Mission City Council — EMS, contracts, construction

During the Jan. 23 Mission City Council meeting, the mayor and council approved an amendment regarding administrative pay for the fire-based EMS program. 

Previously, the local law regarding base pay and incentives only pertained to the various EMT certification holders. However, firefighters with Mission FD have experienced a more strenuous workload since the department adopted a fire-based EMS system, and management wanted appropriate compensation. 

“With the transition of our city going into full time fire-based EMS, there’s a lot of moving parts that are not looked at,” Civil Service Director Jesse Lerma Jr. said. “And because there’s a lot of moving parts, it comes with a lot of other responsibilities at the fire department.” 

Administrative pay would cover several aspects of work that include, but are not exclusive to, quality assurance and quality investigation, training and inventory. 

Interim Fire Chief Douglas Williams said fire officers have taken on overtime to perform the necessary extra duties. The council was concerned about overworking the firefighters and the cost of overtime pay. But with the approved ordinance, the fire department will eventually be able to hire more officers to break up the labor. The changes should cut down on overtime, but there is no guarantee. 

“It’s all in the ebb and flow of the call volume,” Williams said. “Since the start we have quadrupled, approximately, our call volume, which is a good and bad thing.” 

CONTRACTS

After nearly 24 years, the City of Mission terminated a contract with the legal service agency King, Guerra, Davis & Garcia. With the termination, the city will solicit proposals for delinquent tax collection services. 

Finance Director Angie Vela said the city had no issue with the firm’s performance since they began the partnership in 1999, but they want to explore other options. She said because the city has had the contract for so long, there is no way to compare it to other firms and their performances. 

Two council members said the city needs to change the overall policy for how long a third-party contractor can hold a contract with the Mission before reapplication. 

“I think items such as this should come to council every two to three years because we just don’t know what’s out there. Not to say that King, Guerra, Davis agency hasn’t done a great job but they can apply again,” Councilmember Jessica Ortega said. “We’ll see what’s comparable, but it’s all about being transparent.” 

Councilmember Ruben Plata echoed the same sentiment. 

“I think it’s important to review [the contracts], and I think there’s another couple of contracts that we need to review,” Plata said. “I’ve been on the council for 15 years and I’ve never seen this.” 

CONSTRUCTION

The City of Mission plans to redo the roof at Mission City Hall. The mayor and council awarded the bid for the city hall roofing project to CS Advantage USAA Inc. 

The city received three responses for the project, but CS Advantage was the lowest responsible bidder that met all specifications. The bid total $ is $969,000 to include three alternates: the canopy for the drive-thru, plumbing and lighting.