Public Safety
My stance on public safety has earned me the support of Sheriff Tyson Pogue, District Attorney Sally Moreno, the Deputy Sheriff’s Association, the Madera County Prosecutors Association, Cal Fire Local 2881, and the Madera County Peace Officers Management Unit. I am firmly committed to supporting our public safety officers and am excited to continue working towards improving public safety in the area.
Fire Risk Reduction & Planning
We all know that it’s not IF fire comes, it’s WHEN fire comes. We must do everything in our power to prepare and ensure that we are able to quickly respond and quickly extinguish fires when they occur. Strategic fuel breaks, roadside vegetation management, and fuel reduction efforts in the wildland urban interface will all play a part, however, these efforts will be for nothing if we are unable to improve and staff our county fire stations. Area stakeholders are currently conducting millions of dollars of projects and there are two county fire stations under construction in Madera County. These efforts will help reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires and decrease response times in District 5, but we still need to do more. Improving staffing along with continued investments in our infrastructure and lands will help us further mitigate our risks and improve public safety in the region.
Safer communities will come as a result of proper planning and coordinated efforts among area stakeholders. While we can’t stop moving forward with the great work that is currently underway, coordinating efforts among private landowners, land managers, private enterprise, and the county will help make the best use of our scarce resources. The county is in the process of revising both the county safety element as well as the community wildfire protection plan. These documents will help develop programs and policy while driving projects implemented by the county, the state, forest services, as well as our private partners. I will ensure that these plans receive robust community and stakeholder input that will result in safer communities throughout the county.
Planning
The County will soon be revising its safety element which will provide updates on wildfire mitigation to the County’s General Plan. I will take a three-step approach to this update: (1) Outreach and engagement; (2) The development of a Comprehensive Fire Hazard and Risk Assessment; (3) The creation of actionable goals and programs that will help reduce risks identified in step 2. I believe this update will be key in working with the rest of the board on directing funding that will help reduce the risks of wildfire in our community.
The Madera County Office of Emergency Services (MCOES) has just recently updated the County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan. This document is now available for public review. I am thrilled that MCOES took the time to develop a comprehensive document that will help drive funding for years to come. Still, I believe there is more work to be done. I would like to expand upon this update to identify more projects that will help keep communities in wildfire prone areas safe. I understand that successfully securing state/federal funding will require the community to develop a pipeline of projects that are at various stages in the planning process.
Reducing Fuel Loads on Public and Private Lands
Reducing fuel loads in the area will require a multi-pronged approach by area stakeholders. As Chief of Staff, I have worked to build workforce capacity at our local Resource Conservation Districts, Yosemite Sequoia RC&DC as well as the Eastern Madera County Fire Safe Council. These organizations are better equipped to work across jurisdictional boundaries and manage projects to the benefit of the community. As your Supervisor, I will continue to invest in our local partners and ensure that we are able to develop more projects like the Strategic Wildfire Mitigation Project and the Firewise Madera Program that are helping improve public safety in our communities today.
Yosemite Sequoia Resource Conservation & Development Council
Yosemite Sequoia RC&DC is a local non-profit that serves the four-county area of Mariposa, Madera, Fresno, and Tulare. The executive board is made up of representatives from each county Board of Supervisors and is currently chaired by Supervisor Wheeler. The organization has an agreement with Forest Service and Madera County that helps them streamline projects that include public lands. Their ability to conduct great work for the community is highlighted by their strategic wildfire mitigation project, which is creating shaded fuel breaks around Bass Lake, reducing fuel loads in the communities of Sugar Pine and Cedar Valley, and developing a strategic fuel break on Goat Mountain. I am committed to working with Y/S and believe that their continued partnership with the county will help us increase the pace and scale of projects in the area. As Supervisor I will leverage the organization to bring forth more great projects and will expand their work to include advocating to the state and feds for better land management policy and improved access to our forests.
Coarsegold Resource Conservation District
In the past CRCD was a driver for much of the prescribed burning that has taken place in Eastern Madera County. Currently, the organization manages the Firewise Madera Program which is being funded through Federal Title III dollars and State Firesafe Coordinator funding. As Chief of Staff, I was instrumental in developing and designating this funding as well as ensuring that the initiative received the full support of the Madera County Board of Supervisors.
Over the past year the organization has been able to help certify 11 communities and is working towards certifying several more. These communities have developed risk mitigation plans that will help keep their homes safe, receive discounts on their homeowner’s insurance, and have access to multiple funding sources to help them better manage their lands. Additionally, CRCD has been able to build upon the County’s investment by securing additional grant funding that will expand upon their efforts. Just recently they were awarded a $1.3 million dollar grant from CalFire that will help them reduce fuel loads on private lands. As Supervisor, I will continue to help CRCD build upon this success and help them renew their commitments to safe and effective prescribed burning.
