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Fire Agencies Fall Short in Safety Inspections, By Jondi Gumz
COMMUNITY NEWS Fire Agencies Fall Short in Safety Inspections
By Jondi Gumz
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A2019 state law in the wake of the deadly Ghost Ship Fire in Oakland requires fire agencies to annually inspect schools, apartments, hotels, residential care facilities, but locally the job is incomplete, according to an investigation by the Santa Cruz County Grand Jury.
The Grand Jury found shortcomings at all seven of the fire agencies reviewed: • Santa Cruz County Fire: 7 of 85 facilities inspected; 92% uninspected. • City of Santa Cruz: 102 of 382 facilities inspected; 73% uninspected. • Watsonville: 49 of 74 facilities inspected; 35% uninspected. • Central: 105 of 125 facilities inspected, 16% uninspected. • Aptos La Selva: 52 of 62 facilities inspected, 16% uninspected. • Felton: Inspections were ad hoc; no records available.
Another six fire agencies in the county not part of the grand jury’s investigation are subject to the inspection mandate from the state.
“Cabrillo” from page 6
Donna Ziel: “From what I heard tonight, it’s really important to have the student voice heard.”
Christina Cuevas: “Our highest goal is equity for students. What’s the best we can do where we make students feel welcome and they can succeed?”
Rachael Spencer: “The timing is really difficult. The communication is difficult… It’s going to take a lot of work to bring the community to understand this.”
Amidia Frederick, (student trustee): “Sensitivity is going to keep growing. As an institution that cares about equity, we do need to go forward with the option to investigate this. We’re not fast-tracking this.”
Dan Rothwell: “We want to be very open about receiving information. This is a hotbed, a political decision that can incite pretty strong feelings.”
The Process
next meets at 6 p.m. Aug. 3 on Zoom.
“We recommend that the status of these inspections especially those involving public facilities be communicated to the public and that gaps in compliance or the ability to inspect be addressed in the 2021 budgeting cycle,” the grand jury report concluded in a June 25 report.
The grand jury commended the organizational merger of Aptos La Selva and Central fire districts creating a common database, noting this had resulted in “efficiency gains” in” terms of inspections, citations and re-inspections” and a “highly robust inspection and reporting process.”
The Cabrillo College Governing Board
“Fire Inspections” page 15
The subcommittee will likely be created then. Interested board members have been invited to notify Board Chair Leticia Mendoza of their willingness to serve. The agenda will be posted at https:// go.boarddocs.com/ca/cabrillo/Board. nsf/Public
The review will likely take months.
The Board subcommittee approach will allow select Board members to steer the process of studying the college name, its historic roots, and whether a more appropriate name is in order. External constituents from the business, education, and Cabrillo alumni community will be invited to provide input.
The subcommittee will develop recommendations that will go to the full Governing Board for a vote.
Renaming involves expenses such as changing signs on the campus and on highways and roadways, changing way-finding maps, and obtaining a new website domain name, marketing materials and legal costs required for a name change. n
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