Many within the workforce they mention have said Adios. Hundreds and hundreds of years of experience, gone.
Vallejo will continue to hide the vacancy numbers. Refuse to provide an analysis of how bad retention is hitting them. The costs and safety aspects of experienced firefighters leaving.
Vallejo lives in a dream world collecting 100k-170k salaries, home most every night with family, telling techs to go eat cake.
FAIL
United States Department of Agriculture
Forest Service (FS)
Office of Inspector General (OIG) Official Draft Audit Report No. 08601-54-SF
Forest Service’s Firefighting Succession Planning Process
March 19, 2010
FS Response to Official Draft Report
OIG Recommendation 2: Establish a team to initiate, guide and monitor the agency’s firefighter workforce planning process.
FS Response to Recommendation 2: The FS concurs with this audit recommendation and will establish an interdisciplinary “Workforce and Succession Planning Strategic Team” (WfSST) that includes staff from Human Resources Management (HRM), Fire and Aviation Management (FAM), and other national, regional and local line and staff, as applicable. The WfSST will be formed to focus on creation of a Strategic Plan for redesigning the agency’s firefighting business model. The Director of FAM will designate a program manager for this Team who will report directly to the Director, FAM. The WfSST Program Manager will initiate, guide and monitor the agency’s overall firefighter workforce planning effort, which will cover fire management positions and the “militia”, utilizing FS workforce planning efforts underway. Currently the FS uses the Workforce Planning and Program Analysis (WfP&PA) tool and develops a Workforce Plan to facilitate workforce planning throughout all levels of the agency. The agency will build on those efforts, but will address all firefighters, not just those job codes are specific to fire management.
Estimated Completion Date: April 30, 2010
FAIL
United States Department of Agriculture
Forest Service (FS)
Office of Inspector General (OIG) Official Draft Audit Report No. 08601-54-SF
Forest Service’s Firefighting Succession Planning Process
March 19, 2010
FS Response to Official Draft Report
OIG Recommendation 11: To encourage employees to obtain certifications in those firefighter positions where they are most needed, create incentives, such as cash awards and formal recognition for those employees who complete their certifications.
FS Response: The FS generally agrees with this recommendation. The WfSST will investigate options for incentives and evaluate which ones will be most effective, based in part on work done in the Southern Region Workforce and Succession Plan . Development and implementation of these incentives will occur in coordination with Office of Personnel Management, Human Resources Management, and Union input, assistance and/or agreement as necessary.
Estimated Completion Date: March 31, 2011
DOUBLE FAIL
OIG Recommendation 17: Evaluate whether incentives such as increased pay for performance would significantly increase employee participation. If so, determine the cost benefit of implementing such a change.
FS Response: The FS generally agrees with this audit recommendation. The WfSST will evaluate whether incentives would increase employee participation and if so, determine the cost-benefit of implementing them. The WfSST will begin with the work done in the Southern Region Workforce and Succession Plan . Development and implementation of these incentives will occur in coordination with Office Personnel Management, Human Resources Management, and Union input, assistance and/or, agreement as necessary.
Estimated Completion Date: March 31, 2011
OIG Recommendation 18: Identify and remove other obstacles preventing firefighting participation and implement other incentives that would increase fighter participation.
FS Response: The FS generally agrees with this recommendation. The WfSST will identify other obstacles preventing firefighting participation and determine whether incentives could be implemented that would increase participation. The WfSST will begin with the work done in the Southern Region Workforce and Succession Plan . Development and implementation of these incentives will occur in coordination with Office Personnel Management, Human Resources Management, and Union input, assistance and/or, agreement as necessary. The WfSST will document the results of its analysis and present its findings/ recommendations to the FS executive leadership.
Estimated Completion Date: March 31, 2011
FAIL, BIGLY
United States Department of Agriculture
Forest Service (FS)
Office of Inspector General (OIG) Official Draft Audit Report No. 08601-54-SF
Forest Service’s Firefighting Succession Planning Process
March 19, 2010
FS Response to Official Draft Report
OIG Recommendation 20: Coordinate with OPM to develop an alternative to classifying the IFPM and FS-FPM fire management positions under the GS-401 job series, such as creating a new wildland firefighter series, or classifying staff under existing series with more appropriate experience and training requirements.
