Civil Service boards needed by several parish fire districts

The Bayou Vista Fire Department held a special meeting Wednesday to discuss the need for a Civil Service board after allegations were made that not having one Is illegal, a parish councilman said.
Fire Protection District 7 Chairman Harold Driggers said Parish Councilman Glen Hidalgo requested the meeting. The district, which handles the public money for the volunteer fire district, employs one firefighter and requested an opinion from their attorney, Eric Duplantis, on the matter.
Duplantis confirmed a Civil Service board, which handles disciplinary measures as well as raises and promotions for paid personnel, is necessary under the law.
Driggers had no comment on what precipitated the meeting regarding the need for a Civil Service board.
No agenda was available to the public at the meeting. Driggers, the parish government office and fire department personnel did not supply one this morning. The next regular meeting of the District 7 board is Sept. 17.
Hidalgo said in a prepared statement and comments after the meeting that the meeting was driven by “allegations that the fire district in Bayou Vista having a paid firefighter as an employee without a civil service board was illegal.”
He suggested to Driggers that they find out from Duplantis if the allegations were accurate and what steps should be taken to rectify the situation, he said. “I also suggested to him that if there has been a violation that the board meet as soon as possible to let everyone involved know that it was going to be handled in a positive manner,” Hidalgo said.
The Office of the State Examiner contacted Fire Protection boards 3 (Amelia), 7 (Bayou Vista) and 11 (Glencoe/Sorrell) and informed them that state law requires civil service boards for any fire department with paid personnel, whether a hybrid volunteer/paid department or fully paid.
Robert Lawrence, a state examiner with the Louisiana Office of the State Examiner in Baton Rouge, said the rule applies to any fire department with paid personnel that is under a parish fire protection district or is part of a municipality with a population over 7,000.
A poll of the parish’s fire protection districts revealed that municipalities Morgan City and Franklin have five-member civil service boards governing police and fire in place. Berwick has one employee paid by the town, but is not required to have the board because of its population, Lawrence said. Patterson does not have paid members.
The Amelia district has four paid members, while Bayou Vista has one and Glencoe/Sorrell has three, according to their respective chiefs.
Amelia Chief Carl McAllister said his department received the May letter and is looking into the matter.
“It’s really not a big problem. The problem is finding three people to serve on the board,” he said.
They are required to have a department representative below the rank of captain, an appointment by the governing authority and one appointed by the president of the nearest four-year college, Lawrence said.