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i Deborah Mendoza and Crisdin Mendoza spoke of their gratitude to and support for the Fire Department. They said that their daughter was diagnosed terminal cancer in January 2007 and the Fire Department supported them in ways they said they could never have imagined including gathering a group of people working for the city to raise funds for them and to celebrate their daughter's birthday. They spoke about the importance of the Fire Department personnel as true public servants to the community. Mr. Mendoza said that he lost a sister few years ago in another community who was shot and the house set on fire and they never received any support, but noted that they did get support for their daughter in Redwood City. He thanked the Fire Department for its support. Chris Kehr said he is a longtime resident and fire fighter and paramedic in Redwood City. He spoke about how the proposed budget cuts would affect him and raising a family here. He spoke in favor of the Fire Department and how fire fighters save lives and help people at the worst possible times in their lives. He provided specific scenarios of how the timeliness of calls makes a difference and noted that about 70% of their calls are medical. Mike Putterman spoke about becoming "flat lined" at Pacific Athletic Club for about four to six minutes and that the Fire Department brought him back to life. He spoke in favor of the Fire Department and noted that four to six minutes is crucial when saving lives. Michelle Portz said that three years ago her daughter was hit by car and sustained multiple life-threatening injuries, and if not for the Fire crew, she would not be here today. She said the Fire Department was amazing and helped with fundraisers to help support them. She asked that the Fire Department not be cut. Janet Borgens said that Fire Stations 9 and 10 are statistically the two busiest in San Mateo County. She spoke against a linear cut across the board. She would like the Fire Department to be kept at the current staffing level and expressed appreciation to all the Department Heads for the proposed cuts they provided. Adrian Anderson, president of the Redwood City Firefighters Association for about 18 years, (with time ceded from Rick Franchi, Costa Papas, Wade Greene, and Justin Velasquez) said that they have done far more with far less than anyone else. He said their staffing has gone down and their call volumes have doubled. He spoke about the number of paramedics on a rig, pay freezes, pension reform system, partial payment of medical coverage, reduced truck staffing, training, consolidated dispatch, being fined if their response time exceeds a certain maximum, and safety issues. He said that they do not have any additional people to cut and that they do not have any hidden staffing issues. He said it is cheaper to pay overtime than to pay more employees and more benefits. He questioned encouraging people to come downtown versus reducing their fire protection and said that citizens will pay a high price. He opined that the right thing to do is to keep stations open. SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL/REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD June 21, 2010 MEETING MINUTES PAGE 7 MINUTE BOOK NO. 63 Page No. 117