With Emergency Services, Sharing is Caring

The Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach Fire Departments began exploring the idea of consolidating their resources into one department that would serve both cities in September.

They also considered contracting firefighting and paramedic services to Los Angeles County. Both changes in the current fire department structure have the potential to save both cities lots of money.

Neither consolidation with adjacent cities nor contracting to the county are new strategies for cost-cutting, but they're both getting a lot more political airplay as Hermosa Beach looks at squeezing every unnecessary penny from each expense item on the books.

Some places up north have merged the firefighting forces of three or more municipalities. The North County Fire Authority represents San Mateo County's largest consolidated fire agency serving Brisbane, Pacifica and Daly City with a 60 square mile coverage area and a population of 155,000. Closer to home, Lancaster and Diamond Bar are among a growing group of cities that depend on county fire fighters to respond to local emergencies.

It appears that the Redondo Beach city council whistled this play dead at their May 18 meeting. I guess they thought it went too far, but I say it didn't go far enough.

First of all, have you ever seen a Hermosa Beach Fire vehicle screaming through the streets of Redondo? How about a Manhattan Beach vehicle disturbing the peace in Hermosa? Of course you have.

These cities all have agreements to respond to each other's calls when needed. Ask the same question of police. The answer is yes again.

Why do three relatively small cities need three separate police departments? You might get answers such as, "They have faster response times locally," or "Community policing is so important."

Really? Aren't police cars supposed to be out patrolling during their shifts? If their location is constantly moving, how can you calculate the time it takes to get to another location?  

Is Hermosa so distinctly different from Redondo that it would be difficult for police officers from one city to get to know citizens in the other? Who says a consolidated police department wouldn't operate out of some or all of the same stations?

The people most likely to oppose consolidation are probably more worried about job security and seniority than quick response or community policing. California Highway Patrol and County Sheriffs departments patrol much larger areas and these issues don't seem to prevent them from doing their jobs.

Have you ever found yourself at some location in the beach cities and said, "I didn't realize this was in [insert name of beach city here]?" It happens to me all the time.

So as long as we're going to combine Redondo and Hermosa, why not throw in Manhattan Beach? Think about all the other services and personnel each beach city pays for individually. We'd no longer need three city halls. Many, if not most, of the departments could be consolidated along with the personnel within them. We're talking millions of dollars of annual savings in salaries and benefits alone.

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you the lean, not-too-mean but definitely the coolest new beach city, Mandonosa Beach, California.

Let the party begin!

Harry Munns is a Redondo Beach resident and frequent contributor to Redondo Beach | Patch.