|
|
|
Uploaded: Friday, January 18, 2013, 1:02 PM
New Palo Alto Fire Chief Eric Nickel sworn in
Nickel pledges to 'transform ... our fire service' in Thursday ceremony at Palo Alto Elks Lodge
|
|
by Jocelyn Dong
Palo Alto Weekly Staff
Video
 Photos
 
| After two and a half years without a permanent fire chief, Palo Alto held a promotional ceremony Thursday, Jan. 17, for Eric Nickel, the former Novato deputy fire chief hired to lead Palo Alto's $26.6 million department.
Nickel is a 25-year veteran of the California Fire Service and spent the last 20 years in Novato.
Although he has been on the job since November, Nickel was officially sworn in Thursday. The event drew firefighters from around the Bay Area.
Nickel assumes responsibility of a department in the midst of a transition. In recent years, the nature of emergency calls has shifted away from firefighting and toward medical crises. The number of emergency medical incidents went up from 2,742 in 2000 to 4,070 in 2009, a 48 percent increase, according to TriData and the ICMA Center for Public Safety Excellence, consultants hired by the city.
As a result, the city has moved to expand its well-used ambulance operations and to use one of the fire engines at its centrally located Hanover station as a backup engine to support other stations in the city.
The city also recently abolished the longstanding minimum-staffing provision in its contract with the firefighters union, a move that gives the administration more flexibility with its personnel. The department has about 120 full-time positions.
In addressing the more than 150 attendees Thursday, Nickel expressed his desire to see the department move ahead.
"I often ask myself if we are changing or are we falling behind, and how can we better serve our communities," he said.
"The tradition of the fire service has really been based on 'faster,' 'closer,' 'wetter,'" he said, referring to fast response times, getting as close to the fire as possible and unleashing more water on it.
"I want to change that with innovation, to transform ourselves, our fire service, to be 'smarter,' still keep 'faster' but also be 'more efficient.' I'm looking for curious problem-solvers to help create a fire and emergency medical services organization of the future," he said.
In 2010, then-Palo Alto Police Chief Dennis Burns stepped in to lead both the fire and police departments. He eventually gained the title of public-safety director.
At the ceremony, Deputy Fire Chief Geo Blackshire remarked that as interim fire chief, Burns always worked in police blues, even at the fire stations. To express the fire department's gratitude for Burns' leadership, Blackshire presented him with a firefighter's helmet of his own.Gennady Sheyner contributed to this report. Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
|
|
| Comments
|
Posted by NCaifornia, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 19, 2013 at 8:55 am
NCaifornia is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online is the budget amount a misprint?
Little Rock AK (find it quickly in search) has a population of 200,000; much bigger square mileage; responds to 25,000 incidents a year; and had a budget of $31M in 2008. Web Link
Some other old information on other cities as well at Web Link
We "appear" to be very pricey. Perhaps apples to organs comparisons or are we really that expensive? Also, perhaps healthcare and pensions have skyrocketed recently?
|
|
Posted by NCaifornia, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 19, 2013 at 8:56 am
NCaifornia is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online Sorry for typos, writing on mobile phone!
|
|
Posted by Nonny Mouse, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 19, 2013 at 9:24 am No, we are really that pricey, and we are really that stupid to pay that much for a fire chief.
|
|
Posted by Sylvia, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 19, 2013 at 9:31 am Another overpaid fireman!
|
|
Posted by Taxpayer, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Jan 19, 2013 at 10:10 am Outsource them all now. As is, my children will be paying for today's glorified paramedics' six figure pension when retire at 55.
What a waste of money. We could have a better service if we outsourced to something market rate.
|
|
Posted by Wayne Martin, a resident of the Fairmeadow neighborhood, on Jan 19, 2013 at 10:25 am It will be interesting to see if this fellow does anything to justify his salary. There are currently almost no metrics for Department heads, in terms of performance. The City Council does not have any control, other than budget, to make recommendations that have any force, and the City Manager does not seem to be moving towards creating a transparent framework for operating the municipal government.
All-in-all, government in Palo Alto seems to be getting more expensive, less transparent, and very hard to understand--in terms of cost/benefit.
|
|
Posted by Jake, a resident of another community, on Jan 19, 2013 at 6:51 pm Maybe I missed something? Little Rock AK? The average home in Little Rock is about $160,000 and household income is about $50,000. Both below national average.
I fail to see how anyone can compare Palo Alto Ca salaries with Little Rock AK.
|
|
Posted by NCaifornia, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 19, 2013 at 8:02 pm
NCaifornia is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online The fire department in Little Rock responds to more than 4x the number of incidents, covers an area 5x larger in terms of square miles, and had a population more than 3x that of Palo Alto and has a roughly similar budget. I cannot believe that it costs 3x-5x more in Palo Alto than Little Rock to provide comparable services. Moreover, I would guess we are in the top 10% of costly fire departments nationally.
Why doesn't the City benchmark and provide the results?
I am not opposed to paying firefighters a hefty amount over the benchmarks due to the cost of living in the Bay Area. They are extremely valuable public employees and they risk their lives for us.
However, I just do not understand how we are so much more expensive.
Sorry for the typos, on a mobile device.
|
|
Posted by Michael, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Jan 20, 2013 at 8:26 am The rudeness on these boards gets old. I for one will simply welcome the new chief to our community and wish him the best of luck.
|
|
Posted by Crescent Park Dad, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Jan 20, 2013 at 4:57 pm According to Trulia.com, the average price for a home:
Little Rock = $91/sqft
Palo Alto = $979/sqft
I think you have your answer right there.
|
|
Posted by Kate, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Jan 20, 2013 at 7:32 pm I sooo agree with Michael! Welcome Chief Nickel! I hope you enjoy the wonderful city of Palo Alto and their outstanding Firefighters!!
|
|
Posted by Bill, a resident of the Ventura neighborhood, on Jan 20, 2013 at 9:31 pm The avg price for a home doesn't matter. It's the pensions that this new council deals to get under control. Having a private paramedic company where the city doesn't have to paid into medical and pension fund should be look at. Firemen making six figures pensions after retiring at age 55 is insane! The city cannot afford this craziness any longer.
|
|
Posted by Me, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Jan 21, 2013 at 11:30 am Here's a suggestion, move to Little Rock. The cost of living is way less, think of the gigantic homes you could all buy when you sell your 2 million dollar Palo Alto homes? You could live your life stress free and not have to worry about city employee pensions and benefits.
|
|
Posted by Welcome Wagon, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 21, 2013 at 1:41 pm I'm with you, Michael and Kate - Welcome Chief Nickel! I love your vision and wish you much success with it to the benefit of our community. Don't mind the trolls, they are a permanent fixture on this list and don't represent the community as a whole.
|
|
|
| |
Best Website
First Place
2009-2012
|
Send this story
Print this story
