Recently, I watched a demonstration given by our outstanding Delray Beach Fire Department.

They were practicing a vehicle extraction and it was fun to watch how the firefighters work in tandem.

Earlier, we learned that the city has budgeted money for a new firefighter training facility, that long and sometimes bitter union negotiations may finally lead to a contract and that our city is negotiating a new long term deal to provide fire-rescue services to Highland Beach.

Oh and we also learned that on Wednesday—tomorrow– the county will present a proposal to take over our fire department.

More than a few people are scratching their heads on that one.

Boynton Beach recently decided against contracting for police and fire services with the county.

I hope our commission follows suit.

I think it would be a bad move. Check that: a very bad move.

I understand what’s driving the issue and I sympathize with the men and women of Delray Fire Rescue most of whom –I’m told–support going to the county. That they feel that way is a shame and ought to be a source of introspection in our city. It should never have gotten to this point.

For over two years, the prospect of “going to the county” has hung over our Fire Department. That’s not a healthy scenario. It’s hard to run a department when you don’t know what the future holds.

But despite the length of time, my hunch is very few people know what’s happening. Aside from a few robocalls from a mystery group decrying the move, there hasn’t been much public discussion about the issue.

This is disturbing on many levels and far from the transparency the public expects and deserves on this important issue.

If the commission decides to move forward, we can consider this a permanent decision. Once you get out of this business it will be too capital intensive to get back in.

So unlike other decisions—such as messing around with the LDR’s—this one won’t be able to be able put right by future commissions.

In my opinion, there are two important considerations, one intangible and one tangible when it comes to the future of fire rescue.

The intangible factor has to do with what kind of city we want to be. Our Fire Department has a rich history that dates back over 100 years. That means something to a lot of people. The department is a big part of our civic soul. Sure, you can paint the words “Delray Beach” on county fire trucks, but it won’t be the same as having our own department.

This issue is about what kind of town we want to be. Do we want to be a full-service city or do we begin to contract out services?

Regardless of how you feel, this deserves a full discussion with the community. That has not happened.

The second factor is a dollars and cents consideration and an autonomy issue. Do we want to be in control of an essential lifesaving service or not?

The driving factor behind a merger is it’s supposed to save taxpayers money.

We’ll see what the proposal says, but the devil is in the details and the terms of renewal. Many people I’ve talked to in the fire service and city management business don’t feel the economies of scale will hold up over time. We’ll see. And if you’re wondering if this is a new effort, it isn’t. I was approached several times during my seven years on the commission with the prospect of a merger. We weren’t interested, so the discussion was nipped in the bud. We felt it was important to have our own fire department. End of story.

To me an equal factor in this decision is autonomy; which over time also impacts cost.

If we have our own fire service we can shape it to meet the unique and changing needs of our community. If we merge and don’t like the service, or if we feel we need to move or add a station to meet changing needs and demographics, we’ll have to appeal to a large bureaucracy located in West Palm Beach instead of going to downtown Delray and pleading our case to the Chief, Manager, Mayor and Commissioners.

If we think we will have the same sway with seven county commissioners– none of whom represent any more than a sliver of Delray and some representing no part of our city –we are sadly mistaken.

Since fire represents roughly a quarter of our budget, does it make sense to give away control and leverage to politicians who most of us can’t vote for or against? Doesn’t sound like a good business move, does it?

When this idea was first considered a few years ago, I contacted a few commissioners and said the decision was more than just whether to keep the department or let it go.

If the decision is to keep the department, we have to invest in the department and its personnel. If we’re not willing to invest, well then we shouldn’t be in the business.

Can we afford to be in the business? I think so.

This city is not broke, contrary to the buzz around town, most of it emanating out of City Hall. Property values are growing at a steady rate and there are levers of revenue to tap, including charging for parking which would yield over $3 million a year.

We have ample opportunities to grow the tax base and we can always begin to share the cost of parking with our visitors. Notice I did not say we should give up free parking. There is no such thing as free parking; we pay for it, as taxpayers. We can begin to share that cost with visitors and we should.

