Al Pinheiro*

R1

Jurisdictions which maintain their own dispatching centers - Campbell, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, the City of Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale - and all jurisdictions which use Santa Clara County Communications for dispatch-Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, and Saratoga- should consolidate dispatch with neighboring jurisdictions and, where appropriate, should issue RFPs to do so. Response: The complete study and analysis of regional dispatch is a high priority for County Police Chiefs Association and the City. The Cities of Gilroy and Morgan Hill (South County) are exploring varying models of collaboration to include virtual and traditional brick and mortar regionalization. Since the role of the dispatcher plays a key part in the successful delivery of safety in our community the City of Gilroy is being very deliberate in our review to help ensure the highest quality service.

R1A

All cities that manage their own fire department-Gilroy, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale-and the County (for CCFD and SCFD) should benchmark and observe best practices from communities that have demonstrated successful changes in response protocol and consolidation efforts, such as in San Mateo County, CA; West Jordan, UT; or Scottsdale, Arizona. Response: The City concurs that studying varying service delivery models can be beneficial to fire, rescue and EMS service delivery over the long term. The City actively works with its sister agencies to become knowledgeable of and incorporate and implement the latest best practices to the extent feasible.

R1B

All fifteen towns/cities-Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Sunnyvale-and the County (for CCFD and SCFD) should determine the emergency response service they want to achieve, particularly as to the result, then determine how best to achieve that. Response: The City has determined and implemented its desired fire service delivery model and operates to provide such to the community. The department operates consistent with its delivery standards as articulated in the City's Fire Services Master Plan including an appropriate response standard within the Gilroy city limits. Additionally, the City is actively represented on the Santa Clara County Fire Chiefs Association, the Santa Clara County Emergency Services Association and coordinates fire and emergency service delivery matters with the Santa Clara County City Managers Association and will continue to do so. 4

R1C

All cities that manage their own fire department-Gilroy, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale-and the County (for CCFD and SCFD) should collaborate with their fire department, union and political leadership to drive fire department change and develop consistent, joint communications messages for the public. Response: The City, for its part, will continue its ongoing efforts with respect to this recommendation.

R2

Jurisdictions which maintain their own dispatching centers - Campbell, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, the City of Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale; all jurisdictions which use Santa Clara County Communications for dispatch-Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, and Saratoga; the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office; and Santa Clara County, should continue to work with the Silicon Valley Regional interoperability Association to achieve countywide standardization of radio technology. Response The city has been an active participant in the SVRIA for many years and will continue to be an active participant. Rehiring of Pensioners:

R3

The fifteen towns and cities- Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Sunnyvale-and the County should continue to pursue a higher retirement age with its public sector unions and associations. Response This recommendation has been partially implemented at the City as described above. Further changes and/or new changes to the retirement plans are a subject of future negotiations with each labor group as an item that is a mandatory subject of bargaining pursuant to the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act. 3. Fire Service

R3A

All fifteen towns/cities-Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Sunnyvale-and the County (for CCFD and SCFD) should adopt an emergency services department mentality and staff or contract accordingly to meet demand. Response: The City agrees that one of its core functions is emergency response across a multitude of disciplines and has implemented a broad based emergency services focus. The fire department provides fire, rescue and emergency medical services to the City's constituents. Additionally, Gilroy is one of the hest prepared jurisdictions in Santa Clara County from an emergency services response standpoint. City personnel, encompassing all disciplines, train monthly in the City's emergency operations center focusing on emergency service response to a host of different emergency types from earthquake to mass prophylaxis to terrorist threat. An emergency services focus includes all departments and disciplines acting in well trained unison to adequately respond to and demobilize from critical situations.

R3C

In consideration of non-fire emergencies, all cities that manage their own fire department-Gilroy, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale-and the County (for CCFD and SCFD) should modify fire department protocols to authorize, incorporate and use less expensive non- firefighter paramedics and non-firefighting equipment. Response: This recommendation appears to advocate the creation of a separate class of EMS employee to respond only to medical emergencies. This would entail the monetary investment in both additional personnel and separate capital equipment to serve this need leading to increased costs. Accordingly, it is not apparent that this would result in a cost savings to the City or a reduction in the number of fire fighters needed for adequate fire-only response in a city of approximately 50,000. The number of on-scene capable firefighters is set forth by the Standards of Coverage and OSHA regulation as it applies to firefighting operations and directly affects the ability to fight a fire. The City's standard is to confine a fire to the room of origin the success of which is based on the number of firefighters available to respond on-scene at the same time, response time of those firefighters, and apparatus type.

R3D

All cities that manage their own fire department-Gilroy, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale-and the County (for CCFD and SCFD) should consider ways to extend the service 6 life of expensive firefighting vehicles by augmenting with ambulance vehicles--either newly purchased as fire apparatus is replaced or in collaboration with the county EMS provider. Response: The City has implemented a number of methodologies to preserve apparatus and often augments EMS calls for service with the use of a smaller squad vehicle, the county funded STAR car (type of ambulance) depending upon specific station, staffing levels, county protocol and apparatus availability. The City also carefully maintains its fire apparatus to achieve the maximum life span of the equipment.

R4A

All cities that manage their own fire department-Gilroy, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale-and the County (for CCFD and SCFD) should evaluate and implement cost-saving consolidations, including administration consolidation, boundary drop, department or regional consolidation, purchasing, personnel training and equipment maintenance. Response: The Gilroy Fire Department has previously participated in consolidation studies for the South County region and where practical has implemented ideas that make sense for Gilroy. An example is the sharing of Division/Battalion Chiefs in the South County area, presently underway, which is a cost effective way to maintain required chief officer coverage for larger emergencies. In other areas, the City participates in cost effective annual training events with other Santa Clara County fire agencies as a means of employing a standardized training regimen in particular areas and achieving cost efficiencies.

R4B

All cities that manage their own fire department-Gilroy, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale-and the County (for CCFD and SCFD) should consider adopting a vehicle fleet management approach by establishing a county-wide standard for vehicles and equipment, consolidating purchases to take advantage of lowered costs, and consolidating maintenance or revisiting guaranteed maintenance contracts on new vehicle purchases. The various county fire departments currently share information on apparatus design which could potentially lead to a consolidated purchasing approach. Because apparatus are designed for a 15 to 20 year lifespan, marriage of the purchase of multiple apparatus with the same type and specification in order to achieve "multiple unit" discount would need to be carefully coordinated amongst agencies to determine if this approach is viable, especially for larger apparatus types that are typically individually tailored by the manufacturer for department specific needs. CGJ Report Inaccuracy: There is an error in the civil grand jury report as it applies to the Gilroy Fire Department. The report states that only 1 in 3 fire crew members are trained to respond to medical situations. This is incorrect. All three Gilroy engines are staffed with at least one paramedic. Additionally, all other personnel assigned to Gilroy fire engines are trained to a minimum of the Emergency Medical Technician I level in order to assist the paramedic and otherwise render aid to patients. Please feel free to contact me or Gilroy City Administrator Thomas J. Haglund if you seek additional information or have any questions regarding this response to the CGJ report. Very truly yours, Al Pinheiro Mayor 8