Possible changes may be coming to parts of southern Santa Clara County in regards to changes at the fire department, but it may be very costly for the County itself.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors directed it's Fire Department (known commonly as "County Fire") to apply for an expansion into Southern Santa Clara County. In the pamphlet sent to unincorporated Southern Santa Clara County residents, the proposed changes as a result of what the county describes as fiscally imbalanced, most recently pointing to the recent fire fighting activities in Southern California. What no news organization does mention is that parts of unincorporated Morgan Hill and San Martin are still covered by CalFire Santa Clara Unit, particularly the city of Morgan Hill's contract with CalFire to provide all fire and medical emergency services within boundaries. With Calfire Unit Chief Baraka Carter retiring after many years of service serving the city of Morgan Hill and it's state responsibility area, the question in the middle of all of this mess is to discuss who will be the next unit fire chief and how the next fire chief will respond to similar situations on switching fire services.
The Board of Supervisors' decision to have it's County Fire Department to apply for an expansion into Southern Santa Clara County is unfortunately an absurd and ridiculous idea, considering that Santa Clara County is running more than $12 billion deficit, as opposed to the $2 billion for the State of California. This comes shortly after the County decided to go ahead with the purchase of the Regional Medical Center in East San Jose - and now the county wants to take control of the fire stations in Southern Santa Clara County?!
I personally do not think that Santa Clara County should take over the South Santa Clara County Fire District, especially when comparing that the current deficit within Santa Clara County is nearly SIX times the current deficit for the State of California. If current CalFire SCU fire prevention specialist and public information officer Chelsea Burkett compares those budget deficits, the outlook is currently very sour for Santa Clara County itself, not including those controlled by the State of California. If Santa Clara County wants to take over the southern part of the county for fire services, they should weigh their own budget deficits against the state's deficits before making their commitment. At this stage, the proposed takeover by Santa Clara County is well too premature and will only add more money in the red.
