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From: kfds.raesideCalgmail.com <br />To: Council -Diane Howard; Council -Shelly Masur; Council -Alicia Aguirre; Council -Ian Bain; Council-Giselle Hale; <br />Council -Diana Reddy; Forward of Internet E -Mail <br />Subject: Fire Fighters budget cut <br />Date: Friday, October 23, 2020 3:38:07 PM <br />Hello City Council Members and City Manager, <br />I have been a Redwood City resident for 35 years I love this city which I live in. But over the last few <br />years I feel you have lost your way. The most recent disconcerting thing is to hear that you are going <br />to cut our Fire department budget by $2.05 million dollars this is unbelievable. With our current <br />circumstances covid-19 and the fire danger to all of us, with all the construction and no <br />infrastructure in place to accommodate this building much less the services needed to <br />accommodate all the people and businesses you are seeking for the community this is nothing but <br />crazy! <br />Engine 9 is one the most critical in our community with the most calls in our city this will severely <br />impact our community with extended periods of time for help to arrive and will lower patient <br />survivability. Many years ago I had a chimney fire the response from our fire department was <br />excellent they were at my house within minutes of the call. If we are to cut these funds I fear that <br />we will not have that sense of security. We are currently already understaffed in our Redwood City <br />Fire Department I know for a fact that many of our firefighters work mandatory overtime almost <br />every week. Maybe you need to look at cutting cost by hiring new recruits at a lower pay rate rather <br />than pay the current ones overtime? And look at the administration personnel costs of the fire <br />department rather than make cuts to the ones who are protecting us. <br />We passed Measure RR in the 2018 which raised our sales tax to accommodate for just this type of <br />situation. Measure RR is to protect the safety of Redwood City residents, maintain rapid 911 <br />emergency response times and support the police, Fire and Paramedic services of our city. What is <br />happening with all the funds from this measure? I voted for this measure to ensure that our <br />services would be intact this is very disappointing that we are paying this extra tax and it is not going <br />to what was promised to the residents of Redwood City to secure our fire services. <br />I urge you to reconsider this cut to our fire department and to look elsewhere to find where cuts can <br />be made without endangering the residents of Redwood City. <br />Sincerely, <br />Kathy Raeside <br />