This five-part series of Q&As with Ukiah City Council candidates runs Wednesday through Sunday. Each installment presents a key question alongside responses from the seven candidates who responded to the Mendocino Voice. Today’s question:
Do you feel that the city is capable of providing adequate emergency services? If not, how can this be managed better given cost, resources and demand?
Juan Orozco
The city of Ukiah is a member of the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority (UVFA). The organization is composed of the City of Ukiah Fire Department and the Ukiah Valley Fire District. The effort came out of the necessity to set up a seamless service provided to the Ukiah Valley as a whole. I and another City of Ukiah council member represent the city in the UVFA.
This department handles emergency response and rescue, fire suppression and inter facility medical transfers as it counts three ambulances fully staffed with EMTs and paramedics. Together, the UVFA maintains four fire stations throughout the valley. This strategy helps with response time.
The City of Ukiah has an Office of Emergency Management. This department handles mitigating disasters, preparedness, and training for first responders and the community.
The city also utilizes Nixle, the public alert system that notifies anyone who signs up for the notifications.
Susan Sher
The Ukiah Office of Emergency Management (OEM) works with the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority and Police Department to enact fire prevention policies. The Fire Safe Council does great work assisting low-income elder homeowners and people with disabilities design defensible space around homes and remove brush and debris.
Measures P, J and B in large part currently fund the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority. Call volumes have increased, and the department is in need of new equipment, more personnel and facility improvements. Since these current measures will sunset in 2030, we need replacement measures to provide necessary funding.
El Niño could bring a very wet winter. We must prepare for the Russian River and creeks overflowing their banks or trees or power lines falling from strong winds. The Ukiah OEM provides MendoAlert and Nixle tracking systems for evacuation or severe weather notifications. Sandbags will be available for residents facing flooding threats. We should trim tree limbs vulnerable to snapping off in strong wings and remove debris blocking storm drains as soon as possible before the winter rains.
Given our limited resources, the City of Ukiah is doing what it can to keep our residents safe and care for the most vulnerable in an emergency.
John Strangio
Ukiah has dedicated police officers, firefighters, dispatchers and emergency personnel, but adequate emergency service is not something we can take for granted.
I spent more than 20 years in the fire service, including serving as a Fire Captain, so I understand firsthand that response capability depends on staffing, training, equipment and having enough personnel available when multiple emergencies happen simultaneously.
Public safety should remain one of the City’s highest priorities. I would like to focus more on retention, maintaining appropriate staffing, evaluating response data, and making sure money intended for public safety is being used as effectively as possible.
We also need strong partnerships. Fire, EMS and law enforcement emergencies don’t stop at city limits. The City should continue strengthening cooperation with all other agencies involved.
Finally, we need to look beyond simply spending more money. We should continually evaluate operations, eliminate unnecessary administrative costs where possible, pursue grants, share resources and put available dollars where they have the greatest impact: providing reliable emergency response to the public.
Mari Rodin
Absolutely, yes. Ukiah is already providing quality emergency services. With regard to law enforcement, the City not only provides excellent service inside city limits, officers are regularly called upon to provide mutual aid to the sheriff’s department for calls outside our jurisdiction, such as the Motel 6 on N. State Street and all along Brush Street.
On behalf of the City, the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority provides fire and emergency medical response and fire prevention activities. For example, we are implementing a $6m grant to perform wildland fuels mitigation in the western hills. The fuels crew has been maintaining the fire break there and clearing underbrush in Low Gap Park and other vulnerable areas. To maintain this level of service, we need to work on finding additional grants, succession planning, and retention.
Several years ago, inland Mendocino County was often critically short of ambulances. Ukiah ambulances would be called to Willits and beyond to respond to emergencies or provide hospital transports. This left our valley with minimal, and sometimes no, ambulances. That’s when the City stepped in with additional ambulances and contracted with Adventist Health to provide inter-hospital transport. Now we have sufficient emergency medical responders to serve our City.
Robert Bazzani
I believe Ukiah has dedicated police, fire, EMS and emergency personnel who work hard to serve our community. The question isn’t whether our people are capable — it is whether we are providing them with the resources, staffing, equipment and funding they need.
I would want to regularly evaluate response times, staffing levels, call volumes, equipment needs and long-term costs rather than simply adding spending without measuring results.
Ukiah is part of a larger regional system, so cooperation with the County, Ukiah Valley Fire Authority and surrounding agencies is critical. The City and Fire Authority already operate within a unified valley-wide fire service structure.
My goal would be simple: make sure our first responders can respond effectively when residents need them, while being responsible with taxpayer dollars.
That means looking for efficiencies, grants and regional cooperation before asking taxpayers for more.
Matt Froneberger
I believe that the current services are adequate. I would like to see a fire station in the core of Ukiah instead of on the outskirts. Retention of current officers and firefighters is paramount for continued service levels.
Sean White
Yes, I believe Ukiah is capable of providing adequate emergency services. Our police and fire personnel do a great job, often with limited resources and growing demand, and they deserve our thanks and support.
The challenge is recruitment and retention. Staffing public safety is difficult everywhere, so this isn’t unique to Ukiah, but we need to take it seriously.
The most sustainable answer is improving overall quality of life in Ukiah. A city that is safe, affordable, and welcoming attracts and keeps public safety professionals, along with other critical personnel like healthcare workers. That means housing working families can afford, addressing homelessness, maintaining our parks and infrastructure, and supporting a strong local economy.
On cost, I’ll bring the same approach I’ve used on water: pursue outside funding like state and federal grants, and partner with the County and neighboring agencies to share resources rather than duplicate them. Listening to our chiefs about what they need, then helping them get it, is the best way to balance cost, resources and demand.
Mia L. Uribe did not respond to requests to participate.
This is part two of a five-part series of Q&As with Ukiah City Council candidates. Here was our first qeustion:
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