A year after voters rejected Measure R, the funding boost public safety officials had said was needed to provide more adequate services was delivered Tuesday night.
That boosts comes in the form of a 1 percent sales tax increase. And while it hasn’t been decided how the extra revenues will be spent, an estimated $3.5 million to $4 million annually will be up for grabs citywide.
Karen Dozal, a Hollister resident, voted yes on Measure T.
“I think we need to have more of the emergency staff,” Dozal said Wednesday afternoon while walking into Nob Hill.
A mother of four, Dozal said the understaffed fire department concerns her.
Marty Richman, a Hollister resident and vocal critic of Measure T, said he wants to wait and see how the extra funds are spent.
“There’s no question they need help,” Richman said of the police and fire departments. “That was never the issue. The question was whether they need $20 million over the next five years.”
Richman said he supported a 0.5 percent tax increase over three years to get the city through an economic slump.
City Councilman Doug Emerson said there should be public input on how the money is spent and that the council likely won’t begin taking a serious look at adding public safety positions until January.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that public safety is our No. 1 priority,” Emerson said.
Hollister Interim Fire Chief Fred Cheshire said his first step will be to ask for two positions, bringing the department back to its January staffing level.
In March, the Hollister Fire Department eliminated two full-time firefighter positions and began operating one-third of the time without the engine responsible for the Jaws of Life, which is used to free trapped vehicle passengers.
Cheshire said the passage of Measure T served as a morale boost for not only firefighters, but also for all departments citywide.
“Even though we took the reduction in force, everyone wanted to do a good job,” Cheshire said, “But we were getting to the point of being burnt out.”
Ultimately, Cheshire said each of the city’s three on-duty engines should be staffed with four firefighters, including one certified paramedic, around the clock. Because of budget cuts, two engines are staffed with three firefighters one-third of the time and an extra engine is staffed with two firefighters two-thirds of the time.
An engine staffed with five firefighters is 100 percent effective, Cheshire said. When it is staffed with three firefighters, it is 38 percent effective, he said.
Three Hollister firefighters should be certified paramedics by July 2008, Cheshire said. All firefighters are required to have basic medical aid skills, but the paramedic would add an advanced level of response.
“That would be a huge increase in services,” Cheshire said.
Police Chief Jeff Miller said it’s premature to comment on the exact needs of his department, but said the passage of Measure T “was good to see.”
“Our immediate need is more officers,” Miller said. “I’ve said that all along.”
Because of police department staffing cuts, officers have not been responding to reports of hit-and-run crashes, vandalism or theft without suspects. Officers also don’t respond to non-injury traffic crashes.
Several cities with populations of about 35,000 residents contract police and fire services to respective county agencies, including Dana Point in Orange County, Moorpark in Ventura County and San Dimas in Los Angeles County.
