In accordance with Fire Protection Laws of 1961 and 1987 (specifically Health & Saf. Code, § 13844), the current composition of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (CCCFPD or District) Advisory Fire Commission (AFC) is seven seats. The seven seats comprise five supervisorial district seats and two districtwide At Large seats (see current AFC Membership Roster, attached). The Board of Supervisors also appoints three Alternates, which are selected in the same manner as the At Large appointees but may be called to serve in the absence of any of the seven primary appointees. The Fire Protection District Law specifies that the size of an advisory fire commission may be either five or seven members.
On March 9, 2022, the Contra Costa County Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCo) unanimously approved the annexation of East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) to the CCCFPD and the dissolution of ECCFPD. The annexation transition plan approved by LAFCo requires the County to modify the CCCFPD AFC membership to provide one member from the area formerly within the ECCFPD until the existing three-station deficit in the former ECCFPD service area is addressed and eliminated.
The Internal Operations Committee examined the current AFC composition to determine actions necessary to comply with the annexation transition plan. The current district III appointee resides in Antioch and does not satisfy the annexation plan transition requirement. This appointee's term of office does not expire until June 2025. On June 30, 2022, the term of the At Large #2 seat will expire, creating a vacancy. Because the AFC cannot be expanded beyond the current seven seats, the IOC recommends redesignating the At Large #2 seat to represent the former ECCFPD coverage area and redesignating the At Large #1 seat to represent all other areas of the District (see Exhibit 1). The IOC proposes that the three Alternate seats continue to be representative of the entire District.
Exhibit 1:
Approval of the Committee recommendation today will enable the IOC to conduct interviews for the pending At Large #2 and Alternate #3 seat vacancies on June 13 for recommendation back to the Board on June 21. This schedule will ensure continuity of the AFC membership beyond June 30 when the terms for these two seats will expire.