Re “Chief Sellers Says City Is Saving Money Despite OT of $1.5 Million”
When Chief Financial Officer Jeff Muir was asked to evaluate the Fire Dept.’s annual overtime tab that runs to $1.5 million, there was a pause before he commented on Chief Chris Sellers’s defense that was reported in a recent five-part series:
“Generally, the chief was accurate,” Mr. Muir said.
“We have (full) staffing requirements, and it actually is cheaper than with existing staff members.”
Since this news startlingly came to light last month in a city running an $8 million deficit, Mr. Sellers and others have urgently explained that the Fire Dept.’s unique needs differentiate the firefighters from every other City Hall agency.
Need vs. Habit
Unlike all other departments in Culver City, Fire must be fully staffed every hour of every day – more out of habit and tradition than contemporary need, critics have said.
The department averages 1½ fire calls a week.
Mr. Muir declined to give an opinion on the rate-of-frequency question.
“As CFO, I am not going to wade into that,” he said, declining to give his opinion. “This is a community discussion.”
Mr. Sellers and other city officials have ardently defended maximum department staffing policy on the grounds the firefighters always must be prepared. Besides, he contends, paying $1.5 million a year to the present staff is more economical than enlarging the staff.
“It is not like they go over budget $1.5 million,” Mr. Muir said, although not with rugged vigor.
A 2010 City Hall records request document showed that some firefighters enlarged their paychecks by between 35 and 40 percent a year.
“There is savings within the budget because of vacant positions,” said Mr. Muir. “The department is plugging people into those slots that do get paid overtime.
“The alternative is to either overstaff the department or…
“It is hard to avoid overtime when you have 24-hour staffing requirements.
It Looks Inevitable
“When you have a vacant position altogether, obviously every shift is being filled with someone on overtime.”
Does the Fire Dept. need to be maximally staffed all day and night?
“It is not a finance question,” Mr. Muir demurred, “as to whether we should fill all the positions, whether we need three stations fully staffed.”
The CFO’s assessment may bring fresh gloom to critics who would like to see fire staffing pared.
It is broadly agreed that Culver City’s staffing configuration is not an outlier.
“You will find this to be the case in any fire department,” Mr. Muir said. “It is a long-standing paradigm of how they operate.”
