Davis firefighters will have to operate without a full-time fire chief for just a bit longer.
On Monday, Police Chief Landy Black announced in an email to all city fire personnel that he will continue to serve as the head of both police and fire services for the next six months while management digs deeper into the possibility of sharing a fire chief with UC Davis.
Whether joint management with the university pans out or city leaders instead decide to hire a Davis-only chief, the city hopes to have a permanent leader in place by January, said Black, who moved into his role as the interim public safety director earlier this year.
The Fire Department has operated without a full-time chief since Rose Conroy retired in 2010.
Meanwhile, the 31 members of Davis Professional Firefighters Association Local 3494 have voted no confidence in the ability of Black or Interim Fire Chief Steve Pierce to carry out the department’s primary duties.
Union chief Bobby Weist said Black and Pierce lack experience or training in fire department management and organization, including emergency operations and daily activities. The pair also lack knowledge of current department policies and past practices, Weist said.
“Morale within the Fire Department is at an all-time low, and line personnel have lost trust in Chiefs Black and Pierce,” he said.
City Manager Steve Pinkerton also announced Monday that he will hire back former Interim Fire Chief Scott Kenley in an advisory role, helping the city decide who should lead the department.
Kenley first was hired in May 2012 to conduct an audit of the Fire Department and identify ways of making it more efficient.
The audit led to several controversial changes — which were recently adopted by the City Council — including a reduction in the overall staffing level at the city’s three fire stations. The change effectively reconfigured the way crews respond to calls in Davis.
Firefighters opposed the reduction in staffing because they said it scaled back the number of firefighters who could first respond to a call from the eastern and western stations, consequently diminishing service levels, as those first on the scene would have to wait for the truck stationed downtown to arrive before entering a burning structure.
City leaders believe, however, that service levels actually will improve under the new staffing system in concert with another move Kenley suggested — allowing UCD firefighters to respond to city calls.
The staffing reduction saved the city about $400,000 per year but did not result in any layoffs.
Kenley, who starts in his new position with the city this week, will not be involved in any day-to-day operations within the Fire Department, according to Pinkerton. Those responsibilities will belong to Black and Pierce, longtime assistant police chief.
Instead, Kenley will report directly to the city manager to work on the initiatives he wasn’t able to finish before ending his service with the city earlier this year once he’d exhausted the maximum amount of hours he could work under CalPERS retirement regulations.
Pinkerton said that because Kenley is working only as an adviser and not the as the interim chief, he can again work for the city.
In addition to helping Davis make a decision on whether to share management with the university, Kenley also will help identify and develop an appropriate site for the potential relocation of the central fire station at Fifth and E streets.
The council approved $2.3 million last week in its fiscal year 2013-14 budget for feasibility, planning and construction of a new fire station farther north in the city, which would improve response times to the parts of Davis that currently fall out of target range.
Pinkerton said last week that the total cost of the relocation could run about $4 million and likely will be paid for with public safety impact fees.
Kenley also will be asked to work with the university to finalize the standard-of-cover documentation needed to manage the boundary drop.
— Reach Tom Sakash at tsakash@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8057. Follow him on Twitter at @TomSakash