Prop. E Backers Hold 3 City Hall Rallies

SANTA CLARITA — Supporters of Proposition E--the Tuesday county ballot measure that would raise more than $50 million a year for fire and paramedic services--held rallies Thursday at the Santa Clarita, Lancaster and Palmdale city halls.

The supporters said that if the measure is not approved by the two-thirds majority needed for passage, about 20 fire stations would be closed and more than 200 firefighters and paramedics laid off.

“This is about funding existing services, and really about the welfare of the county’s citizens,” said county Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman, one of about 70 supporters at the Santa Clarita rally.

The Fire Department has been getting the funds specified in the proposition since 1991--when the Board of Supervisors created a special assessment district that collected about $50 per household to help fund the Fire Department. The district included all unincorporated areas and 52 cities served by the department.

But with the passage of Proposition 218 in November, existing special assessment districts must be approved by voters if they are to continue.

Dallas Jones, president of Los Angeles County Firefighters Local 1014, said in Santa Clarita that if the number of firefighters is reduced, response time could increase. “Right now our average response time is about four minutes,” he said. “If we have to do more with less then it could jump to double that in many areas.”

Pat Armour, 35, a paramedic with the county’s Station 111 in Santa Clarita, said the effects of any cutbacks would trickle down to homeowners, heart-attack victims and people trapped inside their cars.

“Each second it takes to reach someone may mean the difference between life and death for some people,” said Armour, a 15-year veteran of the department.

Santa Clarita Mayor Clyde Smyth, a supporter of Proposition E, addressed the rally, telling the crowd how he had been rescued several years ago by a Santa Clarita firefighter who responded quickly to the scene of a head-on collision.

“That’s what we’re really paying for,” Smyth said. “When you’re in an accident you want somebody there in a hurry. Here in Santa Clarita we have a lot of senior citizens and the paramedics many times are the last line of defense in saving some of their lives.”

Smyth also predicted if Proposition E does not pass, fire insurance rates would go up.

But Ted Brown, a member of the Los Angeles County Libertarian Party and opponent of Proposition E, said in an interview Thursday that taxation is not the only way to pay for adequate fire service. Brown said he would like to see the county begin privatization of many of its services, including firefighting.

“It’s going on in places all over the county,” Brown said. “In cities and counties in Arizona, they are finding that it makes more sense to hire a private company to supply services like fire and garbage collection.”