DAYTON - A drug-testing policy is threatening the existence of a local volunteer fire department.
More than 25 Silver City residents turned out this week to confront the Central Lyon County Fire District Board with charges the district's proposed pre-employment and random drug testing requirements were discriminatory to volunteers and violated their Fourth Amendment rights.
Silver City volunteers have stated they will not sign the required policy agreement statement, placing them in jeopardy of being removed from the district's volunteer rolls.
Silver City resident and volunteer firefighter Kip Allander agreed a district policy manual is necessary but said the current manual has 10 items that needed to be addressed before the local volunteers could accept it.
He also said the requirement that volunteers sign the "Acknowledgement of Receipt" form within 10 days of receiving the Personnel Manual (conceding agreement with all policies within it) or suffer removal as volunteers would put the community's safety at risk.
"Because of the unfairness of this manual and your method of delivery, we ask that you suspend any action on this manual and enter into negotiations with the volunteers until a mutually agreeable policy manual is reached.
"This manual and acknowledgement of receipt form requires volunteers to waive their Fourth Amendment rights by being subjected to annual random and inner body searches without probable cause," Allander told the board.
A petition containing mmore than 100 signatures in support of the Silver City volunteer's views was presented to the board. A letter of protest was also received from Silver Springs volunteer David Tonini. Several Silver City residents read letters of protest into the record.
At a well-attended Monday meeting of the Silver City Advisory Council, a resolution reiterating opposition to the pre-employment material and that drug testing without cause constituted a violation of a citizen's civil rights and would have a negative impact on the morale of volunteers throughout the district was passed 40-0.
Presenting the resolution to the board, Silver City Advisory Council Chair Kristen Bachelor said, "The Central Lyon County Fire District is holding the safety of our community hostage to its intention to coerce the volunteers to comply with discriminatory, unconstitutional policies."
Central Lyon County Fire Board Vice Chairman Richard Forant said he agreed the drug policy was discriminatory by requiring the random testing for volunteers but not paid staff, but strongly supported the district have the right to test anyone if there is reasonable cause.
"Policies for volunteers and paid personnel should be the same. This board has not done this on the spur of the moment. We have been working on this manual for six years. If it is for reasonable cause, testing is appropriate, but I agree random testing is wrong and we need to revisit the issue," he said.
Forant stood behind pre-employment drug testing, "if volunteers are to be equal to that for paid personnel."
Others, however, argued that volunteers are not the same as paid employees.
Allander said, "We are asking to have all our civil rights as stated in the Constitution. If that makes us treated differently than paid staff, yes, we want to be treated differently."
Several attendees said their small town volunteer fire department could monitor themselves.
One Silver City resident stated, "We will help each other. We don't need someone to tell us. It is very demeaning to our volunteers to think they would work beside someone who is no condition to help."
Nancy Madison warned that if the volunteers are removed (for not signing the Acknowledge of Receipt), "It will result in all out war once the community realizes they have no fire protection."
District legal counsel Keith Loomis said depending upon the circumstances random drug testing is not a violation of civil rights.
"If you occupy a safety sensitive position, and firefighters fit into that category, courts have upheld random drug testing."
Loomis, noting that cases that have been court tested have involved paid employees, said, "If you are responding as volunteers you are performing the same as paid personnel and occupying a safety sensitive position."
District Fire Chief Bill Driscoll noted the two sides did not appear to be very far apart.
"I do not support random testing. We need to address certain issues and define certain terminology, such as reasonable suspicion and probable cause," he said.
The board unanimously approved Driscoll's recommendation that the timeline for returning the Acknowledgement of Receipt be held in abeyance until a the board can meet with county volunteers to work out a drug policy.
