Although Tamarac’s fire department has served the community nearly 50 years, the city in a surprising move has started exploring whether it makes sense to end it and contract fire-rescue services with a larger provider, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue.
Tamarac Fire Chief Michael Annese was dismayed with the proposal, saying he had been “blindsided.” He said his men and women know the territory and the streets of this city, whose population is more 71,000. “They know where to go.”
He manages 113 firefighters and command staff and runs four fire stations in this growing city in northwest Broward. Only one, on University Drive near Woodmont and Heathgate Sunflower, doesn’t have a fire truck, but plans for that are in the works. The fire department would celebrate 50 years in 2025. “There’s a lot of institutional knowledge developed over time,” Annese said.
The new proposal comes from Tamarac Vice Mayor Marlon Bolton, who called for looking into whether the city would pay less while getting comparable, if not better, fire and paramedic services from Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue. On Friday, the city manager sent a note to the Sheriff’s Office, seeking to start the process of exploring the idea. It’s too early to say whether such a change would provide a cost savings.
Meanwhile, keeping Tamarac fire department intact has rallied support.
‘Reimagining public safety’
Bolton brought up the idea of Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue as its fire department at a strategic planning session last month. “Oh Jesus, help me with this one,” Bolton sighed and exclaimed at the meeting before suggesting “reimagining public safety.”
He suggested the Broward Fire Rescue to run firefighter services, too, since the city already relies on the Broward Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement. “We need to figure something out,” he said.
Broward Fire Rescue currently provides fire services to the unincorporated areas of Broward, and the cities of Weston, Pembroke Park, Cooper City, Lauderdale Lakes, Dania Beach, West Park, Hallandale Beach and Deerfield Beach. It also handles fire services for the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades.
But Mayor Michelle Gomez disagreed with idea of ending the city’s fire department.
“I don’t think we’re a broken city,” Gomez told Bolton, saying the city department was “award-winning” and accusing Bolton of politicking since he hadn’t received political support during previous campaigns.
Drawing opposition
Bolton recently drew attention when he resigned from his $80,000-a-year job working as Broward County Commissioner Hazelle Rogers’ aide Feb. 9. It came after the South Florida Sun Sentinel raised questions about how he was hired without the job being publicly advertised.
The aide job then was advertised, and the posting closed on Feb. 22 with 62 applications, including Bolton’s. County officials said there is no timetable yet for the new hiring.
Some Tamarac residents at Wednesday night’s commission meeting accused Bolton of “political payback” and pushed back for even considering swapping its fire department for another.
“You don’t try to fix something that’s not broken,” said resident Eric Sleeper.
“You cannot serve two masters,” said resident Kate Johnson, referring to Bolton’s pending application to return to his daytime job as a county commission aide, in addition to being an elected city official.
This week, Bolton told the South Florida Sun Sentinel his decision-making is based on concerns from residents who were frustrated with taxes they were shelling out, including an assessment for Tamarac fire rescue services on the yearly property tax bill.
“It’s all about saving residents in their pocketbooks. It’s all about saving money, but not at the expense of public safety,” he said Thursday.
He dismisses accusations of political payback — “it cannot be” — saying the last time the fire department endorsed his commission opponent was in 2016. And he doesn’t think getting the city a new county contract would matter to his job application. “I don’t know how that would put me in good graces with the county,” he said. “I didn’t even think about it until I heard a resident with that narrative.”
He said his motivation is only to be financially responsible. “If the county came back with more than or slightly less [costs], it would not be worth it to change because it’s all about providing a high level of service while saving residents money,” he said.
“I have to ask questions. It might ruffle some feathers but it is what it is.”
Moving forward
On Friday morning, Tamarac’s city manager sent the Sheriff’s Office an email to get started with the review of whether to switch departments.
“I would like to formally initiate this inquiry to learn about the process and the steps necessary to develop a proposal for BSO Fire Rescue to provide all services currently provided by the Tamarac Fire Rescue Department,” City Manager Levent Sucuoglu wrote.
A Tamarac fire union representative declined comment this week except to say the union would be monitoring the Broward Fire Rescue’s proposal for both costs and level of services offered.
Annese is keeping a close watch. He listed the awards the fire department has won and all the accolades, and the community services offered, such as installing baby car seats and CPR classes.
“BSO is an amazing group of people, they run a great ship over there,” Annese said. “That being said, I think we are doing a great job ourselves.”
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at . Follow on Twitter @LisaHuriash
