Fire Department Strategic Plan OKd

A strategic plan for the Ventura County Fire Department was approved unanimously by county supervisors Tuesday, but not without some recommendations by one board member.

Supervisor Frank Schillo chastised Fire Chief James E. Sewell for failing to set priorities for the 10 goals cited in the report, which listed objectives to be attained in the next 18 months, three years and six years.

“If they’re not (prioritized), they should be,” Schillo said.

Specifically, Schillo was questioning why the department listed a goal to “measure effectiveness of initial response” within the 18- to 36-month time frame.

“That seems to me something you would want to know” sooner than late 1996, Schillo said.

In response, Sewell said his department could not adequately measure its response record without first reorganizing its record-keeping system.

Schillo also questioned why the agency would include considering a county-run paramedic service in its short-term objectives. But board Chairwoman Maggie Kildee said the previous board had directed the Fire Department to do so.

The strategic plan was prepared over the past two years, in part due to a scathing audit in October, 1993, that found the department to be top-heavy with managers and lax in its overtime policies.

Sewell said the plan would be implemented immediately and would help the department prepare its 1995-96 budget.