Eastern Madera County Firesafe Council
After a period of being inactive, the Eastern Madera County Fire Safe Council is in the process of reorganizing its board and mission statement. Their goal is to work on community level projects that help harden homes and neighborhoods against wildfire. As Chief of Staff, I have successfully secured funding to help the Council work towards these goals. I understand that successfully mitigating the risks of fire will require each of our community partners to work hand in hand. As Supervisor, I will continue to work with these agencies and ensure that they receive the support they need to continue the great work that is already underway.
CalFire & County Fire
Madera County currently operates 7 paid fire stations which are staffed 24 hours a day as well as 6 stations that are exclusively staffed by paid on-call firefighters. When wildfire strikes, staff at these stations jump into action regardless of where their station is located. Additionally, there are 5 state run Cal Fire Stations located in the state responsibility area which work in partnership with the County through Amador contracts and mutual aid agreements. As Supervisor, I will continue to build upon this foundation to ensure that our state, county, and wildland firefighters have the tools, equipment, facilities, and staffing to get the job done safely.
Madera County Paid Fire Stations
The County is currently building two new fire stations in Madera County. One in North Fork and one on Avenue 26, that will reduce response times in Madera Lakes as well as Raymond. Both stations are being built in partnership with area stakeholders. In the near future, additional stations will be built in the communities of Riverstone and at the Preserve at Millerton. The costs of these stations, and subsequent staffing, will be borne by development in the area, however, they will service residents throughout the County. I hope to continue this positive momentum by improving our volunteer fire stations in Bass Lake as well as Yosemite Lakes Park. Upgrading these stations to house full-time firefighters will be a top priority for me.
Over the past 6 years the County has been engaged in a Vehicle Replacement Program which is funded through the General Services department. Through this program, the county has been able to update its fleet of fire engines as well as command vehicles. While this has been successful, there is still much work that needs to be done to ensure that our firefighters have the resources they need to be successful. As Supervisor, I will continue to make investments in our County Fire that help keep us all safe.
While staffing is at an all-time high in Madera County, great deal of improvements are still needed to get our services up to recommended levels. With increased staffing, the County was able to staff each paid fire station with two full time firefighters. This means two firefighters on duty at each station, 24 hours a day. This equates to about $2.5 million in staffing per fire station. Improving staffing to the recommended level of 4 firefighters on duty 24-7 would require a substantial investment from the community. I am optimistic that residents in the area are ready to support an initiative that would bring more firefighters to Madera and would support a citizen-led initiative to do so.
Paid Call Firefighters (PCFs)
While volunteerism is down throughout the country, I believe that we can increase volunteerism within our volunteer fire departments by improving compensation and modifying training requirements. Currently compensation is among the highest in the state however, the County is working to increase the pay scale for our PCFs. In the near future we will likely see pay increase to $25 per hour for a fully credentialed PCF. While this is a great improvement, I believe the key to increasing participation in the PCF program is the training. As Supervisor, I will work to simplify this process for residents in the area and create new classifications of PCFs that have variable training requirements. Making training modules more accessible and lessening training requirements for individuals that would like to support our Paid Firefighters will help improve participation.
CalFire & Amador Contracts
An Amador contract is a cost sharing agreement between the State and the County to provide additional fire protection services at state run facilities. Three of the five state run stations in Madera County operate under Amador Contracts. This means that the Rancheria Station, Bass Lake Station, and Ahwahnee Station are all funded in partnership with the County of Madera and CalFire. The County can stretch our tax dollars and improve staffing in the area by working through these partnerships. As Supervisor, I will strengthen these partnerships by working with our state legislators to ensure that our State Fire Stations are equipped and staffed in a manner that helps keep us safe and is recognized by insurance providers.
Law & Order
Our Sheriff’s Deputies are frequently being asked to do more and more without additional support to get it done. I have been happy to work with the Sheriff and our CAO, Sheriff Varney, over the past several years to help bring them more resources to get the job done. Still, the board needs to understand that maintaining law and order in Madera County requires that each department involved in the process gets the resources they need to function properly. This means ensuring that the DA’s Office, Probation, and the Department of Corrections have the facilities and equipment to operate effectively as well. I am confident that a well functioning system will help keep us all safe and yield returns on the back end. As Supervisor, I will work to ensure that our public safety officers get the support they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.
