Скачать или смотреть Staffing still a concern at new Corpus Christi fire station

Time and money has been an issue for Corpus Christi's newest fire station since the beginning. However, the city and the fire department came up with a fix that allowed them to open Fire Station 18 at Ayers St. and Saratoga St.

Voters approved the building of the station in 2008. Everything was included in the bond except funding for staff and equipment. Nine years later, the station is up and running, and is set to get a new fire truck soon, tax free. But staffing the new building hasn't been an easy fix.

Lucy Rubio, District 3 Council Member, has been pushing for the building of the new station since she got into office. She was able to get the building process moving forward. And today she acknowledged that today has been almost a decade in the making.

"Y'all have had time to work out all those little processes that you have to get -- the staffing and the equipment," Rubio said. "That shouldn't have been the voters' problem. That should have been on the staffing formula by the city manager."

That formula wasn't figured out, leaving the city unable to pay for and hire a full staff. To address the staffing concern, firefighters are being borrowed from Station 1, located in downtown Corpus Christi, to begin working at Station 18.

Fire Station 18 should have its own staff of 15. Currently they have 12 people working, with four on each shift. For now, the fire department has filled the gaps by pulling workers from Station 1.

"I always felt, 'you can't steal from, or is it borrow from Peter to pay Paul,'" Rubio said. "But here we are. We did have to borrow from Station 1, but I'm hoping that we can still find a solution to make the process work."

Councilwoman Rubio says they expect funding for staffing to be addressed next year.