A dispute over four pieces of property Oakley officials believe are owed to the city by the county is threatening to derail a plan for a new governing board for fire protection.
Currently, the County Board of Supervisors has full control over the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District, which fights fires and responds to emergencies throughout far East County. But a consensus has formed that the district doesn't have the resources to do its job as well as it should.
To help improve the situation, Oakley, the county and Brentwood are considering forming a governing board comprised of two possible make-ups. One includes nine members: four from Brentwood, three from Oakley and two from unincorporated far East County. The other would have seven seats: three for Brentwood, two each for the County and Oakley.
The County would prefer to be on equal footing with Oakley, despite the fact that Oakley has several times the number of residents as the unincorporated areas of the district. Negotiations have been going on for months searching for a way to make such an arrangement more palatable for Oakley.
The major sticking point concerns four pieces of county-owned land that Oakley officials feel should have been conveyed to Oakley when the city incorporated in 1999, and that they would like to receive in exchange for agreeing to the County's preference on the fire board issue. Those properties are:
The historic building at 210 O'Hara Ave., where the sheriff's department is located. City officials want to keep the fa
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