Budget : Budget cuts close Gerber Fire department

"The department had been around for more than 50 years."

Gerber Fire gone

GERBER - The Gerber Volunteer Fire Department is no more after a motion approved by the Gerber Las Flores Community Services District Board to freeze the remaining $20,000 in fire department funds and close the department's doors.

It's a black day, said Bruce Packer, former fire chief. I was chief for 18 years, and it's a hard thing to see it close.

The motion to close the fire department was made after a presentation by auditor Dave Wallace of Don Reynolds and Company in Redding.

Wallace asked the board how it was going to repay the $25,000 paid out from water and sewer funds and an $800 check written to cover an embezzlement in the department.

Jennifer Ede, a bookkeeper for the fire department, was charged with embezzling from the department, Board Chairman Larry Long said.

Court records show Ede plead guilty to embezzling $4,000 at her arraignment on April 14, 2008 and received a reduced sentence for misdemeanor on May 12. She was sentenced to 30 years of summary probation and 90 days of jail time.

Ede had embezzled the money between October and December 2007 during which time the fire department, unaware of the crime, wrote an $800 check to cover a credit card bill, Long said.

After the check bounced, the Community Services District wrote a check to cover it. That money was never replaced according to the auditor, Long said.

Although he was not on the board at the time, Long said he understood the $25,000 in water and sewer money was paid to former Fire Chief Mike Kendrick for maintenance of levees and wood cutting.

Wallace said he was unable to ascertain from official time sheets how much time was spent on levees versus the fire department.

Levee and lighting should repay that, not the fire department, said Assistant Fire Chief Jamie Leflet during public comment.

Leflet asked the board to table the decision until the March 19 meeting to allow the volunteers time to investigate and give the public a chance to speak up.

Leflet said the motion was illegal due to Proposition 18, which deals with rules for imposing fees on property owners. Included in it is the rule that requires a public hearing.

This has nothing to do with the volunteers, but the malfeasance of the board at the time of these funds, Long said.

The issue of keeping the fire department open had come up previously, said former board member Gus Vasquez. A meeting was held in 2008 to discuss the issue with the majority of the community present wishing to see it stay open.

It's nothing against the volunteers, Vasquez said. They were just doing their job. They had to do what they had to do.

Debbie Humphreys said she was sad to see the department close.

It's emotional for everyone, Humphreys said. I truly know the board is doing things for the public. It's a mess that happened, and they're trying to clean it up. It's really sad for the old volunteers who built the department from scratch.

Humphreys, who has lived in Gerber since she was 4, said the department had been around for more than 50 years.

The board agreed to look into subcontracting fire protection services with CalFire. Humphreys said she's confident the fire coverage will be just as good.

We are a smaller district in California, and it's always been a difficult task to fund it and to have something like this, it just sunk it, Packer said. It's the straw that broke the camels back.

Under the supervision of Tehama County Sheriff's Deputies, volunteers were allowed to gather any personal belongings left in the fire hall prior to the building being locked.

All keys to the building are to be returned and the locks changed, Long said.

Whether the department will be brought back is up in the air.

It's in the bylaws, so there is a possibility to bring it back, but with the new laws and retrofitting needed concerning diesel equipment we will have to see, Long said. It wasn't an easy decision for the board. It was because of the action taken by the board before us.

Volunteer firefighter Tina White was upset by the closure, she said.

The public didn't have any say in this, White said. What's going to happen when CalFire's across town and people's houses are on fire?

Source: Redbluffdailynews.com - Link