Exploring the permanent consolidation of fire agencies in ...

Running head: EXPLORING THE PERMANENT CONSOLIDATION OF FIRE 1

Exploring the Permanent Consolidation of Fire Agencies in Clark County, Washington

Dominick Swinhart

Camas-Washougal Fire Department, Camas, Washington

EXPLORING THE PERMANENT CONSOLIDATION OF FIRE 2

Certification Statement

I hereby certify that this paper constitutes my own product, that where the language of

others is set forth, quotation marks so indicate, and that appropriate credit is given where I have

used the language, ideas, expressions, or writings of another.

Signed:______________________________________________


Abstract

The Camas-Washougal Fire Department (CWFD) is a combination fire department located in

southwest Washington on the banks of the Columbia River. CWFD is the only fire department-

based ambulance transport agency in Clark County, and provides emergency medical services

(EMS) response and transport to over 65,000 residents. CWFD exists as a temporarily

consolidated department in an agreement that has been renewed twice in two years. The problem

was that CWFD had not determined an effective permanent solution to their short term

functional consolidation. With no long term solution identified, it became difficult to conduct

long range strategic planning for the organization. As a result, maintaining the support of critical

stakeholders such as the union firefighters, the volunteer organization, and the elected officials,

became problematic. The purpose of this research was to identify methods by which CWFD

could make their temporary consolidation permanent, and the potential benefits and obstacles

that may be faced in accomplishing this goal. Descriptive methodology was used to answer the

following research questions: (a) What models are available to advance consolidation? (b) What

types of consolidations have been most successful in Washington? (c) What are the potential

challenges to a successful permanent consolidation? (d) What benefits have other agencies

experienced when consolidating departments? Surveys and interviews were utilized as the

primary source of data collection. The research showed that several possible paths to a

permanent consolidation existed. The critical steps to making a successful permanent

consolidation of CWFD focused on engaging the support of critical stakeholders such as labor,

elected officials, and the community, and a renewed focus on public education to inform the

community about the benefits of a permanent partnership.


Table of Contents

Abstract 3

Table of Contents 4

Introduction 5

Background and Significance 6

Literature Review 8

Procedures 18

Results 23

Discussion 33

Recommendations 38

References 42

Appendix A: Interview With Jim Walkowski 47

Appendix B: Interview With Russ Kaleiwahea 49

Appendix C: Interview With Brent Boger 52

Appendix D: Interview With Greg Anderson 53

Appendix E: E-mail to Tim Curtis 54

Appendix F: Survey Request Posted To LinkedIn 55

Appendix G: Survey Request Sent to CWFD Employees 56

Appendix H: Survey Responses From CWFD Employees 57

Appendix I: Survey Responses From National Fire Chiefs 62


Exploring the Permanent Consolidation of Fire Agencies in Clark County,

Washington

The Camas-Washougal Fire Department (CWFD) is a career and volunteer combination

fire agency located in Southwest Washington across the Columbia River from the metropolitan

city of Portland, Oregon. Created from a temporary agreement signed by the cities of Camas and

Washougal in 2011, CWFD is the only fire based ambulance transport agency in the surrounding

Clark County, and provides emergency medical services (EMS) response to nearly 65,000

citizens within an 80 square mile area. The temporary fire department consolidation between the

two cities was extended once, and is set to once again expire at the end of 2013 (Camas-

Washougal Fire Department, 2012).

The problem was that the Camas and Washougal Fire Departments had not determined an

effective permanent solution to their short term functional consolidation. While the majority of

department members and elected officials in both cities appeared to support the continuation of

the consolidation, no acceptable solution or plan for permanently merging the departments had

been proposed. Without a permanent solution to the short-term consolidation, long range

planning became difficult, if not impossible. Maintaining continued support from unionized

labor as well as the volunteer firefighter's association was problematic because of continued

uncertainty. Also exerting continuous pressure on the temporary consolidation were upcoming

municipal elections in both cities. Concern existed among staff, as well as elected officials, that

the consolidation could easily dissolve depending on the outcome of some future election. The

purpose of this research was to identify methods by which CWFD could make their temporary

consolidation permanent, and the potential benefits and obstacles they could face in

accomplishing this goal.


Descriptive methodology was used to answer the following research questions: (a) What

models are available to advance consolidation? (b) What type of consolidations have been most

successful in Washington? (c) What are the potential challenges to a successful permanent

consolidation? (d) What benefits have other agencies experienced when consolidating

departments?

Background and Significance

CWFD is part of Clark County, Washington. Clark County is termed a borderless county

since fire and EMS response is based on the closest available unit using automatic vehicle

locators, regardless of municipality or traditional jurisdictional lines. While CWFD is tasked

with providing fire and EMS response to the citizens of the greater Camas and Washougal

municipalities, the department also provides ambulance transport services to surrounding county

residents through a contract for service and responds to other nearby jurisdictions whenever

deployed as the nearest available resource (Camas-Washougal Fire Department, 2012). The total

population CWFD provides service to was approximately 65,000 (United States Census Bureau,

2010). In 2012, CWFD responded to approximately 5,000 emergency calls. Just over 80% of

those responses were for EMS (Camas-Washougal Fire Department, 2012).

The former Camas and Washougal Fire Departments have operated as separate entities

since both were organized as volunteer agencies in the 1930s. The Camas Fire Department

eventually became a fully paid agency and continued to provide ambulance service to

Washougal residents through an interlocal agreement. Washougal Fire Department continued to

have its own small combination staff. Given this relationship, both departments worked closely

together through the years. Consolidation had been considered between both agencies at least


two times over the years, but none of those efforts ever advanced beyond the planning stages

(Camas-Washougal Fire Department, 2012).

In late 2010, the Camas Fire Department first went public with massive projected deficits

in their fire/rescue budget. At the same time, the Washougal municipal budget began to struggle

and deficits were forecast in their fire/rescue budget as well. Political leaders from both cities,

along with the two fire chiefs and elected union officials, came together to begin discussing

another attempt at a service consolidation as a way to stave off fire department cuts and perhaps

even improve efficiency (Camas-Washougal Fire Department, 2012). By July of 2011, both

cities had entered in to a temporary 6 month agreement to consolidate staffing on a daily basis,

even though both departments would continue to be funded through separate budgets and have

their own fire chiefs. By early 2012, the agreement was extended to the end of 2013. Part of this

extension also included appointing the Camas fire chief as the fire chief of Washougal. The

former Washougal fire chief came into the new temporary organization as a division chief (City

of Camas, 2012).

While the combined day-to-day operations functioned well and line staff seemed to get

along without notable difficulty, there existed significant frustration with the temporary nature of

the consolidation at various levels of the organization. Administration found difficulty in having

to supervise two different municipal budgets and two separate labor contracts. There was also

the issue of having to answer to two different city administrators, mayors, and city councils.

Line staff and union officials were also wary of committing too much to the continuation of the

partnership if the temporary consolidation could just be terminated at the next municipal election

by new officials. Both administration and labor were frustrated by the inability to conduct long

range planning beyond the end of the next contract renewal date. Things like vehicle


replacement plans and fire station replacement plans for both organizations had to be put on

hold. While a committee was appointed by the mayors of both cities to investigate if and how

the consolidation should be made permanent, firm direction or commitment from this group was

not immediately forthcoming even a year following its creation.

