Belmont Agrees to Mediation With San Carlos for Fire Services

Six months remain before the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department officially splits, but on Tuesday night the Belmont City Council agreed to mediation talks with San Carlos at the request of Supervisor Carole Groom.

The Belmont City Council voted 3-2 in favor of opening mediation talks with San Carlos, with Council members David Braunstein, Warren Lieberman and Christine Wozniak providing the three votes for mediation.

On Feb. 15, Groom and Supervisor Adrienne Tissier offered to provide mediation services for the two cities.

In a letter dated March 1, San Carlos Mayor Omar Ahmad accepted the county's offer of mediating a discussion between Belmont and San Carlos. Belmont, at first, was .

On Tuesday night, Wozniak was the most hesitant of the three council members who'd voted in favor of mediation, saying she wouldn't want mediation to take away from the city's research of a .

"I’m open to it," she said of mediation talks. "That said, we’re going into a dark room here. Once we’re in there I hope there’s some light."

She added she was open to mediation "on the condition that it doesn’t interfere with our own fire department, because we don’t know what’s going to come out on the other side."

Braunstein emphasized the importance of having an open mind when it comes to fire services.

"I think it behooves us to lead by exploring all options," he said. "That doesn’t preclude us from continuing where we are right now -- under a time crunch. [But] I would like to explore what San Carlos is interested in talking about."

Lieberman said it would be better for both Belmont and San Carlos to open mediation talks.

"I do firmly believe that if the cities of Belmont and San Carlos can agree upon continuing to provide fire and emergency services together in a way that’s acceptable to both cities, both communities are better off," he said.

Mayor Coralin Feierbach and Vice Mayor Dave Warden were the opposing votes, and both strongly expressed their disinterest in mediation talks with San Carlos.

"I think going to San Carlos for mediation is like dancing with the devil, plain and simple," Feierbach said.

"My feeling is, if you guys want to go and mediate, I will not participate in it," she said. "I think it’s really, really a sin to do something like that."

Warden emphasized the Oct. 12 dissolution date is fast-approaching, and said he was unclear as to the objective of mediation talks.

"What are we negotiating?" he asked. "What are we mediating? They don’t want to be in this financial arrangement with us," he said of San Carlos.

The Council agreed to send Lieberman and Wozniak to represent Belmont in the mediation talks.