotiated.
Supervisor Olsen released a statement saying: “Stanislaus Consolidated has suffered from a lot of turmoil and dysfunction with ever-changing chiefs, the loss of both the City of Oakdale and Oakdale Rural contracts, lack of communication, uncertainty and fear within its firefighting workforce, and more. Residents and businesses served by Consolidated deserve a stable, healthy, and accountable fire district that they can rely on, and to that end, it was time to make a change.”
County Supervisor Vito Chiesa said he likes Stanfield’s interest in public agency budgets and his role on the “Behind the Badge” show on radio. Stanfield is a public information officer for Modesto police. Goulding works for Ceres Fire Department. Both appointees live inside Consolidated’s boundaries.
Chiesa said the board members who were not reappointed did bring in expertise to evaluate the fire district’s financial issues. He said not any one person was to blame for the dissolution of the Oakdale-Consolidated service agreement.
“The (county) board just decided to go in a different direction as a whole,” Chiesa said. “I appreciate the service of the board members we did not reappoint. I believe the board has done a few things to help get the finances under control. We want to see even more action.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2019 at 5:14 PM.
