In a pair of 4-3 votes against a fire services request for proposals (RFP) at the Nov. 2 Mercer Island City Council meeting, the RFP was for now, removed from the city’s 2021-2022 biennial budget during a proposals discussion.

According to the city, the final budget adoption is set for Dec. 1, so the RFP — along with all the other budget proposals — could theoretically be revisited prior to adoption. The RFP was part of a fire services study that focused on the possibility of seeking cost savings and operational efficiencies by contracting out fire services to a third party.

As City Manager Jessi Bon rolled through the copious list of budget proposals during the meeting, the RFP — noted as $80,000 support for the final budget — failed to gain approval and was said to come back for discussion. Later in the meeting, councilmember Lisa Anderl proposed an amendment to include the RFP in the budget, but that failed.

At council’s Oct. 6 meeting, independent consultant Emily Moon led a discussion on the final fire services study. Conducted by the Matrix Consulting Group in partnership with Moon, the study reviewed all aspects of the city’s fire operations.

“Your department is producing well according to those community standards,” Moon said regarding quality and level of service and productivity.

Anderl, whose proposal for an amendment was seconded by councilmember Jake Jacobson, said the fire-study funds were well spent. Anderl and fellow councilmembers Jacobson and Salim Nice voted for the RFP.

“I know the community sentiment is very much passionate about the fire department, but I think there is a lot of community misconception, too, about whether the fire response would be coming from off Island or not,” she said. “I think we need to look as fiscally responsible stewards at whether overtime and other expenses associated with the fire department, including overhead, can be reduced in a reasonable way while maintaining levels of service.”

Mayor Benson Wong, who voted against the RFP — a reversal of his decision from a couple weeks ago — was joined on the opposition front by Deputy Mayor Wendy Weiker and councilmembers David Rosenbaum and Craig Reynolds.

“I think it’s been worthwhile to have studies done by Matrix and elaborated by Emily Moon, so I’m happy that that’s been done, and also I think it supports the fact that the fire department is being operated in an efficient manner,” Wong said. “I do question whether or not we would realize any cost efficiency that warrants a disruption in services.”

To view the entire meeting, visit: https://tinyurl.com/y396fvjl