The importance of this issue to the citizens of Camas and Washougal was substantial.

The temporary consolidation between both cities had resulted in small but not insignificant

financial savings for the city of Camas. It had also resulted in a paramedic unit being stationed

at the Washougal fire station for the first time ever. The termination of the consolidation would

result in significant financial burden to the Camas and Washougal municipal budgets and would

cause Washougal residents to lose levels of service they had likely become accustomed to by

having a full-time paramedic unit stationed closer to their homes (Camas-Washougal Fire

Department, 2013).

This research project was intended to satisfy the requirements of the Executive Fire

Officer Program's (EFOP) Executive Leadership course unit 4 on "thinking politically" (United

States Fire Administration, 2012, p. 4-1) and unit 13 on "taking risks" (United States Fire

Administration, 2012, p. 13-1). This research satisfies two of the five operational objectives of

the United States Fire Administration (USFA). The successful completion of this research will

help "improve local planning and preparedness" and "improve the fire and emergency services'

capability for response and recovery from all hazards" (United States Fire Administration,

2012b).

Literature Review

The purpose of this literature review was to carefully evaluate the available materials that

related to the topic of exploring the permanent consolidation of fire agencies in Clark County,


Washington. In examining what models would be available to advance consolidation for the

Camas-Washougal Fire Department, multiple options quickly appeared in the literature. An

immediate complication arose while examining the literature as it relates to this question. The

problem was that not all literature sources define consolidation in the same manner. Snook and

Johnson (1997) comment that consolidation efforts can be broken down into three primary types:

"partial, functional, and operational" (p. 17). In the Snook and Johnson definition, an operational

consolidation means that all agencies participating in the discussion come together to eventually

form a new single agency. Henken, Allen, and Peterangelo (2012) disagreed in stating that

operational consolidations involve all agencies staying separate but taking advantage of things

like automatic response agreements. Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services (1994) agreed with

Snook and Johnson in writing that operational consolidations indeed involve many agencies

becoming one agency. Given this disparity in the literature, an effort was made to break down

consolidation types to specific examples instead of categories. A mutual aid system where

agencies agree to respond, sometimes automatically, to certain types of another agency's

emergencies is one of the simplest forms of consolidation (Weidner, 2010). Although Rielage

(2010) noted that this type of partnership would technically be collaboration. At the same time

Rielage (2010) remarked that mutual aid agreements have become quite popular and are indeed a

type of consolidation. Johnson (2012) agreed with this point in stating that such mutual aid

agreements can be very useful and in some cases may save money as well as improve services.

McCormick (2000) echoed these opinions in observing that mutual aid and automatic aid

agreements are types of consolidations that are available to fire departments. The literature also

described far more complex consolidations. Three separate fire departments were combined in

to one agency in one cited consolidation attempt in Pennsylvania (Weidner, 2010). Jensen &


Snook (2000) discussed that such consolidations can include combining fire stations, which may

be very useful to some agencies. Such complete consolidations were also discussed as available

options by (International City/County Management Association, 2011) and (Carter, 2008a). A

special complete consolidation process also exists under Washington law and is available to

certain fire departments within the state (Snook et al., 2011). This process involves one or more

fire departments coming together to form a new separate taxing authority (Regional Fire

Protection Service Authorities, 2004). It is important to note, however, that not all literature

sources pointed to such complete consolidations as being the primary options available to fire

departments. Johnson (2012) observed that far simpler consolidation processes such as shared

fire inspection duties or vehicle maintenance agreements may be very useful to some

departments. Lopez (2011) conducted research that suggested that sometimes consolidations that

cost the least amount of upfront money are the best to consider initially. The combination of

training programs was given as one example. The combination of smaller operational processes

like purchasing and training may indeed make more sense to some departments than large and

complex consolidations (Doran, 2012). Carter (2008a) agreed, but added duties like fire

prevention and code enforcement as consolidations that may be simple, but also may be cost

savings measures. In Washington, there are also laws that allow fire department consolidations

through annexation, but an examination of the literature suggested that this option may not be

available to the Camas-Washougal Fire Department (Annexation by Code Cities, 1989). The

literature likewise pointed to the ability of certain rural districts in Washington to merge if

certain requirements are met (Consolidation, 1989).

The literature contained descriptions of several models available to advance

consolidation. These ranged from significant and complete permanent consolidations such that


occurred in Contra Costa County in California in 1964 (Snook & Johnson, 1997) to descriptions

of far smaller ventures such as combining purchasing between departments to get the best price

(Doran, 2012). Despite the various consolidation options available, Jensen & Snook (2000)

commented that agencies doing so should primarily attempt to "maximize strengths" and

"eliminate redundancies" regardless of the method they choose (p. 102).

Not all types of consolidations are legal in every area of the country and some that are

described in the literature may not be popular due to geography or demographics. For this

reason it was deemed important to ascertain what types of consolidations have been most

successful in Washington.

One of the better known consolidation efforts in the Pacific Northwest is that of Tualatin

Valley Fire and Rescue (TVFR) in Tigard, Oregon. TVFR consolidation started in 1988 and

involved three different departments coming together. The department has been successfully

assimilating department after department since that time to become one of the largest in the State

of Oregon and has been described as one of the most successful consolidations in the United

States, let alone the Pacific Northwest (Snook & Johnson, 1997). When the Washington cities of

Lakewood and University Place combined their fire departments in 2011, significant difficulty

was predicted. The cooperation involved a complete consolidation of services between the cities

over a period of two years. Based on research conducted at the newly combined department by

McCurdy (2011), this service consolidation has been very successful. Taking a slightly different

approach, Riverside Regional Fire Authority in Centralia, Washington decided to utilize a

relatively new process to conduct a consolidation known as a Regional Fire Authority (RFA).

RFA formation is allowed in Washington law and provides for the formation of new and separate

taxing districts when two or more fire departments come together (Regional Fire Protection


Service Authorities, 2004). Riverside RFA involved the combining of the Centralia and Lewis

County Fire District 12 Fire Departments in to a new combined department with new taxing

authority. While the effort was difficult, the end result was a newly consolidated department

considered highly successful by its members and their peers around the state. Riverside RFA is

subsequently considered to be one of the most highly successful RFA efforts in the state thus far

(Walkowski, 2013). West Thurston RFA in Littlerock, Washington was a consolidation effort

using the same legislation as that at the Riverside RFA. In the West Thurston RFA case, two

different rural fire districts came together to form a new taxing district. While smaller in scale

than Riverside RFA, the effort in West Thurston has also been successful (R. Kaleiwahea,

personal communication, February 27, 2013). One of the command staff at the department

commented that although the process was difficult, most there would never want to go back to

the way things were before the consolidation (L. Dyer, personal communication, November 1,

2012). Central Pierce Fire and Rescue in Tacoma, Washington has been another highly

successful consolidation effort. Originally starting out as a consolidation between three different

departments, the agency has grown bigger and bigger over the subsequent years as more

departments are absorbed. Although a smaller department in comparison, Central Pierce Fire

and Rescue's effort and consolidation method were very similar to that of TVFR in Tigard,

Oregon (Snook & Johnson, 1997). Two other cross border Oregon consolidations over the years

that have likewise been very successful were Portland Fire Bureau and Multco District 10 and

Clackamas County's mass consolidations in 1989, 1990, and 1992. While both efforts were

complete service consolidations, they involved the larger department absorbing the smaller one,

as opposed to creating a new third agency. As such, both consolidations suffered various levels

of opposition early in the efforts (Snook & Johnson, 1997). Finally, the Central Kitsap 1 and 15


consolidation of 1997 is still going strong and involved a complete consolidation of both

agencies in to a new third agency that now operates under the name Central Kitsap Fire and

Rescue (Snook & Johnson, 1997).

