| Request for reconsideration of an advisory opinion relative to the Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department (pop. 4,652) |
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Kevin Kinslow is employed as a compensated maintenance employee by the St. Mary Parish Fire Protection District No. 7 and is also an uncompensated volunteer fireman for the Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department ("BVVFD") which is regulated by the St. Mary Parish Fire Protection District No. 7. The BVVFD has two officers: Fire Chief and Assistant Fire Chief, which are uncompensated positions and elected by a vote of all members of the BVVFD in good standing.
The duties of the Fire Chief include among other things, having custody, care and management of all fire apparatus and equipment and will insure that all equipment is in working order by delegating his authority to those under him to maintain said equipment.
The duties of the Assistant Fire Chief is to assist the Fire Chief in carrying out his duties and in the absence of the Fire Chief to take charge of all his duties.
The two compensated maintenance employees' duties include maintenance of the District's equipment, repairing equipment, and testing equipment. The maintenance employees are supervised by the Fire Protection District and not by any officer with the BVVFD.
Since the Fire Chief is no longer supervising the maintenance employees, Mr. Kinslow would like to know whether as an employee of the St. Mary Parish Fire Protection District, he could be a member of the Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department and whether he could be elected to an officer's position and run emergency calls for the BVVFD.
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The Board previously opined that the Fire Chief for the Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department could not be employed as a compensated maintenance worker because the Fire Chief was responsible for the supervision of the maintenance workers and the duties of Fire Chief would overlap the duties of the maintenance workers whereby the Fire Chief would receive a thing of economic value in the form of maintenance worker's salary for the operations of the agency for which he has participated.
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La. R.S. 42:1111C(1)(a) prohibits a public servant from receiving any thing of economic value for any service, the subject matter of which is devoted substantially to the responsibilities, programs, or operations of the agency of the public servant and in which the public servant participated.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion draft.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Greg Thibodeaux |
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