FS Response: FS has coordinated with OPM and explored possible alternatives to classifying IFPM and FS-FPM fire management positions under the GS-401 job series. There was a work group of FS/DOI employees exploring options for a new wildland firefighter series. The work group reported their findings to the Fire Executive Council (FEC), which consists of FS/DOI Fire Managers, for a decision on November 13, 2009.
Estimated Completion Date: March 31, 2010
Ever been in a fire camp, asked or implied by a management official to be ready, not leave the camp, as a matter of fact DONT even go anywhere within the camp unless I approve? If yes, were you paid? Did you receive the same compensation as those Forests in Southern California who have ordered 24 hours of pay for several years, including today at their fire stations all night tonight, maybe all week for a wind event?
What firefighter is not always in a state of readiness in a fire camp? Who has been told you can’t leave the camp, and if you leave the camp, you’re subject to termination? Have you every asked to be paid while in fire camp? Probably not, and its not your fault.
Federal officials are so afraid of and in some cases have so much disdain for the words; “portal to portal” that we only see 24 hour portal to portal pay on the home units, usually in Southern California Forests and when we don’t even have an incident. Using the “stand by” definition below, how can this be met on a home unit today and not a fire camp situation tomorrow?
How do they get away with it? Well, maybe because we just all go along with the herd. Maybe if this was challenged frequently, every time, something would change. The other option is to wait for WO and Vallejo to do something on behalf of Federal Wildland Firefighters, since that seems to be working out so well.
Although the herd is currently moving in the same direction, doesn’t mean we can’t do a 180.
File Code: 6150-3-1
Date: September 20, 2005
Subject: Clarification of the Use of Standby Duty versus On-Call Status|
To: Regional Foresters, Station Directors, Area Director, IITF Director, and WO Staff|
The purpose of this letter is to help supervisors properly differentiate employee’s time spent in a “standby” status from “on-call” status for pay purposes. When an employee is in “standby” status, the hours are considered hours of work and are compensable. If the employee is in “on-call” status, the hours are not considered hours of work and are not compensable. The regulations in Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations are the same for employees covered (nonexempt) by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and those employees who are not covered (exempt) by the FLSA. (Reference 5 CFR 551.431 for nonexempt employees and 5 CFR 550.112(k) and (l) for exempt employees)
Time spent on standby duty for work-related reasons is compensable hours of work when the following conditions are met:
Where an emergency already exists or is so imminent that the employee is involuntarily restricted by an official management order to a designated post of duty (i.e. fire incident base or station) and is in a state of readiness to perform work.
Limitations on the employee’s activities are so substantial that the employee cannot use the time effectively for his or her own purposes.
Time is spent in on-call status is not payable as hours of work if either of the following two situations exists:
The employee is allowed to leave a telephone number or carry an electronic device for the purpose of being contacted and required to remain within a reasonable call-back radius from their official duty location, but not required to be at a designated post of duty.
The employee is allowed to make arrangements for another person to perform any work that may arise during the on-call period.
We currently have a number of positions, in Fire and Aviation Management as well as Information Solutions Organization, that require the employee to occasionally be placed in an on-call, non-paid status as a condition of their employment.
As a result, it is imperative that management ensure these guidelines are followed when placing an employee in an on-call, non-paid status:
Supervisors will schedule an employee’s on-call periods in advance of the season or at least quarterly, whenever possible. The supervisor will notify the affected employee in writing of the specific time periods he or she will be on-call after regular work hours and on non-workdays. If management needs to change an on-call schedule to cover a specific situation, they will notify the employee in writing of the reason for the change and length of time it will be in effect.
The specific times that the employee will be on-call will be reasonable. In general, each on-call period should not exceed 1-2 weeks in duration. An on-call period may not cover the entire fire season.
These assignments should be done on a rotational basis, and a backup employee or crew should be designated in case of an emergency absence or hardship of the assigned employee. A designated backup may include the employee’s supervisor.
It will be stipulated in advance as to how long the employee will have to respond by the type of emergency. In general, employees should be given a minimum of one hour to report for duty while in on-call status.
When these management prerequisites are met, employees in an on-call status can be held accountable and subject to disciplinary action for failing to report to work, unless there is a justifiable reason.
The fact that an employee is subject to restrictions necessary to ensure that the employee will be able to perform his or her duties and responsibilities, such as restrictions on alcohol consumption or use of certain medications, cannot be the basis for determining that the employee’s activities are substantially limited.