There were several examples in the literature of successful consolidation efforts in

Washington and the Pacific Northwest in general. These ranged from relatively small

consolidations like Central Kitsap 1 and 15 in Washington, to what have become massive service

consolidations involving dozens of departments such that have occurred at Tualatin Valley Fire

and Rescue in Tigard, Oregon. While complete consolidation of service was quite popular

among the successful examples, the recently available RFA process in Washington was also

represented.

There are likely multiple challenges that any fire department would face in a service

consolidation, so the literature was researched to find the potential challenges to a successful

permanent consolidation of CWFD. First and foremost, it was noted by Abernathy (2012) that

agencies needed to ask themselves why they were trying to consolidate services. If it was for the

wrong reason, it could significantly impact the chance of success (ICMA, 2007). Sometimes

even if the consolidation efforts are for what is determined to be a good reason, trouble can

persist. One issue is that cost savings that may come from a consolidation are very difficult to

predict (Johnson, 2012). It was observed by ICMA (2007) that gaining support for the

consolidation from important stakeholders was vital. If there is no support from the

stakeholders, even managers and other leaders in the organization may try to work against it

behind the scenes. Managers may throw up opposition if they believe their power could be

curtailed noted ICMA (2007), while labor groups may refuse to support the process if they

believe it is being used to cut positions (Johnson, 2012). Indeed it was remarked by another


author that employee's support for a service consolidation may end as soon as jobs are threatened

(McCurdy, 2011). Culture clashes and navigating differences of personality were discussed as

serious challenges in any consolidation as well by McCurdy (2011). Such battles over "turf" and

power have destroyed many consolidations over the years (Snook & Johnson, 1997, p. 100).

One way to answers these challenges was observed to be involving all the right stakeholders

(Weidner, 2010; Bryan, 2012) and making sure that good communications are always maintained

(Weidner, 2010). Page (2004) commented that consolidations frequently take much longer than

anticipated and this can cause frustration among elected leaders as well as fire department

officials. What may help in this aspect is if the departments being combined are somewhat

similar (VFIS, 1994).

Perhaps the largest challenge noted in the literature to a successful permanent

consolidation was the issue of money. There is a common notion among the public and elected

officials that service consolidations always lead to money savings. This is usually not the case

and can cause significant friction later (Rielage, 2010). Rielage (2010) warns that promises of

cost savings should always be used cautiously. They may not come for many years. In fact, it is

not entirely unusual for service consolidations to actually cost one or more of the partners more

money than they were paying for the service before. This is what was facing the Springfield and

Eugene Fire Departments in Oregon, and the issue stalled progress (Hubbard, 2012). The

increased cost driving factors may results from the effort to bring one or more union contracts up

to the level of one of the other agencies (Hubbard, 2012). Pay equalization issues like this can

become a major challenge (Halladay, 2012). Such increased costs may be acceptable to the

public if they believe service levels are going to increase (Hubbard, 2012). Caution should be

used, however, because the public may expect more than they are getting to begin with (Giorgio,


2000). It's just as important to make certain that while such funding is stable at the onset of such

consolidations, there is a plan in place to make the agency sustainable over the long term.

Failure to plan ahead in this fashion sidelined one such effort in Washington (Farley, 2011).

Finally, politics was identified as another major hurdle facing fire departments attempting

to consolidate. Political differences between agencies trying to join forces can kill a

consolidation effort faster than it began (Rielage, 2010). Despite issues like finances, political

differences were identified by one researcher as being one of the biggest reasons a consolidation

will fail (Beyerstedt, 2010). Often such political opposition comes from the fear of loss of

control (Mellinger, Minton, & Driscoll, 2008) and hidden agendas among elected officials

(Snook & Johnson, 1997).

While the challenges faced by a department seeking to create a permanent consolidation

seemed overwhelming in the literature, there also existed many suggestions of how to surmount

these odds. Part of the challenge is coming to the realization that there will always be opposition

to a consolidation effort. It is highly unusual that all involved will be supportive of the effort

(McCurdy, 2011). Lochard & Olsen (2006) recommended never allowing problems to persist

without being addressed. Tackle them head on immediately. Involving all relevant stakeholders

was identified in several sources as being of paramount importance to success (ICMA 2007;

Bryan, 2012; Rielage 2010). As identified previously, focusing too much on cost savings was

identified as a quick way for a service consolidation to get sidetracked (Greenson, 2012).

Perhaps the best recommendation for how to successfully navigate these challenges came from

(Carter, 2008b) in commenting that the most important thing in any service consolidation is

doing what is best of the citizens. Everything else becomes minor in comparison.


While there were many challenges noted in the literature to permanently consolidating

the departments, it was also believed that there would be benefits experienced by agencies that

had participated in such efforts. The literature confirmed this belief. One of the primary benefits

of permanently consolidating departments can be the reduction, if not outright elimination, of

duplication of service as noted by McCormick (2000) and Lopez (2011). The hope is that the

involved departments become more efficient in the process (Lochard & Olsen, 2006). Despite

the warnings of promising financial savings noted previously, several authors remarked that

consolidation efforts can indeed save money. This belief was suggested by Snook and Johnson

(1997), Jensen and Snook (2000), Henken et al. (2012) and Nelms (2012). Giorgio (2000)

agreed in remarking that in some cases the combined budget of the new department is less than

the previous individual departments. But where does this cost savings comes from? One

frequently noted advantage to permanently consolidating the departments is the possibility of

combining administrative positions (Greenson, 2012). This money saving potential was also

observed by Farley (2011) in writing that a permanent consolidation may allow administrative

positions to be eliminated outright if not by attrition. This topic of potential savings was also

discussed by Beyerstedt, (2010), McCurdy, (2011), and Halladay (2012). If there is opposition

to the possible loss of positions, attrition may be a suitable option to the departments (McCurdy,

2011). But the literature also suggested that such significant cost savings measures as cutting

senior administrative staff are not always necessary to the affect the financial bottom line. Doran

(2012) commented that the ability to combine capital purchasing may be advantageous for a

consolidated department allowing all agencies to get the best possible value. Walters (2011)

agreed in observing that consolidated departments can often find better prices when it comes to

most purchases. The potential also exist for cost savings when combined facilities, maintenance,


and training programs are used (McCormick, 2000). The replacement of fire apparatus, which

can be very expensive, can also benefit from consolidated departments. The elimination of

replacement redundancies may save significant sums of money (Wittenberg, 2012). This opinion

was repeated by Mitchell & Hutchings (2011) in writing that the cost of apparatus replacement

may be decreased by service consolidations. These apparatus replacement cost savings can be

significant, depending on the size of the agencies involved (Johnson, 2012).

