Davis Firefighters Celebrate End of Shared Management

When the university announced a few months ago they were ending shared management of the firefighters, it marked the end of one of the more contentious issues in the city.

This weekend the Vanguard received a copy of the 3^rd District report from Bobby Weist, president of the Davis Professional Firefighters Association and 3^rd District vice president.  Despite statistical analysis that continues to show otherwise and indications that the university backed out of the agreement mainly because the Davis union made matters too difficult, Mr. Weist brags of the news.

He writes: “Local 3494 are celebrating the first step in getting their department back after a failed experiment in shared management with the University of California, Davis.”

He added, “Three years ago, we gave up our fire department. To be able to get it back on the centennial is very meaningful.”

Here is the full write up from Bobby Weist:

Davis Ends Shared Management University

While the City of Davis is commemorating its centennial anniversary, members of Davis Professional Firefighters, Local 3494 are celebrating the first step in getting their department back after a failed experiment in shared management with the University of California, Davis.

The shared management structure, which was implemented in 2014 over the objections of Local 3494, came to [an] end in early February, meaning the transition coincides rather serendipitously with another major event in the department’s history.

“The Davis City Council held its first meeting on April 3, 1917. The reason they incorporated was that there had been a major fire, and they wanted to establish an independent fire department” said Local 3494 President Bobby Weist. “Three years ago, we gave up our fire department. To be able to get it back on the centennial is very meaningful.”

The decision to end the shared management agreement brings an end to a governance structure that drew the ire of not just local firefighters, but elected officials from around the region, who noted that operation decision[s] would be made outside the purview of the elected representatives of the City of Davis.

While the severing of the two departments restores that sense of local control, it does not come without its own set of problems.

When searching for its new fire chief, Davis city leadership posted a hiring announcement advertizing [sic] a salary range that is not only the lowest in Yolo County, Weist said, but is also the lowest in the greater Sacramento Valley region.

“This is something that won’t attract the level of experience needed to lead the department,” he said, noting that the low salary could lead candidates to view the position as a stepping stone toward a better paying position elsewhere.

“This could end up being a short-term employee for our city,” Weist said.