Turlock to consider Modesto fire services contract. What would change?
The Turlock City Council on Tuesday is scheduled to vote on a contract for fire administrative support services from Modesto through June 2026.
Turlock staff estimate the contract would cost about $180,000 less than maintaining an in-house command team over roughly four years and five months, per agenda documents.
If the both city councils approve the contract, Modesto Fire Chief Alan Ernst would also serve as the head of the Turlock Fire Department. Modesto already runs fire services for Ceres, Oakdale and the Oakdale Fire Protection District, and may assume management of the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District next month.
All Turlock Fire Department staff would remain as city employees under the contract, Interim Fire Chief Michael Botto wrote in a staff report. A Modesto assistant fire chief would represent the Fire Department in Turlock executive meetings and communicate with the city manager. For daily fire operations, a Modesto Fire deputy chief would work out of the Turlock Fire Department administrative headquarters, per the report.
“The contract proposal is an opportunity to build on regionalization, improve efficiencies, reduce redundancy, standardize and speak with a stronger voice in industry change,” Botto wrote in the report. “Having access to a fully staffed regional administrative and operational team streamlines program development and provides for increased services to our community.”
If the council does not approve the contract, it may choose to recruit a Turlock fire chief, per the staff report.
Turlock has gone without a permanent fire chief since June 2019, when the city fired Robert Talloni. Gary Carlson served as interim chief between then and his retirement in September 2021. The city subsequently hired Botto, who recently served as the interim fire chief in Ceres, where he oversaw the process of contracting Modesto for services.
Approving the contract would save Turlock an estimated $6,500 this fiscal year, staff estimated. The council on Tuesday may vote to pay Modesto about $127,000 for services from mid-February through June, according to the fee schedule. The payment would come from the unrestricted general fund reserve.
Earlier Modesto contract talks faced opposition
A divided council voted 3-2 last month for city staff to request the contract proposal from Modesto. Council Members Nicole Larson and Andrew Nosrati dissented, requesting the consultant Citygate include the information in its ongoing Turlock Fire Department study. The council in late October voted to pay Citygate $80,000 for a six-month-long review of the agency and recommendations for its future.
In an informal reader survey conducted by The Bee, 46% of 353 voters said the city should wait to consider a contract. Out of five options, 161 participants indicated they think Turlock should wait until after Citygate finishes its study. Ninety-nine respondents, or 28%, voted in favor of Turlock continuing with a traditional fire department.
The other results were 18% for Turlock contracting Modesto for all fire services, 5% for Turlock contracting Modesto for fire command services only and 3% for undecided.
The Turlock firefighters union in December opposed a Modesto contract, but recently flipped its position. In an undated letter to the council, President Chad Hackett said the union met with Ernst and endorses him serving as the Turlock fire chief.
“The association believes such a contract, limited to the chief position only, will allow our department to begin to better address our challenges and will also allow the Citygate study to proceed unimpeded by other factors,” Hackett wrote in the letter.
Citygate has reviewed the proposed Modesto contract, Botto wrote in the report for Tuesday’s meeting. A consultant can answer questions during the meeting, he added.
City of Turlock offices partially reopened to the public Monday after closing because of COVID-19 cases, but the council meeting will be held remotely at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The public can participate via Zoom.
