Score: -1
(0/4/1)
Santa Clara County Grand Jury
• 2019-2020
• Agency Response
Response to:
Mountain View City Council
City of Mountain View*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F4
Findings and Recommendations 4 findings
F2
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. The City agrees with this finding. Prior to this Grand Jury Report, the MVFD embarked in a mentoring program for entry-level recruits through its recruitment efforts and for current firefighters through its "Career Development Guide."
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
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. JFD/RM/6/FIR 100-02-23-21 Att1 1 of 5 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. Recommendation has been implemented. Prior to the publication of the Grand Jury report, the MVFD had already established as part of its recruitment efforts a mentoring program with identified mentors assigned to visit local schools, organizations, and recruitment fairs in an effort to recruit a diverse pool of entry-level applicants inclusive of women. In addition, the MVFD has an established "Career Development Guide," which provides mentoring for all of its members.
F3
Opportunity for Promotion Although there is an insufficient pool of women firefighters, the SCC Region fire departments are promoting women to management positions. No Recommendation The City agrees with this finding. The MVFD is committed to the continued advancement and promotion of its female firefighters. Most recently, the MVFD promoted a female firefighter to Fire Engineer and, in recent years, has had two women promoted, one to Captain and another to Fire Engineer.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
Work Environment Although every SCC Region entity has a nondiscrimination 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. The City of Mountain View partially agrees with this finding. The City continuously conducts extensive outreach and training to all City personnel on discrimination and harassment prevention policies and reporting procedures. Employees and supervisors are trained upon hire and, if applicable, promotion to supervisory level and then every two years thereafter. Employees are able to report incidents to City employees outside JFD/RM/6/FIR 100-02-23-21 Att1 3 of 5 of their department, including to the Human Resources Department. The City is committed to a workplace free of harassment and discrimination for all employees, investigates and responds to reports of discrimination and harassment from Fire Department employees in a timely manner, and takes appropriate preventive or corrective action.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
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. Recommendation has been implemented. The City complied with this recommendation prior to the Grand Jury report. In August 10, 2018, the MVFD established a "Privacy Committee" that evaluates the working conditions at each fire station and, in January 2019, established a written "Privacy Manual" that addresses policies to provide for privacy for all of its members. Furthermore, in 2015, MVFD established "The Mountain View Way" (MVW), a policy manual which provides a direction on how members are to work and interact with one another. Proactively, the MVFD conducted a series of meetings with all members in which input was provided in reviewing its mission statement and core values, and a new vision was created. Through this process, the firefighters identified values of accepting each other as individuals and as members of one team by embracing and valuing differences regardless of gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Each member defined the meaning of the organization's core values of "Provide Exceptional Service," "Act with Integrity," and "Treat Others with Respect," and the values of each as it applies to the members. The guiding principles of Caring, Integrity, Dedication, Fiscal Responsibility, Positive Work Environment, and Teamwork were extensively reviewed. This internal assessment also defined the "Interactions Agreements" to each of these guiding principles, which culminated in the creation of the MVW. As part of this policy, each new member hired is trained on this policy. As a result of these efforts, the MVFD is a proud, modern, and progressive fire department that has addressed the unique challenges female firefighters face culminating in a gender- inclusive work culture.
F6
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. JFD/RM/6/FIR 100-02-23-21 Att1 4 of 5 The City agrees with this finding. The MVFD has been procuring and fitting clothing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that is designed for use by women only.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
All fire departments in the SCC Region should make correctly fitting uniforms for women available and ensure that a sufficient supply of firefighting and specialty gear is available in women's sizes at the time they begin work. This plan for procurement should be implemented by June 2021 by Mountain View Fire Department, Palo Alto Fire Department, Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, and San José Fire Department. Recommendation has been implemented. Prior to the new employee arriving at the station, they meet with the City's contracted uniform company and are measured for their uniform and equipment. This outside contractor has an inventory of uniforms for both men and women. The MVFD-provided equipment and uniforms include the daily use uniform, Class A formal, firefighting turnouts, and other protective gear. JFD/RM/6/FIR 100-02-23-21 Att1 5 of 5
Agency Responses 1
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.