Fire District Battle Heats Up

The longstanding battle over the 's for the city of Sausalito heated up this week as opponents turned in hundreds more petition signatures than would be needed to take the controversial issue to voters.

Now it’s up to the office of Marin County Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold to verify the 1,900 signatures turned in by opponents to the merger. The opponents need 1,276 signatures (25 percent of the total registered voters in Sausalito) to put the merger to a vote in November.

Ginnold said that 121 people who signed the petition have requested that their signatures be rescinded. Supporters of the merger, including Sausalito Mayor Mike Kelly, have called the petition drive “less than straightforward,” saying it confused many people about what exactly they were signing.

The rescinded signatures leaves merger opponents with 1,779 names, and while it’s impossible to predict how many of those signatures will be verified by the registrar, Kelly doesn’t feel very comfortable with that number.

“It’s a travesty for it to happen the way it’s happening – it’s a political move and not an economic move,” he said. “We’re very saddened that this is where it is. That sounds like a pretty overwhelming number.”

Sausalito resident John Flavin, who spearheaded the signature-gathering effort, did not return a request for comment. Linda Pfeifer, one of two Sausalito City Councilmembers who oppose the merger, said the number of signatures garnered shows that residents want the right to vote on the issue. She called the number “extraordinary” since the campaign was hindered by fact that it occurred over an eight-week period that overlapped with the holiday season.

“This has always been about the residents’ right to vote on a very high stakes issue,” she said. “A ballot vote provides transparency and allows everyone to hear both sides, which has not happened in this process so far.”

The Southern Marin Fire Protection District, which serves parts of unincorporated Mill Valley, as well as Strawberry and a small portion of Tiburon, has managed and operated the Sausalito Fire Department for eight years under a contract for service. The district and some city officials have pushed for a merger in recent years, saying it makes sense from an operations standpoint and saves the city some $600,000 in property tax revenue annually.

Merger opponents have fought the annexation for reasons related to the pension costs for the 15 fire department employees who would transfer from Sausalito to the Southern Marin District if it occurred. They also allege that Sausalito will lose local control, noting that the annexation would shift 45 percent of the city’s annual property taxes to the Southern Marin district.

Merger supporters, including Sausalito city officials and the board, management and firefighters of the Southern Marin district, have been backed on two occasions by the seven-member Local Agency Formation Commission, the government agency that approves such mergers. Supporters say opponents have “concocted” numbers that purport a substantial financial risk if Sausalito firefighters “double-dip” on their pension benefits.

Those supporters also note that opponents have yet to propose Sausalito’s next move if the merger doesn’t move forward. Kelly suggested that Sausalito would need to pass a parcel tax of $400 per parcel to come up with the $1.4 million it would need annually to pay for its own fire department. That parcel tax would require 66 percent support to pass, and if it didn't, Kelly said cuts elsewhere in the city's budget would be necessary.

“Ultimately it’s going to cause more heartache for the city (if the merger doesn't happen),” said Josh McHugh, the president of the Southern Marin Firefighters Association.

City and district officials estimated a ballot measure on the merger could cost the city as much as $200,000.

“But if it does go to an election, I’m confident that voters will back the city being annexed into the district,” McHugh added. “It’s the right thing to do. And I don’t know that the opponents have a plan. They’ll be hurting the taxpayers and residents of that city.”

Ginnold said the signature verification process could take several weeks.