Contra Costa County supervisors on Tuesday took the first step to vote themselves out as the governing board of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District in favor of a new nine-member board of East County residents.

The Brentwood and Oakley city councils approved Tuesday night a resolution in support of a locally governed fire district board. The approvals could end a two-year campaign to give East County control of its fire district, which is understaffed and underfunded compared with other fire departments and districts in the county. Supervisors now must give one last green light.

Brentwood's council passed the resolution 4 to 1, while Oakley's council passed it 5 to 0 Tuesday night.

Local control could help the district pass a parcel tax to upgrade service and eliminate deficits, Supervisor John Gioia said. The district will spend $2 million of its $6 million reserve fund to meet operating expenses this year.

"If they want to go to their voters to increase assessments for fire, local leaders have to be involved in the governance structure," Gioia said.

The Brentwood City Council would appoint four members to the new board, Oakley would pick three, and supervisors would choose two members from the unincorporated areas of East County, including Discovery Bay, Bethel Island, Knightsen and Byron. The numbers are proportional to the communities' populations.

Supervisors plan take a

"Local governance means local accountability and the citizens will have a governing body that is representative of the district itself," said Mary Piepho, the only supervisor who lives in East Contra Costa Fire's service area.

Local board members would be in charge of meeting the cities' goals of increasing pay for firefighters to match that of the Contra Costa Fire Protection District, which serves most of the county. Local leaders also want three firefighters on every engine, instead of the two per engine in six of the district's eight firehouses, Piepho said.

East Contra Costa Fire was formed in 2004 in a merger of four smaller, volunteer districts. Since then it has struggled to cope with suburban growth and to pay for a professional staff. The population of Brentwood, for example, more than doubled between 2000 and 2008. The district receives 7 percent of property tax paid by district residents, compared with an average of about 12 percent for fire districts in the county.