CC 2019-02-26_10a Supplemental No. 1_RFrom: Jamie Farnsworth
Date: February 24, 2019 at 10:00:57 PM PST
To: <kbarneich@arroyogrande.org>, <lgeorge@arroyogrande.org>, <kstorton@arroyogrande.org>,
<jpaulding@arroyogrande.org>, <crayrussom@arroyogrande.org>
Subject: Public & Fire Safety
To: Whom it may concern,
I’m writing to address my concerns regarding public safety in
Arroyo Grande which is not only a danger to the firefighters but for
the community. As a healthcare professional, an emergency
room registered nurse I feel that public safety should be the city's
number one priority. Reduction in staffing of fire personnel puts
my husbands life in even more danger that it already is. Also
reduction of staffing means delay in response times and there is
not enough fire personnel on an incident to successfully do the
job. Example: If a patient is having a cardiopulmonary arrest and
needs immediate resuscitation (CPR) there needs to be an
appropriate amount of people there to assist to achieve the best
outcome for the patient. What the city manager is proposing is a
no win scenario and should not be allowed to stand. Hard work
has been put into the strategic plan to grow with the growing
needs of the city and should not be put aside on the whim of the
uneducated. It saddens me to see every year, that the Five Cities
Fire Authority and the AG Fire Department before it all had to beg
and plead for funding which has always been inadequate. I
believe it is time that the city takes responsibility for the safety of
its citizens and the Firefighters who serve them. Please take into
account my concerns as not only a citizen of Arroyo Grande but
also a wife of a Five Cities Fire Authority Engineer.
Sincerely yours,
Jamie Farnsworth
From:
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2019 12:08 PM
To: Caren Ray Russom
Subject: Fire Services
Mayor Russom,
I would like to thank you for meeting with Sean and I over the last week to discuss fire services in Arroyo
Grande. As you are aware, the staff report came out on Friday and quiet frankly we were shocked about the
recommendations set forth by staff. As a reminder, your firefighters were not a part of any decision making
process which lead to the city managers nuclear option of moving forward alone. As stated in our meeting, we
cannot do this alone. Doing more with less is a recipe for failure and will potentially incur catastrophic
consequences.
As one of your dedicated career firefighters, I am requesting that we work together from here on out. There is
nothing more I want to see than the success of the Five Cities Fire Authority. If the council considers moving
forward alone, I amongst my fellow firefighters will request an official RFP with CalFire. This is our nuclear
option to stabilize fire and emergency services. This will insure your firefighters are able to move forward and
be able to continue to provide the best services possible to our community while having a safe/stable work
environment.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at any time.
Sincerely
Tom Hughey, Fire Captain
Sent from my iPhone