Tonight: Fire board discusses Atherton council's property tax complaints

I admire the way the Fire District is going about this concern. I've looked at their website and it is very detailed, providing a wealth of information.

The Fire District's openness to discuss Atherton's concerns is impressive, particularly outlined in the Staff Report that is a part of tonight's meeting. The Staff Report is nearly 30 pages long.

The Atherton Town Council meets the very next day, on Wednesday, September 21, 2016, with this very same topic likely coming up again on their agenda in October. In preparation for that meeting, I'm hoping that the Town of Atherton will send a staff member, a council member and/or perhaps the Finance Director or Chair of their Finance and Audit Committee to the Fire District's Board of Director's meeting tonight so that their views can be heard.

The Fire Board's meeting tonight is a Regular meeting not a Study Session.

The statement re "The agenda for the study session was a joint effort between officials of the fire district and the town" which was attributed to Chief Schapelhouman, who was not contacted regarding this news article, is incorrect.

The Staff Report for tonight's meeting was done entirely and solely by the Fire District Staff.

Here is exactly how the item is listed on the agenda:

11. Consider, Discuss, and Provide Direction to Staff Regarding a Request from the Town of Atherton to Discuss The Fiscal Evaluation of Fire Services

Here is the Staff Report:

Web Link

I agree, the Fire District is a model of transparency. Nicely done

Roy Thiele-Sardina

The following passage comes from the "Background | Analysis" subhead on Page 6 of Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman's staff report for agenda item 11 of tonight's meeting:

"There are no action items on tonight’s agenda. The agenda is set as a Study Session allowing both agencies to discuss issues and provide policy feedback for follow-up by agency staff. The President of the Fire Board and Mayor of Atherton met with the executive officers of each agency to discuss the broad topics for the agenda."

Regarding your statement: "The following passage comes from the "Background Analysis" subhead on Page 6 of Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman's staff report for agenda item 11 of tonight's meeting:

"There are no action items on tonight’s agenda. The agenda is set as a Study Session allowing both agencies to discuss issues and provide policy feedback for follow-up by agency staff. The President of the Fire Board and Mayor of Atherton met with the executive officers of each agency to discuss the broad topics for the agenda."

You may have taken the above statement out of context. The paragraph in the Fire District staff report on page 6 that you are referring to states:

"April 29, 2015, A Special Joint Study Session was held between the Fire Board and the Town Council to discuss items of Mutual Interest. Similar to a joint study session in 2007, the Fire Chief felt the meeting would help explain how the Fire District operated and the value of its service to the Town."

Thus the study session you are referring to occurred in year 2015. Instead, tonight's Regular Meeting is part of their regular agenda, which may result in a motion and a vote.

The comments that Boyce is citing were with respect to a Joint Neeting held on 29 April 2015 not to tonight's Fire Board meeting.