This guidance is intended for managers and supervisors. We are aware that the NFFE Union has a much more liberal interpretation of when “standby” pay is warranted. However, in a recent arbitration the Forest Service’s position was upheld.
In closing, supervisors are reminded that employees who voluntarily restrict their activities and/or use electronic communication devices to be available for duty after work hours are not on standby duty or on-call status. Likewise, time spent at an individual’s personal residence preparing to depart on a fire assignment or other emergency assignment is not compensable.
If you have any questions, please contact Debbie Rigden for pay questions at (703) 605-0822 or email her at drigden@fs.fed.us; or Jim Hasbrouck for labor management questions at (703) 605-0863 or email him at jhasbrouck@fs.fed.us.
/s/ Kathleen D. Burgers
KATHLEEN D. BURGERS
Acting Director of Human Resources Management
Oh, wait. So the federal agency’s considered using ordered stand-by as a method to pay portal to portal for federal employees to increase retention and maintain a strong federal fire workforce? It must have been determined not within policy for feds? NO. Maybe portal to portal is a violation of federal law? NO. Well than I guess it must have been determined not to meet agency regulations? NO. What’s the reason? If its within policy, not illegal and within regulations for federal agencies to use ordered stand by for portal to portal pay why didn’t they use it? Its because (so they say below) its to complex, the cost to administer would be burdensome, plus your ineffective when your on ordered stand by. So they just threw it out.
They would prefer to walk a very blurry line violating the freedom of movement on a fire or fire camp situation while not having to pay for it by telling you your not on ordered stand by, but simply on call on even while having to movements restricted.
Administering portal to portal pay within a finance unit would decrease the number of people needed in a finance unit to post time. Even a 7th grader could figure that out.
If you’re a fed, while reading the update below, remember, your federal agency considered allowing ordered stand by to be used to pay you portal to portal to increase retention and strengthen the federal wildland fire workforce. What’s stopping them, besides their own ignorance, from considering it again?
Demand Vallejo and WO to reconsider using ordered stand by to pay portal to portal. Many reasons for them to reconsider it, none more important than 1) Because its being used on National Forests now, today, to order stand by and pay portal to portal to federal wildland firefighters and 2) Because retention is imploding the capability of the federal agencies.
Have some vision Vallejo and WO. DO SOMETHING!
Last Revised: 01-29-2010
Subject: Firefighter Retention Update
Key Issue: Forest Service has implemented a plan to improve firefighter retention
Description:
The firefighter retention plan was implemented in FY 2009 and has resulted in a decrease in R5 vacancies from 363 vacancies in June 2008 to 178 vacancies in January 2010.
Key Points:
The plan includes 4 actions being taken by the Forest Service:
• All seasonal firefighters were offered the option to convert to full-time firefighter positions. A total of 900 positions will convert to full time within FY 2010.
o The estimated cost of the conversion in FY 2010 is $17,076,000 (see enclosed Table 1)
• Effective March 1, 2009 a one year 10% Retention allowance for firefighters in grades GS-05 through GS-08 was implemented. At the end of 2009, 1442 employees received the allowance.
o The approximate cost since implementation is $4,195,000 and the projected one year cost is $6,874,000.
o Effective January 25, 2010, the Forest Service decided to continue the retention incentive another year in order to have a longer period of time to determine the effectiveness of the incentive. The estimated cost for the extension for FY2010 is $4,050,000 (see enclosed Table 1 and Attachment 1).
• Pursuit of a separate firefighter series is on hold. Discussions were held with DOI partners and a briefing paper was developed and delivered to the Fire Executive Council (executives for all DOI agencies and the US Forest Service [not in attendance]) on November 13, 2009 (see Attachment 2). There has been no movement since that time.
• The Forest Service will develop a plan of action by June 2010 on the requirements needed to determine if a special pay rate for California is needed. If the analysis shows the need, a request will be pursued through proper channels for submission to the OPM.
o The effectiveness of the 10% Retention Allowance must be determined prior to the pursuit of a special pay rate.
• After review, the Forest Service did not pursue ordered standby as an alternative to portal-to-portal pay. The complexity, cost of administration, and the ineffectiveness of ordered standby as a one-for-one alternative to portal-to-portal all combined to support the decision to abandon the proposal.
