B— SANO Y ( O r * ) POST Thvr»
Sept » . 19B2 (Sec
I)
Meeting said not open
Board considers ‘volunteer’ policy
by M IC H A E L P. JONES
Ho»t ( orrr»|M>nd<*nt
A proposed policy to
r e s t r ic t
f u ll- t im e
firefighters or part-tim e
volunteers from serving on
the board of the Hoodland
R u ra l F ir e P ro tec tio n
D is tric t touched off a
heated discussion a week
ago Tuesday
Veria Rogers, fire board
m em ber, said the new
policy would not restrict a
firefighter from becoming
a member of the board, but
said they would have to
resign from that position
before taking the oath of of
fice Members of the board,
for the first time in the
d is trict's history, were
sworn in earlier at the
meeting
Ixiwell Njust, attorney
for the fire district, resear
ched the legalities of being
both a fire fig h te r and
board member and said he
could find nothing in the
law to prohibit this.
Olson eri taxed the wor
ding of the proposed policy,
which was d rafte d by
Njust He said he feels the
board is "opening up a can
of worms" by calling a
volunteer in the depart
m ent
a
p a r t - t im e
employee
The reimbursement of
>2 25 for seven hours of
work, said Olson, would in
terest the Department of
L a b o r,
th e
In t e r n a l
Revenue Service and "a
whole bunch of other peo
pie ” He said in the past no
such policy had ever been
passed for this reason.
" I think i t ’s w rong,
period.” said Olson
N ju s t sa id by la w
volunteers are designated
part time employees.
“ There is a law that says
you can’t prevent someone
from running as a member
of the board of directors,”
sa id N ju s t. " T h e r e ’s
nothing to say you can’t do
the contrary "
Njust said the conflict of
However he said there
would be an inherent con
f lic t of in t e r e s t "
if
firefighters were to serve
in both capacities He said
it appears to be in the best
interest of the public and
the fire department to have
a policy preventing this
With a firefighter holding
a position on the board it
would mean he would
te c h n ic a lly
be
"an
employee of the chief who
is also the employer of the
chief." Njust said
Board Mem ber David
Olson of Wemme, who
works as a firefighter for
the Redland Fire District
as well as a volunteer for
the Hoodland District, ob
jected The adoption of the
policy would force him to
resign either his position as
a volunteer or his seat on
the board
•‘We won’t dwell on the
obvious, said Olson. " I'm
opposed to this resolution I
have problems with it get
ting as far as it has .”
interest, for a person to be
both a firefighter and a
board members, is com
parable to "serving two
masters.”
" If a man had two wives,
could he be loyal to both of
them," asked Njust " I
couldn't.”
O lson
sa id
N ju s t ’ s
analogy of serving two
masters does not sit well
with him He said he has
only one m aster, "th e
district
S h ir le y
Dueber
of
Brightwood said she has to
agree with Olson, and
couldn't see where the con
flict of interest would be
She
sa id
v o lu n te e r
firefighters on the board
could m a ke " a m o re
educated vote than me.
John Q. Citizen.” who does
not understand the inner
workings of the depart
ment
Neil Senger. a battalion
Chief with the department,
disagreed and said he feels
it would be a conflict of in-
terest because the deci
sions made would not be
what the public wants,
rather what a firefighter
wants
“ Being on both sides of
the fence I don t think you
are getting a true, honest
opinion," said Senger
Dueber said the board is
currently getting Gus by
having Fire Chief Don A r
mintrout "at the head of
the table.” giving advice
She said as a citizen she is
not qualified to question
any figures Arm introut
may give, but volunteer
firefighters would be.
Karen Ligatich, who said
she was speaking as both a
volunteer and a citizen,
urged the adoption of the
policy. She said as board
members, employees of the
department could not offer
good ideas
The fire board will vote
on the new policy at its next
meeting, scheduled for Oct.
5 at 7.30 p m at Zig Zag
elected us to these positions, she said.
“ I ’m under the opinion we did read
by MICHAEL P. JONES
H o » l C o r re s p o n d e n t
Tension arose over the public reading
and posting of policies of the Hoodland
Rural Fire Protection District a week
ago Tuesday evening at the monthly
meeting of the fire board.