That brings me to the men and women who serve in our department. We have to be fair to them. We have to offer a competitive compensation package.

Like most sagas, this one didn’t begin yesterday. There is a long back story. Here’s a summary of how we got to this point.

Over the years, police and fire union relations with the city administration have been fraught.

I’ve been observing these relations for close to 30 years. I’ve known many of the union leaders over the years and had the privilege of negotiating with a few over the years.

Many of the Union leaders I liked and respected. Some I clashed with.

All were tough negotiators who fought hard for wages and benefits.

When I was first elected in 2000 I ran on a platform of being accessible. I didn’t make any promises other than to be available and open minded. I was endorsed by police and fire, key endorsements at the time because both departments were highly respected and had deep ties to the community.

At the time, I was told by police and firefighters that city commissioners were not talking to them and that they were falling behind other departments when it came to wages and benefits.

I knew many of the men and women who served from my time as a reporter when I spent lots of time on ride alongs. It didn’t seem fair or wise to not talk to them once I was elected.

So I thought an open door and an open mind was a good policy. All I asked for in return was honesty. I wanted to hear their side of things but I wanted facts not emotions or falsehoods.

When I was elected in 2000 we were suffering from a horrible attrition problem in both police and fire. Worse, we couldn’t recruit either. We did not offer a package that would either stop the bleeding or allow our departments to recruit. I knew that working conditions and management weren’t the issues, Delray is a nice place to work and we had good chiefs at both departments. The community at large was supportive of public safety and our facilities and equipment were pretty good. We just weren’t competitive with places like Palm Beach County, Coral Springs, Boca and Fort Lauderdale in terms of wages and benefits.

So we made a decision to invest in public safety after our then police chief Rick Overman came to a labor meeting and told the commission and city manager that if we didn’t step up he could no longer protect the city to his satisfaction and all of us would be held accountable by the public. How’s that for a wake-up call? I’ll never forget it. But I’m glad the chief had the guts to speak the truth.

The Fire Chief at the time, Kerry Koen agreed with Overman. He was experiencing similar issues with recruitment and retention and we were paying a boat load of money to compensate for our thinning ranks. That was all I had to hear and the rest of the commission agreed as well. We needed to step up and invest. We did.

In my mind we weren’t being generous merely competitive.

The effort worked. We stopped the bleeding almost immediately and our departments began to recruit effectively. It takes a lot of money to recruit, screen and train police officers and firefighters. You don’t want to scrimp on quality and it’s a time-consuming process from identifying a recruit until the point where they’re able to be effective on the streets serving citizens.

There’s no question that police and fire are expensive services to provide in a city like Delray Beach. I’m not sure the exact numbers today but 8 to 10 years ago police and fire made up half of our city’s budget.

I thought it was a good investment. We would’ve not been able to revitalize Delray Beach if it wasn’t for our public safety departments.

I understand how the rank and file members of the fire department must feel. They will make more money if they go to the county. We have lost several talented personnel to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue as a result.

When the 2001 city commission under then Mayor David Schmidt stepped up in an effort to stop the bleeding and rebuild, we thought we had established a principle in which we would remain vigilant so as to keep our department competitive. We would never be able to match the county, but we felt we could offer a competitive package and other intangibles (good facilities, good management, a supportive city, knowledge that you will be working within the city limits not somewhere in vast Palm Beach County) that would be attractive to high quality firefighters and paramedics.

Maybe the arms race has gotten too expensive, but I would think there is still room for a city such as Delray to stay in the business, be fair to our firefighters and have control over fire and EMS.

We’ll see what the deal reveals, but before a final decision is made, the public needs much more information and an opportunity for meaningful input before we give away a 100 year investment in what I think is a great department with a rich and proud history.

I hope we consider the long-term impact on the community and have a deeper conversation on this issue. I believe in home rule and trust in our ability to solve problems and challenges now and in the future. But if we are going to stay in the business, we need to be definitive about it, and remove the specter of uncertainty over the department.