The Forest Service plans to employ 4,469 firefighters in California and there are 178 vacancies. Of the $28 million the Congress has appropriated for the firefighter retention incentive plan, $3,951,000 was obligated in FY 2009, $24,049,00 will be obligated in FY 2010, and we do not expect carry-over into FY 2011. (See enclosed Table 5 and Table 1)
All well stated my friend
As a retired chief officer from your state partner, I completely agree with all. I think all these fails go hand in hand with the directives coming out every year to USFS staff. It is more important to hug and not say things that can be construed as offensive than it is to effectively, safely, fight fire and protect life and property…wait that is their job, property is someone else’s problem. 
said tongue in cheek but with intent.
It also manifests itself in direction given to management and the Teams to watch spending at all costs, hug your neighbor, make someone else bear the cost of structure defense, and don’t disclose any information that you absolutely don’t have to.
It is all inter related.
And the fact that all this comes from a management group that can’t usually define wildland fire because they have no background in such.
More updates coming soon.
Think about it. They refused to implement portal to portal pay for federal Wildland Firefighters to strengthen the org and improve retention because it was hard on them to implement. Let that sink in.
You want to see hard Vallejo and wo, go hike a mountain for 14 days and then get told to go stand in line to get approval for an S number for a chain on your chain saw.
Then came the two letters on Randy Moore’s new focus groups. You know Randy, he’s the guy who told a large crowd of Firefighter Apprentices when asked repeatedly about pay and benefits, you can leave and we will replace you. However no need to focus on that right now.
We should probably focus on what came from a half year of meetings by these focus groups. What did Randy Moore implement? Anyone?
File Code: 5100
Date: January 11, 2012
|Subject:|Fire Work Environment Focus Groups|
To: All Region 5 Employees|
In 2011, a number of concerns were raised with regard to the work environment of our fire personnel. In response to what we were hearing, we created the Fire Work Environment Group with a goal of ensuring an inclusive work environment for all fire employees in the Region.
The Department of Agriculture is undergoing a process to transform the culture of USDA by creating a diverse, inclusive, and high-performance organization. I believe the goals of this effort in Region 5 are consistent with this transformation and I certainly consider fire management to be a high performance organization.
I have appointed Willie Thompson, Deputy Director of FAM, as the lead for this group. This group includes a cross section of fire employees, union representation, and advisors from both Civil Rights and Human Resources.
The Fire Work Environment Group is obtaining your input through Focus Group sessions and through a website to help identify challenges within the Fire Work Environment. Eleven (11) Focus Groups were formed to represent all functional areas of our fire organization and line officers. Each Focus Group will consist of 20 people. These sessions will be conducted beginning later this month.
Focus Group members will be contacted via letter through their respective Chair of each group. For those not contacted by means of letter, feedback can be given online using a website set up by the Fire Work Environment Group. The website, http://FGRegion5.wctllc.com/questions.jsp will be made available concurrently with the focus group timeframes. The opportunity to leave feedback is also available for recently retired (within 3 years) Forest Service fire personnel.
Focus Groups to be held at the Wildland Fire Training and Conference Center in Sacramento:
Forest Aviation Officers
Helitack
Smokejumpers | Daniel Diaz | January 24, 2012
Hotshots Rick Cowell January 24, 2012
Engine Captains Dozers Jimmy Harris January 25, 2012
0900 – 1100 Division Chiefs Battalion Chiefs| Jeanne Pincha-Tulley | January 25, 2012
National Apprenticeship Academy
1830 - 2030|
|Board of Directors
Assistant Directors|Willie Thompson|January 26, 2012
0800 - 1000|
|Line Officer Team|Willie Thompson|January 26, 2012
1300 - 1500|
|California Fuels Committee|Shawna Legarza|
January 31, 2012 0800 - 1000| DispatchTraining|Elizabeth Barrera
Sharon AllenBrick|January 31, 2012
Fire Prevention and Information
These facilitated sessions will provide an opportunity for employees to engage in open and candid discussions regarding Fire Work Environment issues. The purpose of soliciting this feedback is to design and implement business practices that will result in a more inclusive work environment. The end state we are striving for is that all employees feel valued, productive, safe, and have an opportunity for personal and professional growth. To ensure that all feedback is received, these sessions will be recorded by a stenographer.
I look forward to the report from Deputy Director Thompson and her group which will provide recommendations for actions that can be taken based on your feedback. These results will also be shared with Robin Heard from USDA who has been assisting us in this process.
