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Members of the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District are set to provide insight to the San Ramon City Council on Tuesday as the first year of the city’s Behavioral Health Response Program draws to a close.
The program was launched last year following extensive planning and cooperations between the fire district and the San Ramon Police Department starting in 2021.
The implementation of the program means that SRVFPD firefighters are now the first ones on the scene of most mental health calls rather than police, and that those calls are treated with the same urgency as any other medical emergencies in the city.
The “Fire First” policy that was implemented last year was the final phase of an overhaul of the city’s response to mental health emergencies, preceded by mapping and training for mental health specialists, as well as de-escalation training for more than 200 members of the fire district and police department.
The San Ramon City Council is set to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The agenda is available here.
In other business, councilmembers are poised to sign off on a resolution on the consent agenda that would seek to address what city staff describe as wage compaction in the police department.
Following the approval of step salary increases as part of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the San Ramon Police Officers Association in July, a police sergeant represented by the union could be paid more annually than their direct supervisors – police lieutenants, who are among the department’s unrepresented positions.
“With the approval of the new MOU with POA, a Police Sergeant receiving the top ‘step’ in base salary and all applicable incentive pays would receive a total annual salary of $252,664,” city human resources manager Megan O’Donoghue wrote in a staff report prepared for the upcoming meeting.
“Because the salary range for Police Lieutenant has a maximum base salary of $230,394.58, such a Police Sergeant would earn over $20,000 more than their supervisor, creating a significant compaction issue and practical reporting issues within the Police Department,” she continued.
Staff are proposing that the council move to also put the SRPD lieutenant job classification under a new “step” salary system similar to the one approved with the police union, establishing the top step for lieutenants at 5% above the top step for police sergeants. This would raise the maximum salary for SRPD lieutenants to $265,297.24.
City staff are recommending that the council also move to place all SRPD lieutenants within the top step to align with the unionized police sergeants.
“In doing so, the current compaction issues between the ranks of Police Sergeant and Police Lieutenant will be eliminated,” O’Donoghue wrote.
If approved, the salary change for SPRD lieutenants is estimated to cost $158,970, necessitating a mid-year budget adjustment.
