Recently local papers carried various stories that Supervisor Dianne Jacob has a proposal to consolidate 35 fire agencies in unincorporated areas, and to fund the "$4.5 million to $48 million" by shifting local property tax monies from education to fire protection. This proposal appears doomed to fail for a number of reasons.

First, the legislature would have to approve the plan. This seems unlikely at best, since local education leaders are crying foul, and the California Teacher's Association and other big money education groups have a great deal of influence over Sacramento Democrats, while San Diego County Supervisors have virtually none.

Second, the Supervisor expects "the state to replace the shifted school money", which pretty much means she wants Sacramento to pick up the nearly $50 million dollars when they are already running an enormous deficit and with expected revenues in decline. This part of the plan almost guarantees a veto by Governor Schwarzenegger even if Jacobs beat the odds and got through the legislature.

Third and finally, Republicans might normally back this type of shifting have already expressed concerns that such a plan could create yet another well funded public labor union like that of the San Diego Firefighter's.

High marks to Jacobs for trying to come up with a solution for the much needed additional fire protection for San Diego County's rural areas, but this is going to be a real hard sell to the folks who make the decisions.