One of the more interesting aspects of consolidation advantages in the literature had very

little to do saving money. That was the belief noted by several authors that consolidations may

enable the participating departments to actually provide for better levels of service (Walters,

2011), or at the very least help to maintain current levels (Wittenberg, 2012). Giorgio (2000)

concurred in observing that consolidations may indeed allow for higher staffing levels. This

concept was repeated by Mitchell & Hutchings (2011) and Beyerstedt (2010) in noting that

consolidations may even increases the number of personnel who are available to arrive at a

scene. In a specific finding published in reference to CWFD's current trial consolidation, a

consultant remarked that enhancing fire and EMS services was an attainable goal in permanently

consolidating services. This would be made possible by the cross-staffing of personnel in

stations that previously had minimal daily staffing, thus shortening response times (Snook et al.,

2011).

There were multiple sources in the literature that discussed the benefits that other

agencies had experienced when consolidating. The various benefits available from a

consolidation came in two distinct categories: cost savings, and positive impact on service

levels. Several authors suggested the possibility of cost savings through the elimination of

duplication of service, such as eliminating redundant administrative positions (Greenson, 2012)


and (Farley, 2011). Others, such as Wittenberg (2012) and Mitchell and Hutchings (2011),

pointed to the advantages and potential cost reductions measures of combined purchasing or

revamping apparatus replacement plans. When it came to impacting level of service as opposed

to upfront money savings, several literature sources commented on the ability of consolidations

to not only assist in maintaining levels of service, but actually increasing them as well (Snook &

Johnson, 1997). This was confirmed by an independent consultant study conducted at CWFD in

observing in the published findings that the department stood to increase levels of service and

reduce response times by the cross-staffing of personnel (Snook et al., 2011).

The literature evaluated influenced the further research by suggesting that the original

research problem and questions were appropriate for the potential challenges a fire department

might experience when exploring a permanent consolidation.

Procedures

Several research techniques were used to arrive at the outcome for this ARP. The

procedures that were used were regarded to be the most relevant and useful in arriving at a

conclusion to the stated problem and in answering the research questions as proposed. Four

personal interviews were conducted as well as the solicitation of two survey instruments were

used for this research.

Jim Walkowski is the fire chief of Riverside RFA in Centralia, Washington. Prior to

holding this job, he was a longtime firefighter of South Kitsap County Fire and Rescue.

Riverside RFA was one of the first successful regional fire authorities (RFA) formed in

Washington. Chief Walkowski was hired specifically to help with this effort. Since Riverside

RFA was formed back in 2007, Chief Walkowski is an often contacted research source for

departments considering consolidation as well as a frequent public speaker on the topic. Due to


this background in the state, Chief Walkowski was judged to be an expert on fire service

consolidations in Washington and invaluable in helping find a solution to the problem. Chief

Walkowski responded by e-mail to several questions (J. Walkowski, personal communication,

March 1, 2013). This e-mail exchange is contained in Appendix A.

Russ Kaleiwahea (R. Kaleiwahea, personal communication, February 27, 2013) is the fire

chief of the West Thurston RFA in Olympia, Washington. Before being hired at West Thurston

RFA, Chief Kaleiwahea had spent most of his career as a paramedic-firefighter. West Thurston

RFA, along with Riverside RFA, is known as one of the earliest successful examples of the

usage of the state's RFA legislation. Chief Kaleiwahea helmed the department during this

transition and was judged to be a very useful source of information and an expert in the field of

fire department consolidations in Washington. Chief Kaleiwahea responded by e-mail to several

questions (R. Kaleiwahea, personal communication, February 27, 2013). This e-mail exchange

is contained in Appendix B.

Brent Boger (B. Boger, personal communication, April 26, 2013) was the third subject

used in the research. Mr. Boger, a graduate of the University of the Pacific Law School in 1985,

is a longtime practicing attorney in Washington. He currently serves as the assistant attorney for

the City of Vancouver, Washington, a job he has held since 1999. As such, Mr. Boger was well

versed in the laws of Washington and specifically those laws that apply to municipalities and

consolidations between municipalities. This expertise was judged to be particularly relevant in

answering research questions that focused on municipal law in Washington. Interview questions

(Appendix C) were sent to Mr. Boger in advance and he was subsequently met in person for his

responses (B. Boger, personal communication, April 26, 2013). The notes from that personal

interview are available from the author upon request.


Camas City Councilman Greg Anderson also participated in the research and provided

his written answers to interview questions on May 17, 2013 (personal communication, May 17,

2013). These responses are contained in Appendix D. Councilman Anderson is the longest

serving elected official in Camas history. This tenure has allowed him to be a part of two

previous fire department consolidation attempts, all which failed. His experiences in these

previous failures and the lessons he has learned were critically important to add to the research.

A survey was conducted using the website surveymonkey.com to gather input from fire

service leaders across the country who had been members of fire departments that had attempted

some level of service consolidation. This direct knowledge and experience in such efforts was

believed to be well suited to helping resolve several research questions. An introductory e-mail

(Appendix E) was sent to Tim Curtis of the National Society of Executive Fire Officers

(NSEFO). This e-mail listed the purpose of the ARP and asked for assistance in getting

respondents who had participated in fire service consolidations to take part in a survey. The

author, as a member of the NSEFO, visited the organization's website and found that Mr. Curtis

was listed as a person of contact for EFO students needing survey instruments sent out to

members. A short time later the author received a reply e-mail from Mr. Curtis, stating that a

link to the survey had been distributed to all 850 members of the NSEFO for which he had

current e-mail address contacts. A request for assistance was also posted on LinkedIn's

International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) discussion group (Appendix F). This group has

a listed membership of 2,272 fire service leaders from various locations. A total of 95 responses

were collected from these two groups (Appendix I). Due to the timing of release of the IAFC

request for assistance and the request for assistant submitted to the NSEFO, it is estimated that


approximately 10 responses came from the IAFC group while approximately 85 responses came

from the NSEFO members. The same exact survey was used for both groups.

Another survey utilizing the free website service surveymonkey.com was sent out to the

75 line personnel and command staff of the Camas-Washougal Fire Department. The intention

of this anonymous inquiry (Appendix G) was to measure beliefs and opinions that the

department's members had about the temporary consolidation that had been in place since 2011.

The responses collected were used to answer several research questions and to help formulate a

solution to the purpose statement. Out of the 75 personnel that were asked to participate in the

survey, 62 responded. Those responses are collected in Appendix H.

The results of the research utilized in this ARP were subject to several limitations. The

individuals interviewed for the fire chiefs of organizations that had participated in consolidations

in Washington both had excellent information and experiences to impart. But fire chiefs would

be expected to be widely varied in their backgrounds as well as their opinions and personal

experiences. While both fire chiefs interviewed had mainly positive experiences to relate during

the interview process, there could be other fire chiefs in the state who had profoundly negative

experiences from consolidations. Timing requirements of the ARP process limited the ability to

locate and interview all fire chiefs in the state who had experiences with fire service

consolidations.

There were also significant limitations to the survey processes used in the research. The

primary cause of that limitation was the basis by which the requests for participation in the

surveys were made. In the survey of people nationally who had experience in fire department

consolidations, two different methods were used to contact potential participants. The first was

by the placing of a personal request for participation in the International Association of Fire


Chiefs (IAFC) discussion forum on the website Linked In. A copy of this request is contained in

Appendix F. The IAFC forum states that it has approximately 2,825 members. There is no way

to know how many of those members are still active. There is also no method by which to

determine how many of those members read the author's request for survey participation. Only

10 survey responses could be identified as having resulted from the request on Linked In. This

may have occurred due to many listed members no longer being active in the forum, or simply

from not having seen the author's post in time before it cycled out due to the date posted. There

also may have been a significant number of people who simply did not wish to participate.

