Four years after residents told the city that wildfire prevention was their number one priority, and three years after they started providing $4 million annually in Measure R sales tax, Orinda remains at extremely high fire risk.  In addition, Orinda taxpayers are overfunding MOFD with another $4 million a year, $4 million that is being used to subsidize Moraga so it pays only two thirds as much as Orindans for the same service.

 

And after four years, the insurance industry, led by Orinda's largest insurer State Farm, has cancelled 55% of its policies in Orinda due to the continued extreme fire danger in Orinda.  This compares to 12% of policies canceled in Moraga and 30% in Lafayette.   Based on these actions, Orinda has the highest fire risk in the Bay Area.

 

Has there been any improvement in four years?  That is unknown because the risk was never modeled and continues to be un-monitored.  But the insurance industry, which does run risk models, says it is extreme.

 

Recently a wildfire fuel mitigation expert estimated that it would cost $12 million to "clean up" Orinda.  In three years, Measure R has generated $12 million in revenue but almost none of it has been used for fuel mitigation.  Over the same three years Orinda property taxes have over-funded MOFD by another $12 million but the money has gone to subsidize service in Moraga, not for fuel mitigation in Orinda.

 

We should not be in the condition we are in but we are due to government inaction, even though we are providing it with money to solve the problem.

 

On June 19, the MOFD Board, including Orinda's three elected representatives, will set the fire flow parcel tax rate for the coming year.  The board has the power to increase the parcel tax paid by Moraga property owners by as much as $340 per parcel which would generate $2 million.  This would reduce the "need" for Orinda to subsidize Moraga so that $2 million a year would be available for fuel mitigation in Orinda.  There are other cost-savings measures MOFD could employ so Orinda's tax dollars could be used for fuel mitigation in Orinda, which is what was promised 27 years ago when we voted to form MOFD.

 

To make a public comment (link to one comment) to the MOFD Board send an email to info@MOFD.org. 

 

Or you can send an email to any or all of Orinda's MOFD representatives:

Steve Danziger         SteveDforMOFD@gmail.com

Craig Jorgens           Craig.Jorgens@gmail.com

Mike Roemer             MRoemer@mofd.org

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