Madera County fire supervisors say mechanics were not placed on mandatory standby; dispute centers on take‑home vehicles and an on‑call calendar

Former Madera County assistant fire chief Matt Watson and fleet manager Ryan Knoll told the Civil Service Commission on April 25 that master mechanics were not placed on mandatory standby duty and that take‑home service vehicles were provided as a longstanding operational convenience, not “in lieu” of standby pay.

Watson, who testified that he oversaw CAL FIRE operations in Madera County from February 2018 until February 2023, said the county’s fire operations covered about 351 employees across 23 stations with a combined state, county and city budget of about $30,000,000. He told the commission he never placed master mechanics or the parts assistant on mandatory standby and that emergency response duties after normal hours belonged to assigned emergency personnel such as battalion chiefs and firefighters.

The commission heard competing claims about how after‑hours calls were handled. Watson described multiple methods for making emergency purchases or repairs outside normal business hours — county CalCards assigned to battalion chiefs, fuel cards carried on engines and commercial vendor accounts — and said a parts assistant was not needed on standby because parts stores are typically closed outside business hours. He said a party could call a tow truck if mechanics were unavailable.

Fleet manager Ryan Knoll, who previously worked as a master mechanic, gave similar testimony that the county did not assign standby to the mechanics or the parts assistant and that standby authority must come from the county administrative officer. Knoll described a calendar that mechanics requested and that he asked administrative staff to create: a rotational phone list indicating who should be called first. He said the calendar was designed to show order of contact rather than to create a mandatory after‑hours duty, and that names on the calendar could still receive calls at other times.

The two witnesses described several operational details the commission focused on during questioning: - Take‑home vehicles: Watson and Knoll said service trucks were provided to mechanics to save travel time for early‑morning assignments and other legitimate work tasks; neither said receipt of a county vehicle was conditioned on being on standby. - Calendar/rotation: Both witnesses said the calendar was created at the mechanics’ request to indicate which employee to call first; Watson said the calendar was a phone rotation and did not impose a mandatory duty to answer or respond. - Parts assistant role: Watson and Knoll said the parts assistant’s duties were primarily daytime support (stock, deliveries, shop upkeep) and that the job was not expected to perform after‑hours emergency repairs. Watson said the parts assistant could volunteer for overtime but was not required to respond after hours. - Tow logistics and cost: Knoll said tow bills have identified dispatchers as the party placing calls and estimated a tow of a fire engine to the shop at roughly $485 in the example he described. - Frequency of after‑hours mechanic responses: Knoll said the busiest recent year required about six mechanic responses that involved field repairs; he also said that, from mid‑2021 through the end of 2024, his system recorded four work orders requiring field fixes.

Both witnesses described a conversation in late 2022 when mechanics raised the possibility of standby pay. Watson said he told them that accepting standby would carry mandatory availability requirements and that he would need to work with the county administrative officer and the union to confirm budgetary and contract details; he said two mechanics declined mandatory standby and preferred to keep take‑home vehicles. Watson testified he believed paying standby instead of allowing take‑home vehicles would be a budgetary wash.

Commissioners pressed witnesses on practical impacts — who would be called first, whether calendars were used during regular hours or after hours, whether a parts assistant’s number on the calendar implied an expectation to respond after hours, and whether not responding to after‑hours calls had ever led to discipline. Both witnesses repeatedly testified that the mechanics and the parts assistant were not required to answer after‑hours calls and that no discipline was imposed for declining to respond.

The hearing record shows differing emphases from witnesses and from union counsel’s questions: union representatives questioned whether practices and past understandings created an expectation among employees to keep phones on, while county witnesses described operational changes that reduced the frequency of emergency field call‑outs over recent years. The record contains affirmative testimony that the county administrative officer (CAO) holds authority to assign mandatory standby.

Votes at a glance: The commission voted 5‑0 to continue the hearing to April 29 immediately following the commission’s regular business meeting (motion introduced near the end of the session). The roll call recorded Commissioners Atwood, Perez, Iverson, Rios and Frey voting yes.

Because the session is an administrative hearing on a workplace grievance and not a legislative meeting, witnesses’ testimony focused on job practices, resource availability and contract/union provisions rather than on newly adopted policies. The commission indicated it will reconvene on the scheduled continuance date for additional testimony and closing arguments.