Cities Weigh Teamwork Approach to Services : Government: Communities may join to provide street maintenance, fire and police protection in a way that cuts costs but keeps local control.

THE REGION — Struggling to stretch tight budgets, San Gabriel Valley cities are warming to the idea of banding together to fill potholes, police neighborhoods and provide fire protection.

Small cities can save tens of thousands of dollars, for instance, just by contracting with a bigger one to handle fire department dispatching duties, officials say. That means a city could slash administrative, equipment and staffing costs that often far exceed the cost of paying a neighbor to do the job.

Azusa is considering dropping its contract with the county fire district if West Covina’s Fire Department can do the job better and cheaper.

San Dimas, which may lose a sheriff’s station to budget cuts, is looking into contracting with La Verne for police protection.

Pomona, West Covina and Arcadia, which have large fire, police and public works departments, see dollar signs when they look at their smaller neighbors. Selling fire and police protection, emergency dispatch, street sweeping and many other maintenance services could give a boost to those cities’ treasuries.

“We all have to keep open minds and be open to doing things differently than before,” said Denise Ovrom, city manager of Temple City.

She said county budget cuts and the rising cost of contracting with the Sheriff’s Department have prompted her to look into contracting with Arcadia’s Police Department.

Like many San Gabriel Valley city officials, she is looking into an array of services to contract out to cities.

“Cities need to look at new ways of providing services,” she said. “Sometimes we get caught up in our boundaries, but I think there are opportunities for us to share in the providing of services yet retain individuality and uniqueness in our communities.”

Many cities already contract with private firms to collect trash, trim trees and handle other services. As a growing number of cities contract out services to these firms, they are considering banding together to negotiate lower rates with contractors.

Most discussions between cities are preliminary. Officials say they will not give up local control of their services unless the money just isn’t there.

At the heart of the debate over contracting is whether cities should relinquish local control of their services, either to another city or the county.

Even with street sweeping, officials say, the loss of direct control can lead to problems. What if there is an emergency and the city wants an immediate cleanup? It could be more difficult, and maybe more expensive, to get a sweeping crew to respond if another city is in charge.

And with vital services where public safety is at stake, such as police and fire protection, residents often vehemently oppose dismantling a city-run department.

In Covina, the issue of whether the city should dismantle its own Fire Department and contract with the county fire district to save money has sparked heated debate and protests at council meetings.

Opponents argued that the city should not relinquish local control, especially at a time when the county Fire Department is threatening to close 16 stations in the valley. The city has shelved the idea of contracting with the county.

And in tiny Sierra Madre, residents responded icily to a proposal to contract with Arcadia for police services. The city is struggling to fund its own 17-officer department.

Sierra Madre and Monrovia are discussing paying Arcadia to provide fire dispatch services. Monrovia expects to save about $60,000 the first year, and $40,000 a year thereafter by letting Arcadia handle its fire dispatch and 911 calls.

In La Verne, where pride over the city-run fire and police departments runs high, the immediate prospects of giving up one or both of those departments to save money are slim, officials there say. While some of La Verne’s neighbors have chosen to contract with the county for fire protection, “we have chosen to keep our department because we like the level of service our citizens get and the city council feels it’s paramount to maintain local control,” said City Manager Martin Lomeli.

Though skeptical, Lomeli said he will listen to Pomona Police Chief John Parker’s proposal to create a fire district for Pomona, La Verne, Claremont and Diamond Bar.

“It is in light of the fiscal constraints that a small-scale, regional approach to fire services may be advantageous to all cities which participate,” Parker said in a letter to the cities.

Parker, who was not available for comment last week, wrote that the cities could save money by sharing resources, consolidating purchasing, reducing staff and centralizing management of fire protection. Fewer stations could provide optimum protection, he wrote.

Pomona Police Chief Lloyd Wood, who is also interim city administrator, said Parker’s interest in a regional fire district is just one idea the city has. Pomona wants to talk to nearby cities about sharing police and other support services, he said.

Wood said he would like cities to share the cost of such services as operating jails, keeping police records and running a dispatch center before talking about an outright contract covering all police or fire services.

“If the financial situation doesn’t get better in the cities, then as an alternative to always going to the county for services we ought to see if we can share services amongst ourselves,” Wood said.

“The idea now is to allow cities to save money on support services yet keep their own firemen and officers on the street. Most citizens don’t know who’s doing the dispatching or taking care of their jails and records, but they deal with firemen and policemen directly and that’s who they want to keep.”

As for non-emergency services such as street maintenance, “There isn’t anything that isn’t on the table right now,” said Terry James, Alhambra’s public works director and assistant city manager.

“We are going to have to begin operating more like a business. You’ve got to slash and cut and become more efficient.”

However, he said, legal issues must be resolved before his city can offer or merge some of its services with other cities. For example, he said, Alhambra is talking to San Marino about a contract to maintain that city’s signs and to paint street lines.

But James wonders: “Will our city get sued if a stop sign we put up in San Marino falls down and someone gets hurt? What if a line on the street fades before we can get to it--are we liable?”

If cities continue to lose funding from the state, he said, western San Gabriel Valley cities may want to discuss forming a consolidated fire district.

“We will balance our budget without having to do something as radically different as going to a regional fire program,” he said. “I think it would be feasible, though.”