San Rafael, CA – The Ross Valley Fire Department and the Marin County Fire Department are joining forces for executive management and other administrative support; the new agreement is going before the Marin County Board of Supervisors for approval on July 31.
Ross Valley Fire has four stations, 33 personnel, and an annual budget of $10.6 million, serving the communities of Ross, San Anselmo, Fairfax and Sleepy Hollow. The Ross Valley Fire Department has been exploring a shared-services option since the retirement of their chief last fall. Former Chief Roger Meagor has served as part-time acting chief since August 2017. Marin County Fire Chief Jason Weber presented a plan to assist the Ross Valley Department by contracting for administrative and executive level management that will provide mutual benefit to both agencies.
The Ross Valley Fire Department Board of Directors approved the agreement on July 11, at their Board meeting. Marin County Fire Department will bring a draft memorandum of understanding to the Board of Supervisors on July 31. In the first year of the five-year agreement, Ross Valley Fire will pay the County $295,583, and Weber would serve as chief for both departments.
Weber will ask for the Board of Supervisors’ approval to create an executive level position to help manage both agencies, a non-sworn position, that would assist in fulfilling the County’s long-sought expansion of executive leadership within the fire department.
In addition to providing an executive management to both fire agencies, the memorandum of understanding would align the two agencies and reduce duplication of services by unifying the emergency medical services, fire prevention, training programs and facilities management.
In joint statement, Weber and Meagor agreed that “This works out very well for both fire departments and makes sense economically, the more sharing agencies can do the better and more efficiently we can serve our communities. The changes should be seamless for the communities being served. Ross Valley Fire would still be Ross Valley Fire. The only difference financially would be that Ross Valley would share a portion of the costs for Marin County Fire’s administrative services in return for increased administrative and executive management support.”
Ross Valley Fire has four stations, 33 personnel, and an annual budget of $10.6 million, serving the communities of Ross, San Anselmo, Fairfax and Sleepy Hollow. That compares with Marin County Fire’s six stations, two lookout stations, 190 personnel, including 90 seasonal firefighters and $26.5 million annual budget. The two agencies also support volunteer firefighter and explorer programs.
If the Board approves the memorandum of understanding, the arrangement would be put into place starting August 1.