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California Conservatives Continue to Oppose Fire Protection

By Robert Cruickshank

As you might remember from last fall, California conservatives tend to prefer low taxes to adequate fire protection. As Northern California is ablaze - with two huge fires burning out of control in the Big Sur mountains to the south of me - attention is again focused on providing adequate fire services. And as Democrats and Arnold Schwarzenegger debate the best way to fund it, conservative Republicans continue to fight the very concept. From the San Jose Mercury News:

“Hoping to buy more fire engines and helicopters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing a statewide surcharge on property insurance of $6 to $12 a year. Another lawmaker, state Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, wants to charge a $50 yearly fee on the 900,000 homeowners living in rural areas to fund fire prevention....

The new engines were recommended by a state task force after massive wildfires in Southern California in 2003 killed 24 people and burned 3,600 homes.

“The governor's proposal would add a surcharge on property insurance for all commercial and residential structures statewide. In ZIP codes designated as "high-hazard zones" for earthquakes, fires or floods, the fee would be 1.4 percent, about $12.60 a household per year. In "low-hazard zones," the surcharge would be 0.75 percent, or $6.75 a year.”

The main debate between Kehoe's and Arnold's proposals is who should pay for the costs of fighting fires in the urban-wilderness interface. I like that Arnold's plan would have higher rates for those in higher risk areas, but would still require all property owners to pay something. The fact is that even the brush fires are not exclusively a threat to folks who chose to live in fire-prone areas. Much of California is a fire-prone area, even the urban areas.

Last fall, the Santiago Fire in Orange County came within 1/4 mile of my grandparents' home in Tustin and within a mile of the home where I grew up and where my parents still live. It's on the coastal plain, not in the foothills, not in the brush. But a fire that gets started in the brush can easily get blown into a densely populated area. And of course, the large fires require departments from across the state to respond, but someone's gotta stay behind. Since most fire departments in California are understaffed - such as here on the Monterey Peninsula - it is imperative we add the necessary equipment. And let us not forget the threat of earthquakes.

Of course, to conservative Republicans none of this matters, because omg it's a hidden tax increase!!

“Taxpayer groups and many Republican leaders oppose it.

“"It's not fair to the general taxpayer in an urban area," said David Wolfe, legislative director for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. "They are subsidizing people who are choosing to live in high fire danger areas."

“Critics also call the plan a ruse to cover up firefighting cuts Schwarzenegger suggested in his January budget proposal that contained 10 percent cuts of every department.

“"Our state budget is $110 billion. If we can't dedicate enough money for basic public safety, then what the hell is government doing with our money?" said Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Murrieta.”

Remember that conservative Republicans pulled the same thing in Orange County in 2005, helping defeat a measure that would have channeled more of existing funds into the OC Fire Authority, which found itself shorthanded last fall when the Santiago Fire broke out.

It is common sense that we properly fund our fire services. Whether it's Kehoe's or Arnold's plan we adopt, the conservative Republican attitude of "you're on your own" must be firmly rejected.

Robert Cruickshank is a historian, activist, and teacher living in Monterey. He is a contributing editor at Calitics.com and works for the Courage Campaign, in addition to teaching political science at Monterey Peninsula College. Currently he is completing his Ph.D. dissertation in US history, on progressive politics in San Francisco in the 1960s and 1970s. A native Californian, he was raised in Orange County and educated at UC Berkeley.

Posted on June 26, 2008

Comments

Mr. Cruickshank: The third to last paragraph of your article includes a conservative answer to funding fire services- use existing resources. They seem to have a plan that doesn't involve a new revenue. You might not like it but it is certainly not fair to charachterize it as "you're on your own".

Posted by: Russell at June 26, 2008 08:23 AM

Nearly everyone would agree that the first priority of Government is Public Safety. So lets be fair about this one and recognize that the first prioirity of our current tax dollars should be used to fund public safety. We should be telling the Governator that he should NOT be proposing to cut public safety. Instead Mr. Cruickshank is turning a blind eye to the cuts and then attacking those who oppose both the cuts and the shell game of new taxes.

Posted by: Deano at June 27, 2008 08:04 AM

"...with two huge fires burning out of control in the Big Sur mountains to the south of me -..."

To the south of me...Me...ME!!!

Comrade Cruickshank,

It isn't about you (aka "me" in your article)

It is about US, all of us, and what government can and CANNOT do.

Lets spend more money on "adequate" fire protection and less on "feel good about ourselves" liberal causes.

Posted by: Jay Gould at June 28, 2008 10:07 PM

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