Lastly, I would personally like to thank each of you in advance for your participation. If you have any questions regarding the Fire Work Environment Group and its mission, please contact Willie Thompson at 707-562-8927 or wrthompson@fs.fed.us. For logistical and scheduling questions about the focus groups in Sacramento and other ways to provide feedback, please contact Stanton Florea at 707-562-9014 or sflorea@fs.fed.us.
/s/ Randy Moore
RANDY MOORE
Regional Forester
File Code: 5100
Date: February 8, 2012
Subject: Fire Work Environment Update
To: All Region 5 Employees|
I want to take a moment to update you on the progress of the Fire Work Environment Group lead by Willie Thompson, Deputy Director FAM. The last of 11 focus groups representing each of the functional areas of our fire organization were finished on February 1, 2012. The chairs and representatives of each of these committees are to be commended for gathering employees to participate in the focus groups on fairly short notice.
During the focus group sessions in Sacramento, the Fire Work Environment Group heard a wide breadth of responses from a total of 221 employees. They heard from employees just beginning their careers, many mid-level career employees, and those with twenty plus years in federal service. There was also a tremendous response of feedback from the Fire Work Environment online survey. Your comments were pragmatic, sincere, and thoughtful and reflected the enthusiasm and professionalism of our fire organization.
Over the next few weeks, the group will be pouring over the myriad of responses to the 7 survey questions and categorizing them by topic. There were consistent “themes” identified throughout each focus group. In addition to their analysis, we will also be provided a Summary Report of themes that emerged from your feedback. For those of you that participated in the focus groups, you will be contacted in a couple of weeks by your chair to go over suggestions in helping us identify proposed actions. Your comments will help us incorporate changes within our fire organization that will benefit fire personnel in the future.
Robin Heard, Deputy Assistant for Administration, who sat in on several of the sessions, is impressed with the fire employees she met and heard from in Region 5 and would like to thank everyone for their participation. We appreciate your thoughtful responses helping to bring about positive changes to the Fire Work Environment.
I would like to personally thank the Fire Work Environment Group - Willie Thompson, Sharon AllenBrick, Shawna Legarza, Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, Kerri Gilliland, Jimmy Harris, Robert Garcia, Rick Cowell, Roger Caballero, Elizabeth Barrerra, Daniel Diaz, Lois Lawson, and Stanton Florea for all their hard work.
Our goal is to provide updates to you throughout this process. The Fire Work Environment Group will present a final draft Plan of Action to me on Friday, March 16, 2012.
/s/ Randy Moore
RANDY MOORE
Regional Forester
cc: Willie R Thompson
Sharon D AllenBrick
Shawna Legarza
Kerri M Gilliland
Jim Harris
Robert Garcia
Rick Cowell
Roger Caballero
Elizabeth Barrera
Daniel R Diaz
Stanton Florea
Lois Lawson
2019 Randy Moore’s opening statement testimony before Congress. Lets read what he said about Firefighter retention, Firefighter pay, strength of the firefighting organization. I am sure he thanked his Firefighters and mentioned how much he appreciated their efforts…
With any luck Vallejo woke up this afternoon and with that as a possibility, since most of them probably didn’t read Kevin’s letter the first time around, here it is again Vallejo.
Kevin Mecham: An open letter from a Forest Service Firefighter
Fail
Can get the gang back together Vallejo?
Your words: “I remain committed to actively supporting efforts to improve firefighter recruitment and retention, and to maintaining a highly skilled firefighting force in the Pacific Southwest Region.”
If the Southern California National Forests figured out a way to do it, you would think Vallejo could?
Jan 22, 2009
The Regional Forester has committed to perform the staff work necessary to develop
a wildland fire management series, including technical and professional/administrative
components. Once completed, the work will be shared with the WO with the intent that it be
forwarded to OPM for final decision.
ORDERED STANDBY
The intent is to develop protocols necessary to request the authority to implement a
version of portal-to-portal pay known as “ordered stand-by” for USFS employees
assigned to active incidents. If implemented, the action will be precedent setting, and
is intended to be applied across the wildland firefighting landscape. Some studies
have estimated the potential annual cost of implementing this action to be $146
million / year. The goal of this effort is to develop the details of the recommendation,
and an analysis of impacts, benefits, and consequences, for discussion with the
Washington Office.
Steps:
• Articulate the law (what we can and can’t do) to determine the agency’s decision
space.
