City of Palo Alto Response to 2019-2020 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report:

Published: March 16, 2021 5 pages

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Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F4

Findings and Recommendations 4 findings

F2 Page 2

Mentoring Talent and knowledge are lost or wasted if organizations do not create a mentoring program. Mentoring potential recruits and firefighters currently is voluntary, loosely defined, and unpaid, which hampers recruiting efforts in the SCC Region. City of Palo Alto Response: The City agrees with the finding. Knowledge transfer is valuable to teach our next generation of firefighters to learn and be inspired. Mentoring programs can be a successful tool to prepare and teach potential recruits and firefighters. Mentoring also has personal and professional benefits on the mentor. City of Palo Alto Firefighters participate in internal and external mentoring of potential recruits and probationary firefighters. Civil Grand Jury

Related Recommendations (1)

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Fire departments in the SCC Region should develop, fund, and implement mentoring programs. Mentors should advise and guide potential recruits, new recruits, and current firefighters. Mentoring programs should include visits to local schools and organizations to demonstrate encouragement of female candidates. Individual plans should be developed by June 2021 by Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, and San José Fire Departments. City of Palo Alto Response: The recommendation has been implemented. The Palo Alto Fire Department participates in both internal and external mentoring programs. All City of Palo Alto probationary firefighters are provided a mentor through their 18-month probationary period. Mentors are experienced Palo Alto firefighters who offer guidance and training to probationary firefighters. Mentors are expected to meet monthly and are assigned to mentees for multiple reasons such as aptitude, shift, and availability. The mentorship of probationary firefighters provides an additional avenue for professional growth outside of their assigned Captain. Mentors help establish and reinforce best practices and encourage openness and candor. The Fire Department is currently updating the guiding procedures for the mentorship program. Additionally, the Fire Department participates in external mentoring programs. In conjunction with the College of San Mateo, the Palo Alto Fire Department sponsors a one year Cadet Program was run by a female Palo Alto Fire Captain. This program focuses on individuals who are interested in a career in Fire Service and allows Cadets to gain hands on knowledge and The Palo Alto Fire Department is also registered with the Firefighter Candidate Testing Center (FCTC) a program run by the California Joint Apprenticeship Commission. This committee is a labor/management commission that focuses on recruitment and mentorship of women who want to become firefighters. Civil Grand Jury

F3 Page 3

Opportunity forPromotion Although there is an insufficient pool of women firefighters, the SCC Region fire departments are promoting women to management positions. City of Palo Alto Response: The City agrees with the finding. Civil Grand Jury

No recommendations for this finding

F5 Page 4

Work Environment Although every SCC Region entity has a non-discrimination policy, the unique work setting of a fire department coupled with the low number of women in fire service presents out-of-the ordinary workplace challenges because they live together and rely on each other during life-or- death situations. These unique features of this workplace make it more challenging for women to report discrimination and/or harassment. City of Palo Alto Response: The City agrees with the finding. Civil Grand Jury

Related Recommendations (1)

Page 4

To address the unique challenges of promoting a gender-inclusive work culture for women in the setting of a fire department, each fire department in the SCC Region should develop city- or county- approved plans that focus on the remedies to the challenges of the fire service workplace for women. These plans should be developed by the Mountain View Fire Department, Palo Alto Fire Department, Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, and San José Fire Department by June 2021. City of Palo Alto Response: The recommendation -Harassment Policy, the City believes that prevention is the best tool for the elimination of harassment. Harassment in the workplace is a nationwide issue and the City of Palo Alto is committed to taking all steps necessary to prevent harassment from occurring. The Civil Grand Jury

F6 Page 5

Gear Due to ill-fitting uniforms and gear, women are not on a similar footing as their male counterparts. Women should feel secure in their everyday uniforms and formal wear and, for safety reasons, have properly fitting gear when engaged in firefighting. City of Palo Alto Response: The City disagrees with the finding that the current uniforms and gear are ill fitting for women putting them on dissimilar footing as their counterparts. Firefighter day uniforms are unisex and are individually tailored to the firefighter at no cost to the individual. Personal Protective Equipment is also unisex and tailored to fit the individual. Other safety equipment such as helmet and gloves are unisex, customizable and come in a variety of sizes. Civil Grand Jury

No recommendations for this finding

Additional Recommendations 2

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

R1a
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Palo Alto, Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, and San José Fire Departments should develop, fund, and implement a plan to increase recruiting efforts to grow their number of female firefighters. Individual plans should be developed by June 2021. City of Palo Alto Response: The City will develop a plan to enhance recruiting efforts, but it will not be completed by June 2021 for budgetary reasons related to the pandemic. The extraordinary circumstances in 2020 required the City to implement a hiring freeze and reduce staff and community services. In addition, the Fire Department incentivized retirements of eligible firefighters to decrease the number of layoffs of firefighters. For fiscal year 2021-2022, the City anticipates a continuation of the hiring freeze as well as making further service reductions in each department including fire services. Civil Grand Jury
R4b
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The Palo Alto Fire Department should perform a self-evaluation of its eight fire stations and report on whether separate locker rooms, dorms or restrooms with showers for women are available and, where those accommodations are lacking, the City of Palo Alto should develop a plan to create better privacy for all firefighters. This plan should be developed by June 2021. City of Palo Alto Response: The recommendation has been implemented.1 The City is cognizant of the current state of managing privacy and honoring the privacy of all gender and gender identities. Our newer fire stations are built with this focus in mind and the City has the following approach for our stations after evaluation. Station #8, located in Foothills park, has one restroom, two dorms, and does not have a locker room for firefighters. This station is rarely staffed. On a typical year, the foothills station is staffed for approximately 10 days over the fire season (a 4-5-month period) and usually with limited hours from 08:00 20:00 (8pm). Based on the recommendation, the Fire Works Department. The remaining station that does not have separate locker rooms is Stations #6, located on campus. Stanford facilities are not operated by City staff. Stanford facilities staff will be made aware of the outcome of the Civil Grand Jury Report and the recommendations provided. Civil Grand Jury

No Responses Found 2

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Central Fire Protection District (Santa Clara) Fire District

Palo Alto City