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No resolution reached on fire district dispute

Expansion of the area and closing of a substation are among the issues to be hashed out.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published March 29, 2006

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH - Resolution of a dispute between the Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District and officials of the towns it serves appeared no closer to resolution last week.

A special "Oversight Review Committee" set up by Pinellas County discussed a consultant's draft report about the fire district, but reached no conclusions about what they would or could do to resolve their complaints against the district.

Meanwhile, an e-mail sent to Indian Rocks Beach by Fire Commissioner Bob McEwen has been referred to the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney for investigation.

"I saw it as a threat," says Indian Rocks Beach Mayor Bill Ockunzzi.

In the e-mail, McEwen commented on the recent city election, adding that "We at the fire district will be talking to you (Ockunzzi), Pineiro and Palamara shortly."

The three Indian Rocks Beach officials all were plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the fire district. That lawsuit, recently tossed out of court on technical grounds, has cost the fire district more than $100,000 in legal fees. Fire commissioners are considering filing a lawsuit of their own to force Indian Rocks Beach, which funded the lawsuit, to reimburse those costs.

Officials in Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Belleair Beach and Indian Shores want the fire district to close down a substation in Redington Shores. The officials say the station is being illegally subsidized by district taxpayers.

Another possibility is expanding the district to encompass the towns of Redington Shores, North Redington Beach and Redington Beach, as well as possibly consolidating fire service with Madeira Beach.

"I was visited by three fire union officials suggesting this," Ockunzzi said at last Wednesday's committee meeting. "They prefer consolidation of all the beaches into one department."

Such an agreement would be difficult, given the sharp rhetoric that continues to be levied by both the district and local officials against each other.

This month, Fire Chief John Leahy issued a highly critical response to the consultant's report, calling it "fatally flawed" and the result of "a handful of people and elected officials" who had "slandered, criticized, degraded, and ridiculed" fire department officials and personnel.

"The best solution is if you reach an agreement all together," said Lancaster, who called for "steps to enhance trust" between the district and the towns it serves.

The fire district holds a contract with the county to provide emergency medical services (EMS) to Redington Shores, North Redington Beach and Redington Beach. These towns are not members of the fire district and pay no taxes directly to the district. The county reimburses the fire district for some, but not all of the district's EMS costs.

"The county needs to buy out the contract and just end this political problem," said Ockunzzi, adding that creating a beachwide fire district could be another solution.

"We need to get together with the mayors of all the beach cities," he said.

But proposing and actually creating a beachwide fire district are two very different things. The Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District is a state-chartered organization that can only be changed by the state Legislature. Such a change could also require separate voter referendums in each of the towns affected.

Assistant County Administrator Gay Lancaster bluntly told the committee members "all things are possible" only if the committee and the fire district can reach agreement.

[Last modified March 29, 2006, 01:23:20]