Advisory Opinion No. 95-4

Re: Prescott E. Froberg

Pursuant to an undated letter received in the Office of the Ethics Commission on December 16, 1994, from Prescott E. Froberg, Chief of the Jamestown Fire Department:

1. The Jamestown Fire Department is an all volunteer fire department with one full-time paid employee. That employee serves as a dispatcher/maintenance engineer. The job position is subject to a collective bargaining agreement between the town and applicable union.
2. The job responsibilities of the fire department dispatcher/mechanic include the handling of incoming telephone calls, the dispatching of emergency units, and the maintaining of the fire station and the units assigned to it.
3. There currently exists a vacant position for Deputy Fire Chief. The employee who presently is engaged as dispatcher/mechanic has applied for that position.
4. The Fire Department has two Deputy Fire Chiefs under direction of the Chief.
5. Deputy Chiefs handle location inspections of homes and buildings and appear directly before the Town Council. They are also in charge of the department in the absence of the Chief.
6. At the present time the Deputy Chiefs and an assigned Captain are in charge of the employee who has applied for the position of Deputy Chief.
7. The Board of Fire Wardens exercises ultimate jurisdiction and control over the department. That board meets monthly to discuss departmental issues including requests, problems and personnel matters.
8. The Chief of the Fire Department requests advice as to whether the employee who presently serves as dispatcher/maintenance engineer may simultaneously seek or be hired as Deputy Fire Chief or hold any other supervisory position.

This Advisory Opinion is addressed to Prescott E. Froberg, Chief of the Jamestown Fire Department. Chief Froberg has advised the Ethics Commission that the Jamestown Fire Department is an all volunteer department with the exception of one full-time paid employee who serves as dispatcher/maintenance engineer.

The department comes under the jurisdiction of the Town Council. The department is comprised of a Chief, two Deputy Fire Chiefs, and other supervisory officers. The position of dispatcher/maintenance engineer is customarily supervised by one of the two Deputy Chiefs of the department. There presently exists a vacancy for one of the Deputy Chiefs, and the individual presently serving as dispatcher/ maintenance engineer wished to apply for that position.

If the individual who serves as dispatcher/maintenance engineer is simultaneously engaged as Deputy Fire Chief, we conclude that all matters concerning his position as dispatcher/maintenance engineer must be exclusively reviewed by the Fire Chief or by the Town Council. Provided exclusive jurisdiction for review of such personnel matters is limited to either the Chief or the Town Council, we conclude that no violation of the Code of Ethics would result for the individual to simultaneously serve as dispatcher/ maintenance engineer and Deputy Fire Chief.

We caution and advise the department that the individual who serves as dispatcher/maintenance engineer should recuse from any consideration or participation as Deputy Chief in connection with matters concerning the position of dispatcher/maintenance engineer.

Keywords

Dual Public Roles