Crime & Safety

Belmont Agrees To Mediation with San Carlos Regarding Fire Services

The Belmont city council approved mediation 3-2 at Tuesday's meeting.

The city of Belmont – in an attempt to explore options for fire and emergency services - agreed to mediation with San Carlos Tuesday night with a 3-2 vote. Mayor Coralin Feierbach and Vice-Mayor Dave Warden voted against the proposal.

The Board of Supervisors Finance and Operations Committee suggested mediation at a Feb. 15 meeting, a suggestion agreed to by San Carlos Mayor Omar Ahmad. Supervisor Carole Groom re-extended the offer to Belmont in a March 15 letter in lieu of a response.  

 “I think going to San Carlos is like dancing with the devil,” said Feierbach. “They have made disparaging remarks about us. If you desire a discussion, that’ll be fine,” she said talking to her fellow council members, “but whatever you do you’ll go without me because I will not be part of any mediation with San Carlos.”

Find out what's happening in San Carloswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 San Carlos originally asked for the dissolution of the JPA in attempt to explore other options that would save the city money and offer more control over the services it receives. The JPA officially ends in October 2011.

 “I’m looking at our financial position,” said Mayor Ahmad. "The bill that we had for fire protection services this year [fiscal year ending June 30] was $7.1 million. I can’t afford that. We are looking for cost efficiencies. Belmont has a different funding vehicle. They seem to want to do something else. And God bless them.”

Find out what's happening in San Carloswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 Ahmad said San Carlos is still actively working with Redwood City on a potential partnership for fire services and refuted Dave Warden’s claim that it would cost San Carlos more to partner with Redwood City than it would to stay partnered with Belmont.

 “Dave Warden is not a member of the San Carlos city council,” said Ahmad, who said he had watched the meeting online. “I appreciate his conjecture that it will cost more to partner with Redwood City and I can say that he is wrong. If we had stayed with the JPA as it was, San Carlos would have gone bankrupt.”

 For Belmont Council members David Braunstein, Christine Wozniak, and Warren Lieberman – the latter two serve on the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Board with Ahmad and San Carlos Vice-Mayor Andy Klein – the County’s suggestion to mediate was best for both cities, despite their confusion over what exactly “mediation” will entail.

 “For me, I’m committed to doing the best thing for Belmont,” said Wozniak. “I think that includes exploring anything that might come out of mediation. I’m open to it. With that said, it feels like we’re walking into a dark room.”

 Braunstein echoed her sentiment. “I would like to go to San Carlos and hear what they have to say. I don’t have any specifics, to be perfectly honest, but I want to discuss this with people, face to face.”

 But Vice-Mayor Dave Warden was less willing to negotiate.

 “All San Carlos cares about is money,” he said. "They’ve been a bad business partner. If they want to come back with the deal that they have, I’d be willing to go along with that. But if they’re trying to squeeze a new deal out of us, I’m not. I don’t see where the negotiation is. If you want to go to mediation, I want to know what you’re going to mediate. I just don’t want to give people false hope.”

 Going back to the old JPA remains unlikely for San Carlos, however. In an email to San Carlos Patch, Vice-Mayor Andy Klein said the city will continue to push for a savings of $1 million and control over the level of service in San Carlos.

 “One way these talks may end up is with a simple handshake and the two cities going their separate ways,” said Mayor Ahmad. “If there is no apparent repair…,” his voice trailed off and he sat silently for a moment. And then he went on, “Candidly, I would kind of hope that.”


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