Staffing...

What is staffing?  Staffing is the amount of firefighters on duty at a given time.  Currently, the Manteca Fire Department has a staffing level of 12 firefighters per day.  When someone takes time off, that spot is filled with overtime.  To alleviate budget strains, Firefighters in Manteca have reduced this overtime by trading shifts and only allowing 1 firefighter off at a time.  This has helped the Fire Department reach roughly $1.6M in general fund savings.  With looming layoffs there will be 10 firefighters on duty every day.  The National Standard for personnel at a normal residential structure fire is 15.  Manteca will fall well below this threshold.  In 1988 Manteca had 10 firefighters on duty...we are threatened with that number again.

The Fire Department has historically been on the low end of the personnel to population ratio.  If you want to go way back, in 1969 the Manteca Fire Department had 8 full-time firefighters in the general fund.  With the proposed cuts, the general fund would have 15 more firefighters in 2011 compared to 1969...That would be a jump in population jump from 13,500 to 67,000 during the same time period.  Since 2008, 13 personnel have been removed from the general fund.

In 2006 Measure "M" was passed as a half-cent sales tax to benefit public safety, split 50/50 with police.  This measure has been extremely valuable to our community with 12 firefighters and soon to be 15 police officers.  Measure "M" was passed to supplement public safety NOT supplant it.