Spotlight on the Candidates: Brad Beedle

Bio:

Owner of GlobalMedical+Safety and Beedle & Associates, which provide Emergency Medical services for events, sports teams, film shoots. Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from St Mary’s College. Pre-Hospital Care (Paramedic) degree from Foothill College. Has served on Novato Fire Protection District Board for 16 years.

Why do I want to want to be reelected:  I believe in the men and women of the fire district and want to make sure they are given the tools for success to continue delivering the excellent service to the public. 

Issue I’d like to address:

Everyone wants to talk about pensions and wages I want to talk about is what has been done.  The district is committed to best practices in our financial management and is committed to transparency in our business practices.  We just received our fifth consecutive award for our Comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) demonstrating our best achievement practices in financial reporting and commitment to transparency.  We are the only fire district in the state to receive this award. 

Novato fire district is one of 165 departments worldwide to received international accreditation demonstrating our achievement of industry best practices in all that we do. Station 64 was built in 1976 on a series of wood telephone poles which through the years have developed wood rot issues. It would of cost the district more to maintain/repair than it cost to build a new station. 

We have had two independent studies that reported following a sizeable earthquake that building would not stand up and our crew members should be removed.  Our Temporary building is on Roblar Drive. We still meet our response time goals and have no drop in service.  New building bids for station 64 came in much over budgeted amounts.  As a board we made the decision to delay the new building until long-term finances were more secure.

What exactly happened last December when you were removed as president of the Novato Fire Protection District for allegedly improperly discussing personnel matters following the departure of Chief Marc Revere?

At that time, there was a lot going on, Chief Revere had left, there was a lot of mistrust among board members and the department was in transition. I was completely blindsided by the vote. My board members accused me of talking to other chiefs. But we’re not an island here in Novato and the discussion I had with other chiefs was the fact that Chief Revere was leaving, just to give them a heads up before it made the papers. They were people I had gone to school with or worked with for many years. But there was no discussion about what was said in closed session.

If there was an issue and any legal aspect to what I did, this would go to the District Attorney and the Election Board. None of that was done. Same thing about my involvement with Novato Unified (when Beedle was accused of using his position on the board to steer contracts to his company.) People don’t realize that I’ve been doing EMT for the football games for over 23 years, even before I joined the Fire Protection Board. I get $60 a day from the district!!! It was dirty politics. The accusations were made and no one from the media ever followed up on it.

Budget

It’s inevitable that we need to balance the budget. Our new Chief Mark Heine has put into place many new financial practices to maintain a balanced budget and to reduce expenditures.  The district went out to bid for a new audit firm to ensure we have a thorough examination of our finances and business practices.  New purchase policies were put into place for a competitive bid process ensuring the most cost effective purchasing procedures.

Our new chief is taking steps to ensure long-term financial health of our organization by doing 5-year budget projections and planning.

Why You Should Vote for Me:

I understand the culture of this industry.  I understand the men and women who make sacrifices every day putting their lives on the line for all of us.  I know not one person will come in and fix the pension system, healthcare, or wage issues in this industry it takes all of us.  What I do know with the cultural competency I have in this industry I know we have come a long way to restore trust and build continues quality improvement in all that we do from the bottom up.