ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- Montgomery County should spend $200,000 to bolster minority firefighter recruiting and study whether whites recruits are unfairly favored, according to legislation introduced Tuesday in the county council.
Councilman Tom Perez's proposal comes in response to this year's class of recruits, which is 89 percent white. Montgomery's total population is 60 percent white.
``I want this to be the only recruit class ... to have this lack of diversity,'' Perez told The Washington Post in a story for Tuesday's edition.
Montgomery is not the only Maryland jurisdiction to have racial disparities among firefighter recruits.
Baltimore City hired its first all-white class department integrated in 1953, prompting heavy criticism from public officials. Annapolis' city fire department was faulted in a task force report for not showing a ``meaningful commitment'' to recruiting minorities.
Montgomery's proportion of white recruits this year was the highest since the county took over hiring from volunteer fire companies in 1988. County officials blamed it on a race-blind hiring process, instituted last year over fears a race-conscious process was unconstitutional.
Officials said the current written test may favor applicants with previous experience, which in Montgomery, are mostly whites.
Perez said a test could be developed that is fair, constitutional and complies with civil rights laws. That includes testing an applicant's knowledge of foreign language, response to stressful situations and ability to work with diverse communities, he said.
Perez said he wants his legislation acted on quickly, since the county's Fire and Rescue Services division plans to train three new classes by July 2005. The next recruit class is scheduled to start this fall.
County Executive Douglas Duncan has said that class could be put on hold to allow for more minority recruits to join.
``We're not going to start the next class until we've done a comprehensive review of the hiring process,'' he told The Post.
