Featured Inquiry (02/15/08)

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Question

May the fire chief of the town volunteer fire department serve on the town council?

Answer

No. RCW 35.21.772, enacted in 2006, provides that a volunteer member of a fire department “who does not serve as fire chief for the department“ may serve in an elective public office. Prior to this legislation, it had been MRSC’s position that the office of volunteer fire chief and town councilmember are incompatible offices and should not be held by one person at the same time, the position now embodied in that legislation.