Again, there is no method by which to determine how many people fit that description. Another

request for participation in the exact same survey was made through the author's membership in

the aforementioned NSEFO. A copy of this request is contained in Appendix E. This request

reached over 850 people, according to the website person contacted. Approximately 85

responses were identified as having come from the NSEFO request, which is a response rate of

10%.

Finally, a survey participation request was also sent out to the 75 line personnel of the

Camas-Washougal Fire Department. A copy of this request is contained in Appendix G. Out of

the 75 personnel contacted, there were 62 responses in the survey. With this method the author

at least had the ability to confirm that e-mails were sent, received, and read. However, there was

no way to compel personnel to participate in the survey to ensure 100% involvement.

As a result of the constraints in the interviews and the absence of a valid sample size in

the surveys, the findings of the research cannot be regarded as statistically accurate. Due to this,

it would not be acceptable to attempt to assign these conclusions to other fire departments. The

absence of fully defensible data should not impact the overall findings of this ARP. However,


the use of the information was still relevant to the overall conclusions of the research and to use

to compare to published literature. In some cases, due to the time limitations of the ARP process

itself, it was the only data available for this purpose. When compared to the published literature,

it became very useful to arriving at the conclusions to the problem as stated in this ARP.

Results

The outcome of the research will be discussed in this section of the paper. The findings

from all procedures were thoroughly reviewed and were used to arrive at conclusions to the

research questions.

Research question one asked: What models are available to advance consolidation?

Attorney Brent Boger (personal communication, April 26, 2013) provided information in

answering this question as he had longtime experience as a municipal attorney in Washington.

Mr. Boger explained that perhaps one of the easiest models to explore is what Washington law

describes as an interlocal agreement (ILA). He went on to explain that ILAs allow various types

of agreements between different cities, and that an agreement to provide or share some level of

fire and EMS responsibility would fit that description. The nice thing about an ILA, explained

Mr. Boger, is that they can be approved by a city council as opposed to having to go through the

process of voter approval. He cited two successful examples of long-term ILAs that the City of

Vancouver holds with the surrounding Clark County to share and/or provide fire services as well

as parks maintenance. Mr. Boger suggested further reading of Washington Law RCW 39.34 for

more information on how ILAs work and how this model might benefit the efforts of CWFD (B.

Boger, personal communication, April 26, 2013). Investigation of RCW 39.34 (April 27, 2013)

indeed appeared to back the veracity of Mr. Boger's statement that an ILA could prove to be a

useful model for CWFD to consider. RCW 39.34 is a large document containing hundreds of


pages, but 39.34.080 seemed the most relevant for the purposes of an ILA model that could be

utilized by CWFD. The article is titled "contracts to perform governmental activities which each

contracting agency is authorized to perform." It allows that, "any one or more public agencies

may contract with any one or more other public agencies to perform any governmental service,

activity, or undertaking" (Interlocal Cooperation Act, 1967).

Fire Chief Jim Walkowski (personal communication, March 1, 2013) is the longtime

leader of the Riverside RFA in Washington. In an interview conducted with Chief Walkowski

on March 1, 2013, he explained that officials in his organization considered the Regional Fire

Authority (RFA) model, and also a simple annexation where one city would annex the other.

The RFA model is allowed by Washington law RCW 59.26, he explained, and essentially allows

two or more fire departments to combine in to a single taxing entity, or special taxing district.

Annexation is allowed in Washington law by RCW 35A.14 and sets the requirements for how a

city can annex unincorporated areas in to their own municipal boundaries. Chief Walkowski

explained that his agency ultimately chose the RFA model over annexation since the RFA model

allows for shared oversight between partnering agencies, whereas the annexation process does

not (personal communication, March 1, 2013). Investigation of RCW 35A.14 seemed to

indicate, however, that annexation may not be legally allowable between Camas and Washougal

as both are incorporated municipalities. Annexation in Washington is only allowed when a

municipality annexes an unincorporated area (Annexation by Code Cities, 1989).

In an interview conducted with West Thurston RFA Fire Chief Russell Kaleiwahea on

February 27, 2013, Chief Kaleiwahea stated that his agency also considered using Washington

law RCW 52.06, which allows rural fire districts to merge. His agency eventually chose, as did

Chief Walkowski, the RFA model as it provided for shared oversight and more funding options


(R. Kaleiwahea, personal communication, February 27, 2013). Further examination of RCW

52.06 seemed to indicate that this option would not work for CWFD as the law provides this

ability only to rural fire districts and not municipalities (Consolidation, 1989).

Examination of the research seemed to indicate that two primary models exist for CWFD

to explore for a long-term consolidation of services. These two models appear to be either an

RFA, or an ILA. While the research indicated that other models existed, further investigation

seemed to indicate that these models were not legal options for the municipalities of Camas and

Washougal.

The second research question was: What types of consolidations have been most

successful in Washington? Fire Chief Jim Walkowski (personal communication, March 1, 2013)

of the Riverside RFA in Centralia, Washington was asked what successful models, if any, his

agency used as they were investigating the formation of their own service consolidation. Chief

Walkowski responded that the two agencies that would eventually come together to form

Riverside RFA had already identified the state's relatively new RFA model as being the most

useful for their situation. While the decision to explore an RFA was made early on, Chief

Walkowski went on to note that Valley Regional Fire Authority, the very first RFA partnership

created in the state, had proven to be a very successful model that they had used. Their

experiences were considered very closely by his own planning committee when forming the

Riverside RFA (J. Walkowski, personal communication, March 1, 2013).

When asked to consider what models of fire service consolidation his agency considered

when exploring their own efforts in 2007, West Thurston RFA Fire Chief Russ Kaleiwahea

(personal communication, February 27, 2013) replied that they were not even aware that any

other method of consolidation existed for a fire district outside of an RFA. However, his agency


would eventually come to use a successful ILA model in use by the nearby Thurston County Fire

District 1 and 14 as a standard by which to start building support for the eventual RFA they

would form. West Thurston RFA also began their RFA efforts not long after the successful

formation of the nearby Riverside RFA, led by Fire Chief Jim Walkowski. West Thurston RFA

was able to use the positive experiences, as well as the lessons learned, from the Riverside RFA

to more easily advance their own partnership (R. Kaleiwahea, personal communication, February

27, 2013).

