Taxpayers win with another Modesto Fire Department merger, this time with Ceres
Better service for less money.
How can anyone say no to a deal like that?
On Monday, Ceres leaders said yes to the Modesto Fire Department’s offer to provide fire protection in Ceres, Modesto’s neighbor to the south. It’s a good deal and Ceres was wise to take it – because Ceres residents will get better fire service for less money.
Yes, the Ceres Fire Department essentially will become part of the larger agency in Modesto. Is that a horrible thing?
Modesto will hire every person working for the Ceres department. Ceres Fire logos will remain on its three stations and all its fire trucks. The larger department will continue to send trucks to the Ceres Street Faire when it restarts after a COVID break.
Meanwhile, the good people of Ceres will save $234,000 on fire service each year. Tapping into the larger department means Ceres finally gets an engine with paramedics trained in advanced life support, and access to hazmat and technical rescue expertise — specialties that Ceres could never afford on its own.
Like we said, better service for less money.
The Ceres City Council decision was made easier because they already see an example of how outsourcing works elsewhere. Since Modesto began providing fire protection under contract to Oakdale (as well the neighboring Oakdale Rural Fire District), Oakdale has saved $300,000 a year.
The principle is simple. Oakdale and Ceres no longer have to pay their own fire chief, because Modesto’s runs the show. Other economies of scale ripple throughout the entire operation.
Detractors remind people of a failed merger between the Modesto department, the Salida Fire District and the Stanislaus County fire warden’s office. That entity, the Modesto Regional Fire Authority, disbanded only 3 1/2 years after forming in 2011.
True enough. But there are differences between that experiment and the current situation.
The most obvious is structural. The Modesto Regional Fire Authority was a true joint powers agency governed jointly by politicians from the three sponsoring agencies, while Modesto’s deals with Oakdale and Ceres are straight service contracts. The former can be — and was — fraught with political games.
Modesto Fire Chief Alan Ernst insists that the failed merger with Salida was not a waste of time. The agencies learned that you really can put firefighters from two different cultures together and have them work side by side in harmony. Ernst has successfully replicated that in both Oakdale departments, and soon will again in Ceres.
Others could join Modesto Fire
Is Turlock next? The idea was a talking point in last year’s Turlock City Council elections, and comes up from time to time when Turlock leaders talk about exploring different approaches.
You know, better service for less money.
The Modesto City Council should approve its end of the new deal with Ceres when it comes up for a vote, in July or August.
Fifteen years ago, a regional planning agency commissioned a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive study of fire departments throughout Stanislaus County. It concluded that our 20 different fire agencies at the time suffered from inefficiencies and redundancies that could be streamlined if some would swallow their pride and consolidate. It took years for people to accept.
Pride in a local agency can run deep. Neighbors reflect with strong nostalgia on the annual barbecue at the local station, or toy drives, or parades with ladder trucks. No one willingly sheds a meaningful piece of Americana.
That’s why Modesto gladly sends fire apparatuses every year to the Oakdale Rodeo and parade, and will fully support the Ceres Street Faire, Ernst said in an interview.
“We not only allow (participation in local events), we probably enhance it because we have the staff to support it,” he said.
Sustained cultural identity, plus better service for less money. That’s government at its best.
This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 4:00 AM.