Round two for Columbia-Richland fire contract

Some of Richland County’s political leaders may want more of a voice in how the city-county fire system is run before they sign a new contract for joint operations.

City and county officials say they agree on most of the details in their unified fire service contract.

But unresolved, going into a second round of negotiations this week, is whether the fire chief maintains authority over staffing and equipment at all 32 fire stations.

Members of the Richland County Council don’t seem to have an issue with Aubrey Jenkins, whom the city promoted to fire chief of the joint city-county operation in July. But some members want more control over how the city uses the county’s $17 million-a-year taxpayer contribution toward fire service.

As Richland County Councilman Greg Pearce put it last week: “Right now, I think we’re back at who’s running the show, and how the show is going to be run.”

For the past six months, the city and county have been reworking the legal agreement that governs the $37 million countywide system that gets firefighters to emergencies quickly, controlling residents’ insurance costs. The contract has expired but during negotiations has been extended on a month-to-month basis, at least since July 2011, said county spokeswoman Stephany Snowden.

Historically, the city has run the system without much input from the county.

But last summer, the county hired accountants to conduct a forensic audit of city records. Its Mount Pleasant accounting firm, Thomas and Thomas CPA, suggested improvements in tracking county fire personnel, money and equipment. It also recommended reviving a training program for volunteer firefighters to save money on the county’s share of the program.

Snowden said the system has 93 volunteer firefighters. Jenkins counted 129 volunteers on the roster, which he said included some still in training.

City manager Steve Gantt said the city is investing in a new computerized system that will keep track of where employees are working. The software should be in use within about six months, Gantt said.

And a grant is in place to pay for the volunteer coordinator the county requested to oversee training, he said.

But Gantt and other city officials insist that if the fire chief is going to be held accountable for how efficiently the fire service operates, he has to be given the authority to set staffing levels as he sees fit.

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, in a letter hand-delivered Tuesday to Richland County Council chairman Kelvin Washington, promised the county would have an opportunity to review the chief’s performance each year as well as have a voice in hiring the chief in the future.

Benjamin said the city is committed to maintaining joint firefighting operations.

“Unfortunately, two years of ongoing discussion and debate has failed to produce an agreement, causing city and county residents alike to question our commitment and eroding morale within the department itself,” the mayor wrote.

“Let us remember ... that we are at our best when we are not two bodies separated by the imaginary walls of district and jurisdictions, but rather one community and one people united by a common goal and a mutual responsibility to one another.”

For his part, Washington is pressing for the county to explore a stand-alone county fire system as a “Plan B,” should negotiations with the city fail. Washington said he’s being realistic, not adversarial, though it’s not clear whether his County Council colleagues are willing to go in that direction.

He said the contract is not in the county’s best interest, because it costs too much.

Still, his proposal drew two dozen firefighters to last week’s County Council meeting. They urged the county to stick by the city-county system and to let the public in on the debate.

So far, no one is talking about the increased cost of fire service that’s part of the proposed contract.

Jenkins said the system needs an additional $3.2 million to pay administrative salaries and benefits for 43 top staffers, an amount he wants the city and county to share.

Columbia City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann said the city “wanted to try to work with the county to replenish county-funded trucks” as part of the agreement. But Jenkins declined to place a dollar figure on new vehicles, saying, “That could be negotiated.”

The county-funded audit, dated July 14 and released to Gantt just last week, focused on the city’s 2007 finances. That was at a time when city records were in a shambles, Gantt said, before he came on board as city manager and put an all-new finance department in place.

Still, in Gantt’s estimation, the audit found “nothing of any real significance.”

County Councilman Pearce said the audit was needed to put rumors to rest and to suggest how to build better accountability into the system.

And Washington said the county’s results were kept private for months because the audit could have become the basis of a lawsuit. He also noted that “a full-blown audit” could yet be done.

Washington was a volunteer firefighter and chief in Hopkins for 10 years before being dismissed in 2001, he said, for insubordination. He said being a firefighter provided him with experience that’s useful now in judging the city-county contract.

Monday at 4 p.m., the county fire committee meets to review the city’s version of a new fire service contract, which covers staffing and equipment, planning for new fire stations and financial accountability. The meeting will be in the fourth-floor conference room of the county’s administration building at 2020 Hampton St.

Unlike previous meetings, it will be open to the public. And Jenkins, whom the city’s Rickenmann said was involved in the initial revisions to the proposed contract, has been asked to attend.