Longtime Camas City Councilman Greg Anderson (personal communication, May 17,

2013) was also interviewed for his insight in to what he felt were some of the most successful

types of fire department consolidations he had witnessed. The interview question answers from

Councilman Anderson are contained in Appendix D. Councilman Anderson's responses to this

question were based in part, he stated, from direct experience in no less than three previous

consolidation attempts that had failed. During these various efforts, Councilman Anderson states

he conducted much first person research in to some of the most successful consolidation models

in Washington. When asked to describe some of the more successful models of consolidation in

Washington he had seen, Councilman Anderson first commented that the most important thing

he had come to know about successful consolidations is not the necessarily the type, but the

interactions of other related issues. He stated that the most important things he had witnessed in

successful consolidations in Washington were the presence of good leadership in both the staff at

the fire department as well as the elected officials. Councilman Anderson went on to say that a

definite sense of purpose of the consolidation is required, which can help with buy in of critical

stakeholders. As far as specific consolidation models, Councilman Anderson remarked that in

previous attempts he was a part of the RFA model was frequently cited as being the goal as it


was a newly available process that had been quite successful in the places where it had been

implemented. Councilman Anderson was quick to point out, however, that the current CWFD

consolidation process may not lend itself to the RFA process due to differing financial realities in

both cities. If this ends up being the case, then a contract for service or ILA may be the next best

alternative as it could be a promising model of consolidation if the financial questions can be

answered (G. Anderson, personal communication, May 17, 2013).

The third research question asked: What are the potential challenges to a successful

permanent consolidation? Fire Chief Jim Walkowski (personal communication, March 1, 2013)

from Riverside RFA in Washington, offered his thoughts on the potential challenges fire

departments will face when attempting permanent consolidations. He based these opinions on

his own challenges that he faced in putting together one of the first fire consolidations in

Washington. Chief Walkowski noted that getting out in to the community and finding ways to

not only engage them, but to also educate them, about the mission and goals of the proposed

consolidation was vitally important. The alternative could be a very important stakeholder group

that believes only what they may read in the newspaper or hear from someone who is opposed to

the process. When it comes to engaging important groups in the consolidation process, Chief

Walkowski also pointed out that both career and volunteer subgroups in the departments must be

accessed and evaluated for potential negative consequences that either group could experience as

a result of the new partnership. Once those issues are identified, both groups should be involved

in the process of trying to find ways to avoid such problems during the consolidation. Like the

issue of engaging and educating the public, failure to do the same with the various labor groups

will cause many problems down the road. Finally, Chief Walkowski mentioned another

challenge, specifically with the RFA process that his department used. The RFA implementation


process is complex, and departments must be very careful when they seek to go out to approval

by the citizen at an election. If a department is not cognizant of these RFA issues, they could

find their new agency without tax funding for an entire fiscal year. Chief Walkowski's

department had this very same issue, and it was not an easy process finding the appropriate

funding to get through that period of time (J. Walkowski, personal communication, March 1,

2013).

In his interview, Fire Chief Russell Kaleiwahea from West Thurston RFA echoed several

of the challenges mentioned by Chief Walkowski. Chief Kaleiwahea wrote that developing

internal support for his department's consolidation efforts was initially elusive. There were

certain personnel that had concerns of not only losing positions of power but also of losing an

identity as a firefighter or officer of a specific fire department with a specific patch or color of

fire apparatus. Chief Kaleiwahea would go on to state that an effective use of strategic planning

and setting "guiding principles" for the consolidation effort was an effective tool to helping gain

the vital internal support they needed. He added that some of their guiding principles were that if

it was discovered that the level of service decreased or any of the labor group saw what they felt

would be unacceptable changes, the consolidation effort would end. Always keeping in mind

what was best for the citizens, Chief Kaleiwahea noted, helped the group find its way through

those difficult discussions. Chief Kaleiwahea's consolidation efforts also struggled to keep the

public interested and informed about the process they were undertaking. This was very similar

to the challenges experienced by Chief Walkowski's department. Despite sending out newsletters

to try to educate the public, Chief Kaleiwahea still could not get citizens interested in attending

meetings. As a result, people would express surprise and perhaps immediate opposition if they

heard a rumor about the partnership that they did not agree with. The way the West Thurston


RFA group addressed this critical lack of involvement was to appoint what they termed a

citizen's group, whose main purpose was to participate in the process and eventually provide

their approval or disapproval of the plan. This committee ultimately did approve the permanent

consolidation efforts in Chief Kaleiwahea's department. This process not only brought more

community members to the meetings, but provided the department with the backing to say that

the consolidation had been vetted through involvement of the community. Chief Kaleiwahea

also reminded that with a larger workgroup in a unionized agency, the firefighters are likely

going to be able to use larger city comparables when negotiating salaries and benefits. If the

agency isn't prepared for this, he warned, unexpected increases could quickly eliminate financial

savings (R. Kaleiwahea, personal communication, February 27, 2013).

In the anonymous survey conducted with chief officers throughout the United States

(Appendix I), appeals for participation in the survey were sent to both the IAFC discussion

forum and the NSEFO. In total, approximately 10 responses came from the IAFC group while

85 were entered by members of the NSEFO group. These answers provided data that speaks to

the conflicts that agencies may encounter when trying to consolidate. This data was specifically

from question X in the survey, which asked for opinions on reasons why a respondent's

consolidation efforts may have failed. These answers are contained in Appendix I. The answers

from essay boxes used in the survey are available upon request due to sheer size. Of the 95 chief

officers who responded to the survey, 84.8% felt that political issues were the main reason why

their consolidation efforts failed, followed by opposition from the community at 24.2% and

opposition from labor at 21.2%. This data would seem to reflect closely the opinions of Chief

Walkowski (personal communication, March 1, 2013) and Chief Kaleiwahea (personal

communication, February 27, 2013) that a failure to fully engage all important stakeholders can


cause significant difficulty in a consolidation effort. In the essay box provided for this question,

survey participants would go on to detail personality conflicts, anti-union sentiments, and vastly

increased costs after consolidating, as reasons they believed their respective consolidation efforts

ultimately failed.

The final group that was asked to provide input on this question was the combined

volunteer and career labor groups with the CWFD. The question used to gather opinion on

potential complications of a consolidation was question 9. The full survey responses are

contained in Appendix H. Of those from within the department who participated in the survey, a

total of 7 responded that they were not in support of the consolidation and then were asked to

detail some of the reasons they did not support it. A total of 57.9% of the internal respondents

felt that the presence of politics in the consolidation effort was the primary reason they did not

support it. Another 52.6% identified concerns over the realities of cost containment in the new

organization, and 36.8% replied that the lack of parity in benefits and salaries across the two

departments during the trial consolidation was one of the reasons they did not support the

partnership (Appendix H).

The research indicated that there were several potential complications when two agencies

considered a permanent consolidation of resources. Across all the forms of the research, some

commonalities appeared. The failure to engage all necessary stakeholders was likely one

common theme between all sources, the lack of which could cause the loss of support from

important groups. Between the fire chiefs interviewed, this included the challenge of gaining

community support as well as internal support. Chief Kaleiwahea from West Thurston RFA

wrote that agencies can sometimes experience increased labor costs due to union negotiating

leverage that might be created in a consolidated agency (personal communication, February 27,


2013). The national survey conducted with chief officers from around the United States showed

that politics and finances were the primary reasons their consolidation efforts failed. In the

internal survey (Appendix H) conducted at CWFD, the respondents who did not support the

consolidation likewise voiced politics and finances as being significant reasons why they did not

support the partnership.

