By the end of the Moraga-Orinda Fire District governing board's special meeting on Nov. 16, it seemed that the issue of increasing minimum staffing of safety personnel/firefighter paramedics from 17 to 19 had once again been postponed after Directors Craig Jorgens and John Jex requested more information before moving forward.
But in a surprising turn of events during the regular session, three board directors, Michael Donner, Steven Danziger and Gregory Baitx, voted to direct staff to engage in negotiations with United Professional Fire Fighters of Contra Costa County, IAFF Local 1230 to modify the Memorandum of Understanding July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024 to increase the minimum staffing from 17 to 19 safety personnel/firefighter paramedics, foregoing further discussion.
The issue of increased staffing has been a sticking point for years.