Fire, police merger idea gains ground

Click on the Web site for Pasco firefighters union Local 4420 and visitors will see an interesting - and bold - question being pondered: Could Broward County Sheriff's Office be the model for the future of public safety in Pasco County?

Click below the question on the YouTube upload and a nearly 10-minute promotional video produced by Broward's sheriff's office shows off its units. Nearly three minutes into the video is the point the union wants to call to firefighters' attention. Propaganda? Perhaps. Informational? Indeed.

It talks about Broward's 2003 merger of the county's fire rescue department with the sheriff's office.

"It marked the first time in U.S. history that a fire rescue and sheriff's office were united in one agency," the video narrator states. "This unique arrangement firmly establishes the sheriff's office as a full-service public safety agency."

Could the Pasco County Sheriff's Office be the next multipurpose public safety agency?

The idea has people talking.

Firefighters are faced with the possibility of nearly 70 layoffs because of a $4 million deficit in the county's Emergency Services budget for the fiscal year that takes effect Oct. 1.

On July 27, Ralph Grant, a Pasco Fire Rescue captain and firefighters union president, took the idea to union members. It was the first time the merger concept was made public. The next day, the Broward video appeared on the union Web site.

Last week, Grant said he's not sure where the idea for such a merger originated in Pasco, but it came from within the firefighter rank-and-file. He wants to explore the idea because the thought of losing firefighters is unfathomable, he said.

"The budget is really bad, and even the county commission is saying there's no sacred cows," Grant said. "To just ignore an idea is ridiculous."

If Sheriff Bob White can save jobs, he said, it could be worth making the move.

"We're very concerned about layoffs," Grant said. He has had several conversations with the sheriff and at least one face-to-face meeting, but maintains that merging fire with law enforcement services here is an idea, not a proposal.

On several occasions, White has publicly expressed his dismay at the proposition of taking first responders off the front lines. He won't allow it to happen in his agency, he has said. Despite the budget crisis, White has not only refused to lay off deputies, he has asked for more, making budget reductions elsewhere.

'Can you save our jobs?'

White said that he recently bumped into a firefighter at a local coffee shop and the firefighter said he was frustrated.

"We don't have anybody fighting for us. Nobody fights for us like you fight for your deputies," White recalled the man telling him.

He has since met with small groups of firefighters who talked about their pressing issues, White said.

"If the county would give us to you, would you take us?" White said the firefighters inquired.

They asked another question: "Can you save our jobs?"

White answered each question the same way. "Yes."

And so, White said, he has taken the idea to his fiscal people to start looking at Pasco Fire Rescue's budget to search for areas to cut. He said he's certain he can find the $4 million to save jobs, but he doesn't want to reveal how at this point because of critics.

"It's only an idea, and it's one that I am agreeable if it means saving their jobs and not adding to the taxpayer burden," White said.

He concedes it's not a decision he can make. It's solely up to the county commission.

Pasco commissioners say they were caught off-guard.

"That was an idea that was unannounced," said commission Chairman Jack Mariano, who said the timing of the merger proposition is wrong because commissioners are in the midst of preparing next year's budget.

Commissioner Ann Hildebrand's comments echoed that sentiment.

"This comes up the first of August?" she said, noting that there likely wouldn't be enough time to put it together and make a difference for the upcoming budget.

"When I initially heard about it, I was shocked," Commissioner Michael Cox said. "The thing I can't stand is surprises."

Savings worth a listen

Surprise or not, most of the commissioners agree, that any idea to save money - and jobs - is worth listening to, if not considering it.

"At first glance, no," Mariano said his about his early thoughts on the idea of a merger. "I'd be very interested in seeing where the sheriff could find $4 million."

The commissioners agree that Emergency Services Director Tony Lopinto has done a "fantastic job" with his department.

Lopinto's No. 2 in command, Assistant Chief Mike Ciccarello, said he isn't in favor of any merger.

"I think it's in their firefighters best interest to stay with the organization the way it is. It's an organization that understands their needs," he said.

He, too, doesn't think that White can find enough money to save the positions. The Emergency Services budget, he said, is already lean.

"There's not $4 million in this budget of fire rescue that we can eliminate," Ciccarello said. "We've done away with things we probably shouldn't have."

Commissioner Ted Schrader said White has been resistant to other consolidation of services, such as combining garage services with the county.

"Now all of a sudden he wants to take over the entire fire department?" Schrader said.

White said he is trying to keep his constitutional office intact. Garage service is critical to the daily operation because the need for serviced cars often is immediate, White said, and he thinks a merger might delay the vehicle turnaround. But he would gladly take on ancillary fire-related services, such as the 911 center, human resources and information technology.

"I will not farm out any of my services to the county government, but I will take theirs," White said.

There's more than just the fiscal possibilities combining law enforcement and fire-rescue services.

"On the service side, I think it's something that's worth exploring," Cox said.

White says if Broward is any indication, an important benefit to such a "consolidation on steroids" would be communication between first responders.

A lesson learned, shared

Broward's merger was a belated response to Hurricane Andrew and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism acts, and the lessons learned from both. It was not a matter of money, but Broward's sheriff and fire chief agree that is a bonus.

"In order to have cost-effective government services, it's about consolidations, not duplication," Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said.

Broward Fire Chief Joseph R. Lello agreed.

"The pressures on governments are intense right now, and to get the overall savings is to do things from a regional perspective," he said. "In times like this, you cannot operate fragmented. I think we saw that in 9/11. We need to operate as one."

When Broward's Fire Rescue merged with the sheriff's office six years ago, about 6,000 employees came under one umbrella and operated on a budget of about $450 million. Since then, several smaller fire departments have merged with the sheriff's office. Some departments from each entity consolidated services, including human resources, purchasing, payroll and communications - all at a cost savings.

But the primary goal, which Lamberti thinks they achieved, was better serving residents.

"The bottom line is it's the public that benefits. It improves the quality of service," Lamberti said. "We're all first responders. We all have the same mission, and that's public safety."

County administrator no fan

The merger proposal hasn't appeared on a Pasco commission agenda, but some anticipate the issue will be raised at a meeting. One thing is certain, though - it won't be County Administrator John Gallagher pushing the issue.

Gallagher said it's not an idea he wants to consider, and no one has approached him with it. If they did, he said, he would give them a simple answer.

"I would tell them I'm not interested," he said, adding that he thinks fire services should remain under the county commission's direction and not under the sheriff.

"We have a system that works pretty well," he said.

Lello recommends that if Pasco officials consider a merger, they should "look at it objectively and not through the eyes of politics," he said, "and see if it's the right thing."

Just because it works in Broward, he said, doesn't mean it will work in Pasco.

"For here it's a very good thing," Lello said. "If I didn't believe in it, I wouldn't work in it."

Lamberti has spoken to White and offered to share Broward's success story with county leaders.

"We're committed to this," he said. "If we can offer our expertise, our knowledge, that's something we'd like to do. It's something we should be doing."

If a merger were to occur, White would add responsibility for 477 emergency services employees to his current staff of nearly 1,300.

White is enthusiastic about the possibilities.

But what does he know about fire services?

"You put the white stuff on the red stuff," he joked. "It's not about fighting fires, it's about managing people. It's about keeping people's jobs so than can serve the people of Pasco County."