The fourth research question asked: What benefits have other agencies experienced when

consolidating departments? While the research in the previous question was designed to gather a

list of potential complications from fire departments exploring consolidations, it was anticipated

there would also be benefits experienced by agencies that had gone through the consolidation

process. In his interview, Chief Russ Kaleiwahea (personal communication, February 27, 2013)

of West Thurston RFA discussed three substantial benefits that he said his agency experienced

when they fully consolidated agencies. One of the top priorities of their consolidation, he stated,

was to improve their service delivery model for the citizens. In this goal they were very

successful in getting more staffing out in to the stations, which reduced response times and

increased the number of personnel available to respond. There was also cost savings

experienced in their administrative staffing model as now there was only one fire chief in charge

of the organization. Chief Kaleiwahea noted that his agency was able to take that unanticipated

revenue increase and use it to hire more front line staffing than existed before the consolidation

(personal communication, February 27, 2013).

The number one benefit that Fire Chief Jim Walkowski of Riverside RFA experienced

was an overall increase in the level of service his organization was able to provide to the

community. This was an identical benefit experienced by the nearby West Thurston RFA,

headed by Chief Kaleiwahea. Chief Walkowski commented that his agency was able to harness


this improvement by utilizing the overall staffing efficiencies found to increase the personnel at

one of their stations. The West Thurston RFA consolidation also led to the increased availability

of a command officer on a daily basis, and caused more backup apparatus to be available for

contingencies like vehicles needing repair. Finally, Chief Walkowski wrote that all of these

efficiencies and increase in staffing led to the ability to improve the staffing and participation of

their hazmat and rescue teams (personal communication, March 1, 2013).

In the national survey conducted with chief officers who had been a part of fire

department consolidations (Appendix I), Question 9 asked respondents for their thoughts if their

agencies were still consolidated. The question was designed to gauge macro levels of overall

satisfaction with their efforts, but examining the details of the essay box available in that

question provided some insight that was found to be useful as research. The most recurring

themes in these responses pointed to further notable benefits that agencies have experienced

from consolidation efforts. The number one benefit experienced by respondents in this question

was an overall improved financial condition that resulted primarily from efficiencies the

consolidation provided. In two cases this was due to money saved from not having to replace

expensive apparatus or fire stations and in three others this resulted in increased revenues due to

the restructuring of tax collection status or abilities. The second most commonly seen element in

this question was that several respondents replied that their agencies experienced an overall

increase in level of service. While two did not provide detailed reasons why or how their level

of service increased, two other survey participants believed that their increased level of service

came from financial savings seen in other parts of the consolidation process (Appendix I).

The research indicated several potential benefits a fire department might experience from

a service consolidation based on specific examples that other chief officers reported. Both


Chiefs Walkowski (personal communication, March 1, 2013) and Kaleiwahea (personal

communication, February 27, 2013) reported an overall improved level of service and an

increase in various forms of daily staffing that resulted from financial savings that they felt were

directly attributable to their service consolidations. The survey (Appendix I) from chief officers

throughout the United States who had participated in fire department consolidations provided

further insight. This included financial savings and increased levels of service that survey

participants believed were a result of the consolidation.

Discussion

In this section the results of the research will be discussed in relationship to the literature

review and analyzed for whatever impact, if any, they would have on the CWFD organization.

In considering the published literature and the research in reviewing what models might be

available to advance consolidation, several approaches were noted. It was difficult in some cases

to find an extensive amount of literature on the types of consolidation processes available as this

question is often an issue of what laws are available locally or on a statewide level. The

literature did discuss the various types of consolidation processes available, from the simple

consolidation processes like combining a training program, to very complex processes where

multiple agencies are absorbed and assimilated (Weidner, 2010). The literature did show that a

special process is available in Washington that allows the creation of a special taxing district

called an RFA (Snook et al., 2011). This ability was confirmed by state law (Regional Fire

Protection Service Authorities, 2004) and also by the experiences of research interviewees

Chiefs Walkowski (personal communication, March 1, 2013) and Kaleiwahea (personal

communication, February 27, 2013). Attorney Brent Boger confirmed that the RFA process is a

legal option available to CWFD, but also reminded that the ILA process is available and perhaps


simpler as it only requires the approval of both city councils (B. Boger, personal communication,

April 26, 2013). Chief Kaleiwahea agreed with the thoughts of Attorney Brent Boger when

explaining that his agency also considered an ILA as a model to create a long-term consolidation

between fire agencies (R. Kaleiwahea, personal communication, February 27, 2013). The

research results were supported by the literature in this case. Investigation of Washington law,

taken in to consideration the legal opinion of attorney Brent Boger (personal communication,

April 26, 2013) and the experiences of the fire chiefs interviewed, would seem to establish that

both the ILA and RFA processes are not only legal, but could provide to be useful methods for

CWFD to permanently consolidate operations. The RFA was considered slightly more

advantageous by the fire chief research subjects as it inherently allows for more shared oversight.

However, as pointed out by attorney Brent Boger, the ILA process can also be structured in

nearly any way necessary and could actually be an easier process. Given this information, and

the consideration of the literature and the research, it would appear that either an ILA or RFA

would be among the only suitable and perhaps legal options for CWFD to consider in

permanently consolidating. As both groups of elected officials have stated in public meetings

how important they consider shared oversight in a newly combined agency, both of these

consolidation options may hold promise.

In reflecting on the findings of the literature and research in determining what models of

consolidation had been most successful in Washington, there was significant agreement between

sources. In the literature review, Snook and Johnson (1997) wrote that Tualatin Valley Fire and

Rescue had shown itself to be one of the earliest, and yet also one of the most successful, models

of consolidation in Oregon. TVFR has used a combination of ILAs and annexations to add to

their department over many years (Snook & Johnson, 1997). The literature also discussed the


widely successful consolidations in Central Pierce Fire and Rescue (Snook & Johnson, 1997), as

well as between the cities of Lakewood and University Place (McCurdy, 2011). In both of these

examples, the ILA process has been used to great success. Then there were the cases of the

consolidations in Riverside RFA and West Thurston RFA. As noted in their names, these

agencies have used the recently available RFA legislation to conduct what are considered by

many to be very successful examples of fire service consolidations in Washington (Walkowski,

2013). When it came to the research, Chief Jim Walkowski of the Riverside RFA likewise, and

perhaps not surprisingly, supported the RFA process as being what he considered an excellent

model for their circumstances and wrote that they leaned heavily on the successful example of

the Valley RFA, the only other RFA in existence in the state at that time (personal

communication, March 1, 2013). Chief Kaleiwahea of West Thurston RFA recalled that the

partnering agencies in his consolidation thought that RFA was the only process available to

them, despite using a very successful nearby ILA consolidation in Thurston County Fire District

1 and 14 (personal communication, February 27, 2013). In an analysis of the literature and

research, two often repeated successful models of consolidation are noted; RFA or ILA. Perhaps

not surprisingly, it was discovered in the literature review that the RFA or ILA process are likely

the only legal models of consolidation that exist for municipal fire departments in Washington.

It was interesting to note the opinion of Councilman Greg Anderson (personal communication,

May 17, 2013) in the research. Having witnessed no less than three failed consolidation attempts

during his long history with the city, he had a unique perspective to share. Councilman

Anderson remarked that the most successful models of consolidation aren't necessarily ILAs or

RFAs, or annexations if the latter were available to municipalities. Rather the most successful

models in his opinion were those that had the right leaders and the best vision to drive the


organization to success (G. Anderson, personal communication, May 17, 2013). Identifying

successful models of consolidation can be difficult because what works well in one organization

could actually be a large scale failure in another. The literature and research process showed

several examples of quite successful RFA model consolidations as well as ones that were created

using the ILA process. Where there exists less clarity is in how this information impacts the

CWFD organization. As noted previously there are many examples of successful RFA and ILA

consolidations in Washington, and given the many examples cited in the literature and research

these two models likely deserve the most focus and examination by CWFD and its elected

officials. Care should be taken, however, in remembering that success in another organization

does not mean that same process would have the same results in CWFD.

