By Jondi Gumz
Aptos La Selva Fire Chief Aaron Lowe, who has been helping guide the consolidation with the Central Fire Protection District, is departing after 28 months for Carson City, Nevada, where he will be deputy fire chief.
His last day here will be Aug. 13 when the fire board may announce an interim chief.
“It’s hard to leave,” Lowe said. “I can’t say enough good things about Aptos.”
He thanked Karen and John Hibble of the Aptos Chamber of Commerce for their support.
Lowe, 52, is leaving before his three-year contract expires due to personal reasons. He declined to elaborate but he said he loves backpacking, fly-fishing and snowboarding.
Aaron Lowe
He came to the Aptos La Selva Fire Protection District in April 2018 during a time of tumult.
The prior chief, Jon Jones, got a vote of no confidence by Firefighters Local 3535. Firefighters contended he lacked leadership skills. After that, the board voted not to extend his contract.
In 2019, Aptos La Selva firefighters responded to 1,598 emergency medical calls, 43 structure fires, 32 car fires and 17 wildland fires.
Lowe prioritized operational efficiencies, increasing staffing of community risk reduction and creating an academy to train aspiring captains.
Under Lowe’s leadership, the two fire agencies have been working collaboratively under agreements for mid-management, administrative services, training, community risk reduction and logistics.
Best Record
Last month, the Santa Cruz County grand jury investigated whether fire agencies had conducted mandated safety inspections of apartments, hotels, schools and preschools and found that Aptos La Selva and Central, operating as one agency, had the best track record in terms of citations and re-inspections to fix problems.
Lowe said consolidation is “fiscally sound and operationally sound” and “the right thing to do, but you have to have the right people — we have the right people.”
Firefighters are passionate about how it should be done, he added, explaining that the process requires collaboration to find compromises.
Last year, the two fire district aligned budgets, conducted briefing meetings for all employees and worked with the labor groups on issues such as seniority, vacation and station assignments.
Not all the tasks were completed by the July 1 target date, but the work is ongoing.
“That was a target date to strive for,” said Aptos La Selva board president George Lucchesi. “[We] still have some unfinished business to complete for LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission).”
The Aug. 5 LAFCO hearing has been postponed until that business is complete.
Be Patient
Lowe said one task on the list is working through the differences in CalPERS retirement packages, which he said is “lengthy but not insurmountable.”
Another is working with labor groups, reviewing differences in their contracts and finding common ground.
“We need to collaborate and trust the process,” Lowe said. “The key is to be patient.”
The merger is not a new issue; the idea goes back 20 years.
This time, the focus is on getting it right.
Quoting one of his fire captains, Lowe said, “It’s not the velocity, it’s the trajectory.”
The more efficient the operation is, the more ability to be proactive in terms of reducing the risk of a wildfire — which Lowe is all too familiar with, having spent his career in Chico and seeing the devastating fire that leveled Paradise.
That work will continue under Deputy Fire Marshal Marco Mack and the local FireWise organization.
“I am very sorry to see Chief Lowe leave our area,” said Aptos resident Becky Steinbruner, who is active in FireWise. “He has done an excellent job of rebuilding the trust from within the Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District personnel and throughout the community. He always showed great respect for all members of the public and worked diligently to address concerns we raised. He came at a time of great turmoil, but successfully and skillfully brought things around to be whole again. I will miss his kindness, great sense of humor, and his deep sense of integrity. I wish him all the best.”
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For information about the Aptos La Selva Fire Protection District, see https://tinyurl.com/aptosfire-report