Brentwood: Firefighters Say "Yes" to Station 94

The Unified Professional Firefighters of Contra Costa County have launched a campaign “Say Yes to Fire Station 94” in the City of Brentwood.

They are urging the public across Contra Costa County to Support Fire Station 94. They say delays, distractions, and politics are putting East Brentwood’s safety at risk–as well as other communities who aid Brentwood in fire responses. Brentwood is growing, and emergency response demands are increasing every year. That’s why Fire Station 94 must be built now—and at the planned location.

They add that if Station 94 is rejected by the Brentwood City Council, a station in Brentwood will not open until 2029 and will cost taxpayers even more money due to New permitting and design requirements.

The firefighters of Contra Costa County urge the public to take action and show support by clicking here to submit a comment to the Brentwood City Council in support of the station.

Background:

Supporters of public safety have began to mobilize after the Brentwood Planning Commission erroneously voted down the downtown fire station in a 4-0 vote for issues with brick facade (even thought there are a dozen brick building downtown), lack of trees on the property and suggesting it fall under the code of gyms and hotels. Here are the four reasons the project was denied:

The proposed development does not create a well-composed urban design. The massing is too bulky for the site and the architectural structure does not relate harmoniously to the other structures in the immediate downtown area.
The proposed building would not compliment the existing buildings in the downtown area due to its size and brick composition. The size, bulk, and scale do not reflect the agricultural character of the area.
The proposed project is not complimentary to the surrounding downtown and would not protect the value of the surrounding area.
The proposed development shall conform with all requirements for landscaping, screening, parking, useable open space and off-street loading as set forth in this title.

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District worked with Brentwood city staff on the design of the station in an effort to meet design requirements of Brentwood – with the downtown specific plan even stating brick as recommended.

Councilmember Jovita Mendoza approaches planning commissioner Rod Flohr during a brief break at the planning commission meeting. No decision on the fire station had yet been made.

Council Recusals?

While there have been calls from some in the public for Councilmember Tony Oerlemans to recuse himself from the fire station for supporting public safety, Mayor Susannah Meyer and Councilmember Jovita Mendoza may have actually taken action to actually force their recusals given their perceived advocacy against the project.

For Meyer, she shared out a post by the American Legion Post 202 on January 26 openly advocating for land use restrictions to oppose the fire station downtown.

For Mendoza, she has taken to social media where she has responded and posted many items on the fire station. She also had a sidebar conversation at the dais during the recent planning commission meeting during a break on an item–its unclear what influence she had on commissioners as the item was in discussion.

Under the California Supreme Court decision in 2020 Petrovich LLC vs. City of Sacramento (which the city lost $26 million), it stated they cannot advocate a position which introduces bias into the deliberative process—such as orchestrating public comments, or potentially coaching her husband and others to make public comments on her behalf or push for an outcome she desires.

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