When examining the potential complications an agency might experience when

attempting a consolidation, there were notable significant agreements between the literature and

the research. ICMA (2007) wrote that agencies need to make certain they're consolidating for

the right reasons and making sure that support was elicited from the vital stakeholders. There

could be significant opposition to any proposed partnership if labor groups have not given their

approval or support (Johnson, 2012; McCurdy, 2011). Finally, the literature warned about how

misaligned political ambitions can ruin a consolidation before it even gets started (Snook &

Johnson, 1997). The best way to surmount these obstacles, according to one source, was to

involve all stakeholders and to always ensure lines of communication are kept open (Weidner,

2010). Fire Chief Jim Walkowski noted that the public has to stay invested and educated in the

consolidation process. He also replied that vital stakeholder groups like labor have to be in

support of the process (J. Walkowski, personal communication, March 1, 2013). Chief Russ

Kaleiwahea agreed in his statement that building internal support and keeping stakeholders


informed helped in rumor control (personal communication, February 27, 2013). The national

survey (Appendix I) found that most respondent's consolidations failed because of political

issues and loss of labor support. Participants also discussed personality conflicts and increased

costs. Internal survey (Appendix H) respondents likewise expressed concerns over cost

containment. On examination, the research results almost perfectly mirrored the literature

review on this question. The issues most likely to confront CWFD in an attempted permanent

consolidation all revolved around making sure that stakeholders were kept informed from the

beginning of the process. This not only can keep important groups participating in the effort but

may help leadership stave off damaging rumors. Making sure that the stakeholders are

constantly involved doesn't end at just the labor groups or citizens. Both the literature and the

research indicated that there is a great concern about the presence of politics in such efforts. It

would appear that the key in this area is not to try to eliminate politics, which is likely not

possible, but rather to engage elected officials in the process from the start. Agencies attempting

consolidations like CWFD must also make certain that promises of results like financial savings

are not made without the veracity of evidence to support such claims. This is as much about

realistic financial projections as it is about being very careful to communicate the goals of the

consolidation.

While it is important for agencies considering consolidation to be aware of the potential

complications they could face, it is likewise important to know the benefits that might be

experienced. The research showed that the benefits experienced by fire departments that had

gone through consolidations closely aligned with what was discussed in the literature review.

The literature and research indicated that increased levels of service may be seen in a service

consolidation. In his case, Chief Russ Kaleiwahea commented that the savings were likely a


result of the elimination of positions that were no longer needed due to the increased efficiency

of the new organization (personal communication, February 27, 2013). The literature likewise

reported this potential benefit from eliminating administrative positions (Farley, 2011).

However, not all benefits reported between literature and the research was exactly identical. For

instance, neither local fire chiefs who had conducted successful consolidations reported financial

savings from vehicle or station replacement (J. Walkowski, personal communication, March 1,

2013; R. Kaleiwahea, personal communication, February 27, 2013). However, this possible

benefit was discussed in the literature (Wittenberg, 2012). This could be a result of either no

savings being experienced or the agencies not having been required to consider such expensive

capital items since their consolidations began. Overall, the benefits reported by the literature and

by the research provide valuable information to the ongoing efforts of CWFD. For instance,

given the similarities between the CWFD service area and demographics and some of the

agencies discussed in the literature and research, it is possible CWFD might experience the same

types of benefits from permanently consolidating departments. With that being said, however,

there are no guarantees that the agency would harness these specific benefits. The key, it would

seem, in avoiding turning these potential benefits in to a complication or liability is to not

overpromise outcomes to stakeholders.

Recommendations

The lessons learned and advice from other agencies who have attempted successful fire

service consolidations could be very beneficial to CWFD in their continued efforts. After

carefully analyzing the research produced by this ARP and comparing it to the available

literature on the topic of fire service consolidations, several recommendations can be made. As


the research showed, the critical steps to making a successful permanent consolidation of CWFD

all revolve around involving and educating the vital stakeholders.

The first recommendation is to continue the long standing consolidation ad hoc

committee that has existed since 2010. This committee has been comprised of three elected

officials from each city and includes the fire chief and other senior city officials such as finance

directors and city administrators, in an effort to provide oversight and direction in the

consolidation process. Much of the stability of the trial consolidation thus far has been due to

direction from this group, so if the agencies have hope to make the consolidation permanent, this

group will remain as primary importance in the process. Both the literature and the research

established the necessity of keeping primary stakeholders, such as elected officials, involved and

engaged in the process for it to be successful. Maintaining this group, with a continued drive

towards the focused examination of an RFA or ILA process to make the partnership permanent,

should be considered a priority. As the research has shown that there are likely no other legal

consolidation processes available to municipalities, spending time looking at other alternatives

that are likely not even viable or legal risks wasting resources and time.

The second recommendation, in a renewed effort to make the consolidation of CWFD a

permanent partnership, is to form a citizens advisory committee comprised of appointed

community members or perhaps just citizens who express an interest. The research indicated

that keeping the community engaged and educated about the consolidation process can be of

vital importance. The literature review backs this finding. Anecdotal experience shows that the

community served by CWFD indeed may not fully understand the purpose of the consolidation

efforts or whether the trial efforts have been successful. The research showed that such citizen


committees or advisory groups can be successful as a method to keep another primary

stakeholder involved and educated about the consolidation process.

The third and final recommendation is for a renewed and concerted public relations and

public education effort to inform the community about the benefits experienced with the trial

consolidation and what further benefits might be experienced from a permanently consolidated

agency. This is directly related to the second recommendation, but warrants its own separate

effort as there does exist occasional rumors that the labor group may not support the

consolidation effort. CWFD is fortunate that the internal labor stakeholders have always been

strong advocates for the consolidation effort. This is a major hurdle that other agencies

attempting consolidation fail to ever surmount, so the fact that this significant and critical

stakeholder has been positively invested in the process from the beginning is significant. This

internal support group could be very beneficial to helping lead the public relations effort.

The recommendation to future researchers is to lean heavily on input from elected

officials and labor and community stakeholders. Focusing research on the opinions of these

groups in an effort to find out what is important to them is a critical part of finding out whether a

consolidation is even realistic. If the elected officials, labor group, or citizens, do not support

your efforts, it will almost certainly fail. Likewise, researchers should not focus efforts too

heavily on consolidation schemes or plans that are not supported or not legal. In the case of

CWFD, the elected officials had stated they were interested only in full and permanent

consolidation or none at all. The literature and research subsequently showed that the RFA or

ILA consolidation processes were the only legally available ones to two municipalities. Given

these two requirements, the options were limited for CWFD. Researchers looking for


information on their own consolidation processes may find similar constraints exist in their

counties or states.


References

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Appendix A


Appendix B


Appendix C


Appendix D


Appendix E


Appendix F


Appendix G


Appendix H


Appendix I

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