The first hint of problems concerning
the policies of the district was sparked
by Board Member David Olson He ob
jected to the board voting on polices
without first reading them outloud to
the audience
Olson was less than complimentary
toward fellow board members Veria
Rogers. Peggy Hergert and Ray M iller
for not reading the policies outloud. He
said he felt the board was in violation of
the state open meeting law last month
when the policies were first presented,
and would again be in violation if they
weren’t read into the record.
“To take a group of policies that af
fect everyone in this district, and
everyone in this department, and read
them to ourselves, is not what the open
meeting law intended,” charged Olson
H ergert, the board chairperson,
responded that it is the duty of the
board to make the policies for the
district. This the voters knew when they
them ,” said Hergert "That's what we
were elected for At this point in time I
would say it would be a waste of tim e."
John Larson, a volunteer firefighter
who works out of the Government
Camp station, objected to a policy pro
posed at the August meeting That
policy would have forbidden m ember
ship on the board by volunteer
firefighters in the department
Hergert said that particular clause
had been dropped with the revision of
the proposed policy
" If it <the policy* would have been
read, I guess I would have known,"
responded [-arson
The board voted 3-1 to accept the
policies as written Olson cast the
dissenting vote and explained he was
voting no "because the policies should
have been read in open session."
A policy concerning job descriptions
for volunteers was the next agenda
item before the board and. this too. was
not read
Hergert explained that until the job
description is formally adopted, it is not
public information because the content
might change
Lowest prices in town on meat,
Saver
Shield
Special
BALL PARK
KRAFT, 7% OZ. DINNERS
FRANKS
0 0 0 0 thru 9/21/82
WITH ONE FILLED
SAVER SHIELD CARO
HYGRADE'S
MEAT, BEEF
16 OZ. PKG.
Saver
Shield
Special
CHUCK.ROAST
BLADE
CUT
FLEISCHMANN'S CORN OIL
G 0 0 0 THRU 9/28,82
WITH ONE FILLED
¿AVER SHIELD CARO
S p e c ia l AU PURP ' UNBL'CHD FLOUR
V
0 0 0 0 THRU 9/28/82
5LB
I
BAG
J
with ONE FILLED
¿AVER SHIELD CARO
_ J
3d
Saver
Shield
Special
FOSTER FARMS
FINE WHITE
I
MEAT
KRAFT NATURAL
MIDGET LO N G
HORN STYLE, EA
WESTERN FAMILY
16 OUNCE
CARTON
0 0 0 0 T hru 9/28/82
WITH ONE FILLED
¿AVER SHIELD CARO
BEEF
2 LB. COLBY
C 0 n . CHEESE
Saver
Shield
Special
USDA
C H O IC E
TROPICANA
GOLDEN PURE
1 LB. S O R
MARGARINE
»
F
FOSTER
FARMS
ROAST OR
STEAK
USDA C H O I C E ^
K 4
1 BONELESS
CROSS
RIB
0 0 0 0 thru 9/21/82
WIT m ONE FILLED
¿AVER SHIELD CARO
Saver
Shield
Special
Shield
Special
TIDE, LAUNDRY POWDER
KRAFT PHILADELPHIA, PLAIN
0 0 0 0 THRU9/28/82
WITH om fillio
¿A V E R IH K L 0 CARO
Saver
FRESH
FRYER
BREASTS
BLUE BONNET
IN REUSABLE
PLASTIC BOWLS
GRANULATED, WHITE
BL
«9
■
"
V
PREMIUM, RED ROSE. HTY BURG
CHAR BL., PK C H A I . RHINE.
BURG., V. ROSE, CHIANTI
102
CUBE
-d
6d
GROUND*
BEEF
PORK
STEAK
PORK
SAUSAGE
TURBOT
FILLETS
FRESH
DOMESTIC
58
USDA
CHOICE
CHUCK SEVEN
ROAST
SPARE
RIBS
STEW
MEAT
LEWIS BROS
FRANKS^
•O N E '
58
58
18
BONELESS
PORK
COUNTRY
STYLE
BONELESS
BEEF
PAPER TOWELS
CELTA, WHITE. GIANT ROLL
Hours
39180
Pioneer
In Sandy.
668-7418
PILLSBURY, B'TR., B'TRMIIK,
COUNTRY
o
a t ’/«
PmCCS EFFECTIVE SEPT 22nd THRU 28th 1882
M C M .C R OF UNITCO OROCCRB, INC
1