• If the agency decides to take advantage of any flexibility allowed under the law,
what are the steps we are going to use to get there?
• Focus will be on accomplishing the intent expressed in the Regional Forester’s
cover letter published December 9.
• Willie Thompson (FAM) and Lirian Penn (HR) will be the primary points of
contact to perform this analysis.
• Target date for accomplishment of a preliminary analysis is February 27.
December 9, 2008
Four focus areas were reviewed in this planning process, which resulted in my recommendations. They include mission related to fire suppression, workplace improvement, fire facilities, and pay.
March 13, 2009
Retention incentives will terminate on February 28, 2010, if not renewed. I remain committed to actively supporting efforts to improve firefighter recruitment and retention, and to maintaining a highly skilled firefighting force in the Pacific Southwest Region.
Do we have any Type 1 or Type 2 Incident Commander out there with the authority or leadership skill set to direct Ordered Standby for all resource under his or her command on any given incident?
What would Vallejo do?
Has any IC ever asked a local unit to add those costs into a WFDSS.
Most incident command team members will make between $8,000 to $27,000 for each 14 days mobilization. Most Federal Wildland Firefighter will not make that much, unless you direct Ordered Standby.
Do IC’s, Agency Administrators, Finance Section Chiefs, Incident Business Advisors and Vallejo all feel indifferent about the Federal Wildland Fire organization because it’s not their problem. Do they care? If you do care, be part of the solution, show you care, act. If you don’t care, take your million dollar TSP, your two retirement checks, your 6 figure salary and just get out of the way. Each IC, each IMT member and CWCG have the collective strength to help Federal Wildland Firefighters. Tell Vallejo you want change for Federal Wildland Firefighters and you ask for Randy Moore to reconsider incident pay proposals he considered implementing 10 years ago.
The Southern California Forests (with Vallejo approval) have created a Wildland Firefighter pay past practice using Ordered Stand-by even without a wildfire, staffing their own stations.
Is Vallejo going to apply this pay past practice when we actually have a wildfire to all federal emergency responders? I’d suggest Vallejo be careful with how they proceed. Do the right thing Vallejo.
Ask Randy Moore why he supports an Order Stand-by portal to portal concept for So Cal Forests when at fire stations but not allow it for fire camps and the fire line when your sleeping on dirt?
Precedent Matters
Why Randy? How can you justify this for a fire station and not for dirt? You have created precedent working condition, a pass practice and after 10 years of silence, you should write another letter. Direct your federal ICs to order stand-by on every incident. Inform your cooperators of your intent to appropriately pay your Wildland Firefighters.
Do something!
“When an employee is in “standby” status, the hours are considered hours of work and are compensable”
“Time spent on standby duty for work-related reasons is compensable hours of work when the following conditions are met:
Where an emergency already exists or is so imminent that the employee is involuntarily restricted by an official management order to a designated post of duty (i.e. fire incident base or station) and is in a state of readiness to perform work.
Limitations on the employee’s activities are so substantial that the employee cannot use the time effectively for his or her own purposes”.
We will get relief or we will go higher Vallejo. You approved, accepted and supported the practice to pay some in non emergency conditions.
Randy Moore, don’t get behind the curve as:
Management/Union Partnerships return Jan 20th.
Your Vice President Elect mentioned Federal Wildland Firefighters yesterday.
National media are writing stories monthly about Federal Wildland Firefighters.
Left and Right political leaders want something accomplished for Federal Wildland Firefighters.
Do the right thing. Randy and Vallejo FAM Staff can either lead or get out of the way. Put your 6 figure salaries aside for once and do something for the Federal Wildland Firefighters.
Tick Tock…
We would all need to get involved to move this needle. It took 100s/1000s of emails and calls in 2007/2008 to get them to the table. As shared above, they considered a few items, including using ordered stand-by to pay federal Wildland firefighters portal to portal. In the end, they went with only a 10% retention bonus. Although Vallejo wrote a lot of letters, staffed out a lot of tasks, the effort lost a lot of momentum when the Great Recession hit.
Timing could be right in 2021. Whatever we do, we need to hammer it home in California both FS R5 and DOI, however any success (unlike 2008) needs to be National in scope, IMHO.
From a state guy, I hope you guys get this. There is a lot of us out here that support you and want this to go through. Gotta a lot of friends that ride green. Keep fighting.