The County of Kern will go into negotiations with its fire union in the next few weeks, if not the next few days, and the stakes will be high.
On Tuesday Kern County Supervisors received a report from the Center for Public Safety Management that called for major changes in funding, operations, contracts and administration at the Kern County Fire Department.
And it triggered passionate discussion.
Kern County firefighters ripped into the report, and into supervisors, at the Tuesday afternoon meeting.
They said county supervisors are trying to beat them down, fund public safety by cutting their pay and benefits, and will ultimately make Kern County less safe for citizens.