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MEMO ���`
CHULA VISTA
Office of the City Manager
DATE: March 11. 2014
T0: The Honorable Ma��or and Cih�Council
FROM: James D. Sando��al; City Manager
SUBJECT: Fire Department Relations; Co � unications and Evaluation
This memorandum is intended to explain how Chula Vista Fire Department relations,
communications and operations will be improved.
Relations
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), Labor Management Institute (LMI),
held a conference in this past year that was attended by Chula Vista Fire Management
and Union board members. The conference which was attended by many fire agencies
covered broad areas of interest.
The LMI also has a technical assistance program to aid individual fire agencies deal with
specific issues unique to their department. Chief Hanneman reached out to the LMI and
requested their assistance. In order to move forward both management and labor must
agree to participate. Outside members of the International Association of Fire Fighters
(IAFF) and the IAFC would come to Chula Vista to work together with our Fire
Management and local union on establishing appropriate ground rules for future labor
management discussions and improving overall relations.
Communications
. This fiscal year the City embarked on an effort to improve employee engagement. An
employee committee was formed to develop innovative ways of improving employee
engagement across the organization. We also understand that there are specific issues
within individual departments that may need to be worked on separately.
The City utilized the Centre for Organizational Effectiveness (the Centre) for recent
training on Employee Engagement. Their efforts were well received. Based upon this
early success, we have asked the Centre to provide a proposal focused on improving
trust and communication within the Fire Department. We are all aware that relations need
March 11, 2014
276 Fourth Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91910 � wwi��.chulavistaca.gov � (619) 691-5031 � fax (619) 409-SS64
; Fire Department Relations, Comnumications and Evaluation Page 2 of 2
to be improved within the Fire Department. That starts with better communication. Even
under the best of circumstances, good communication is difficult in a department such as
Fire that have staff working different shifts in ten different locations. The Centre will
facilitate discussions with departmental and union leadership in order to create a program
based upon mutually desired outcomes.
Evaluation
When I became City Manager, one of my stated goals was to conduct external
operational reviews of every City department. Due to funding limitations, we have utilized
lower cost alternatives such as peer review to analyze operations in many departments.
We have also made progress through our Continuous Improvement Program. To date, a
paid professional consultant review has only been done in the Police Department. We
started with Public Safety, not only due to the important services they provide, but also
because between the two of them, police and fire make up approximately 66% of the
City's operating budget.
We have begun the process of identifying a firm capable of performing a thorough review
of the Fire DepartmenYs operations and practices. It is my belief that an operational
review of the Fire Department will lead to the same types of process improvements that
were realized in the Police Department. I will have the necessary funding to conduct the
study in the proposed FY 2015 budget.
Svnopsis
I recently spoke with IAFF union president John Hess who voiced his commitment to
improved Fire Department relations. Chief Hanneman has, on many occasions, stated
the same. My office, through Deputy City Manager Kelley Bacon, will work will all parties
to accomplish this goal. I am confident with a full commitment by all involved, we can
make good progress.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
cc: Gary Halbert, Assistant City Manager
Kelley Bacon, Deputy City Manager
Dave Hanneman, Fire Chief
John Hess, IAFF President
Fire Department
JDS:yg
276 Fourth A��em�e, Chula Vista, CA 91970 � �.��viv.chulavistaca.gov � (619) 691-5031 � fax (679) 409-5SS