By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
WALDPORT – Union firefighters at Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue were given notice last week that potential layoffs loom for the cash-strapped agency.
The layoffs would also affect non-firefighting administrative staff but only union members are required by contract to be given 60 days notice. Three firefighters and one administrative position would be cut May 24 if the operations levy Central Coast is seeking in the May 20 special election does not pass.
The district seeks a 60 cent increase to a levy of $1.27 that has been the same since it was approved in 2016. If approved, the higher property taxes would be used to make up for inflation, increased operating costs and to rebuild the district’s financial reserves. Voters rejected the same levy proposal in last November’s general election by a 2-1 margin.
Official announcement of the potential job losses came during the district’s board meeting Thursday. The potential cuts would free up about $45,000 a month but cut the agency down to half its staff and lead to changes in what calls firefighters would respond to.
“I want to stress that this is not a scare tactic designed to force people into voting for the levy,” said board president Reda Eckerman. “It is our due diligence to ensure that we can continue to operate if the levy doesn’t pass. So it’s not a threat, it’s our duty.”
Central Coast chief Jamie Mason told YachatsNews the possibility of layoffs has not caught anyone on staff flat-footed.
“I’ve always been extremely transparent with my personnel,” Mason said. “We knew about this initially when we made the decision to bring on more staff. And as we continue to go forward, I’ve kept all my personnel apprised of how we’re doing as a district. Now, running out of money as early as we are was a little bit of a surprise to me too.”
The surprise, Mason explained, was due to a slight discrepancy between the numbers he and the agency’s accountant were working from. Based off what Mason laid out for the board, Central Coast can make payroll until July.
“However, on May 24, (if they have to) make the cuts, they’ll be able to go over to Oregon Coast Bank and show that with the cuts it will free up enough cash flow so they can get the bridge loan that they need to carry on from July to November.”
A loan request was recently denied by the bank because of the district’s lack of cash flow. November is when annual property taxes begin arriving. The agency took out a bridge loan last spring for $300,000 which has since been repaid.
The loan denial came along with word from Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore. that $1 million the district was in line to get for facility renovation and equipment upgrades will not be appropriated by Congress. The Oregon Legislature has yet to vote on House Bill 3870, sponsored in part by Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, that would allocate $1.35 million to Central Coast. The state funds would be restricted to paying off the $1.02 million Central Coast owes the city of Waldport for the building the station is housed in and for needed renovations.
Firefighter questions
At Thursday’s board meeting, Charlie Stay, vice president of Central Coast Professional Firefighters Local 4619, asked Mason to explain what led to the agency’s financial situation.
Mason said COCF&R did not seek an updated levy in 2021 because of the hardship incurred on the community by the pandemic. It also lost an intergovernmental agreement with the Seal Rock Fire District that left just one COCF&R firefighter per shift – which was deemed unsafe. In response, Central Coast hired two firefighters to ensure two firefighters per shift.
“Upping our staffing to two we knew was going to stress the budget,” Mason said. “If we did not make it to the next levy renewal, we knew we would run short. It was a risk versus benefit decision that we made at the time.”
Stay followed the chief’s comments with a plea to the community, the union and the volunteers to help get levy passed and to ensure they have two firefighters per engine “whether it’s two union guys or a union guy and a volunteer, it doesn’t matter, we need to keep two people on the engine.”
Central Coast captain Cody Johnson then made a plea to end the discord between COCF&R and Seal Rock and said he and other firefighters cannot stand the disinformation and lies they see about it on social media.
“And it seems like there is nothing we can do to get past it,” Johnson said. “We go from one hot topic conversation to the next, to the next. And it’s not one individual, it’s not two individuals, there’s more out there. And part of what I see is the problem is like with any relationship – communication.”
He asked that communication and cooperation be restored with neighboring agencies to the north and south and said the hate currently being fomented helps no one.
“We all have seen the writing on the wall for years that we’re going to have to do a merger,” Johnson continued. “It’s gotta happen, the community sees it, they see it on Facebook. So why aren’t we as leaders, taking that next step to make the transition happen because we all know it doesn’t happen overnight right, this is a long process. And we should be working towards that to better this community.”
He went on to suggest a citizen advisory committee work with the board.
“And this citizen advisory committee might help us bridge that gap between board members that don’t like board members …” Johnson said. “If we can put together a group of individuals, like-minded, that want to see these districts succeed, I think we will be better off instead of waiting until one of us inevitably fails, which we know we will.
“The writing has been on the wall,” he continued. “Yachats is going to have to increase their next levy. I mean this is a never-ending cycle right? So, let’s start working toward getting ahead of it.”
Johnson then again called out the people spreading misinformation on social media, telling them they are not fixing anything by laying off firefighters that have families.
“So them attacking select members of our leadership is really just hurting the smaller people that work underneath,” he said. “And it’s not fair to the rest of us and I would hope they would take that into account.”
To the greater community, Johnson said the firefighters know times are tough, but asked that they dig deep and perhaps think about the levy as a way of tipping the firefighters – who don’t make “great wages” as a way of saying thank you for all they do.
“Voting for us is essentially our tip,” he concluded. “… We would really appreciate their support because again, I have a 2-year-old and there’s other members here, their jobs support that so yeah, that’s it, thank you.”
- Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues for the Lincoln Chronicle, formerly YachatsNews, and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
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