Accessibility Policy Statment

"The District is committed to the reasonable provision to all persons, equal opportunity to participate in, and benefit from, District programs, activities, and services."

The District is required to make a reasonable accommodation for the known disability of a qualified applicant, member, or persons if it would not impose an “undue hardship” on the operation of the District or pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others.

Individuals may request reasonable accommodations that they believe will enable them to have such equal opportunity to participate in District programs, activities, and services. Such requests should be routed through the Fire Chief mgregory@baldhillsfire.org, or (360) 894-2517 in advance. The Fire Chief will respond to requests within 14 days and will maintain a record of requests for reasonable accommodations. The request for an accommodation may trigger an interactive process to discuss and assess available options.

The District will consider requests for a reasonable accommodation based upon disability, identifiable need, or sincerely held personal, religious, moral, or ethical beliefs, on a case-by-case basis and may approve such reasonable accommodations that do not create an “undue hardship” or pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others.

Reasonable accommodation may include but would not be limited to; making existing facilities readily accessible and usable by persons with disabilities; acquiring or modifying equipment or devices; adjusting or modifying programs, activities, or services; and providing qualified readers, interpreters, or translations.

Notice of nondiscrimination

"Bald Hills Fire District explicitly prohibits discrimination and/or harassment during any organization related activity.  Any actions or conduct that constitute discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, shall be grounds for disciplinary action to include termination."

Policy and Notice of Nondiscrimination (English) (Spanish)

Members will not restrict an individual’s access to programs, activities, and services, or other benefits, based on their age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law, or perception of any of the above.

Members will not tolerate intimidation, threats, coercion, or discrimination against any individual or group for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege guaranteed under law, regulations, or policy, or because the individual has filed a complaint or has testified assisted, or participated in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing or has opposed any District action or decision.

Employment and membership

"The District is an equal opportunity employer which recruits, retains, promotes, terminates, and otherwise treats all employees, members, customers, and applicants based on merit, qualifications, and competence, without regard to an individual's age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law."

The District promotes diversity, equality, and equity as essential to mission success and provides reasonable accommodation for qualified applicants and members as required by law. We evaluate applicants and members based upon their knowledge, skills, experience, education, and potential consistent with the needs of our mission.

The District is required to make a reasonable accommodation for the known disability of a qualified applicant or member if it would not impose an “undue hardship” on the operation of the District or pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others. We will will consider requests for a reasonable accommodation based upon sincerely held personal, religious, moral, or ethical beliefs, on a case-by-case basis and may approve such reasonable accommodations that do not create an “undue hardship” or pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others.

Communication

"The District is committed to assisting non-English speaking individuals in accessing information, services, programs, and benefits.  Effective communications and access to information is provided using certified interpreters, translated materials, and other available bilingual related resources.  The District can provide language access services to all limited English proficiency (LEP) and deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind individuals at no cost to the parties.  Such services may take the form of on-demand interpretation and document translation."

Complaints

"The Fire Chief shall initially investigate reports of violations of this policy and/or discrimination to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that violation occurred.  If the investigation substantiates the report, appropriate remedial action shall be implemented."

Complaints of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, as well as all subsequent investigations, conciliations, mediations, or discipline will be managed as described in Policy 2.4.2 Discrimination and Harassment.

A person who believes they are victim of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation should, within fourteen (14) days, provide a written complaint documenting the offensive conduct and submit the same to:

A complaint against the Fire Chief or a member of the Board of Fire Commissioners must be brought to the Chair or one of the unaffected Board members.

The District will maintain a record and notify the Board of Fire Commissioners of the occurrence (with appropriate limits on details) of all informal and formal complaints, the findings of the investigations, and the actions taken. The goal of the complaint process is to address complaints withing 30 days of receipt, though the time to carefully investigate complaints may be longer depending upon the nature of the complaint and complexity of the issue.