Fire election winners promise fiscal controls

Several challengers among a wave who defeated incumbents in this week's fire commissioner elections said they won by promising greater fiscal controls in the special districts.

Challengers won in about half of the elections that pitted a newcomer against an incumbent commissioner.

The majority of fire district races are uncontested. But in several races for seats on boards of fire commissioners - which set the districts' budgets and tax rates - winners said they snagged seats with promises to rein in spending and cut taxes.

In Syosset, retired policeman Rohit Dhawan said he won over voters with a promise to cut waste from the district's $7.29-million budget. It was the second consecutive year that a challenger beat an incumbent in Syosset.

"We have the highest budget in Nassau County," Dhawan said. "I'm sure there's a lot that can be controlled, eliminated."

Voters selected commissioners in 126 fire districts across Long Island on Tuesday. The commissioners collectively control more than $300 million in annual spending.

In the Manhasset-Lakeville Water-Fire District, outsider candidate Donald O'Brien won a seat - a rare feat in elections typically dominated by department members and volunteers.

O'Brien, who also sits on the Manhasset Library board of trustees, said he would bring "diversity" to the three-member fire board, which is currently made up of all firefighters. The district has a $5.6 million budget.

"I think we need at least one of the commissioners with a strong financial background and private-sector management experience," said O'Brien, a financial consultant who pointed to the underfunding of the volunteer pension.

Fire district elections typically suffer from low turnout because many residents do not realize the public can vote for fire commissioners, said Christopher Triolo, a challenger and department member who won a seat in Kings Park.

The elections "sometimes come down to who has the most friends" in the department, as the vast majority of voters are often fire department members, he said.

But in some districts, such as Islip Terrace, finance-minded challengers campaigned aggressively, resulting in heavier turnout from nonmembers.

Islip Terrace's election attracted about 460 voters - more than four times the number of members in the fire department, said John Faracco, a challenger who won a seat.

Faracco, a department member and former chief who owns a linen supply company, said he campaigned hard on a promise to eliminate waste from the district's approximately $2.2-million budget.

"I think it's time that people get more involved in watching the tax base - all their taxes," he said. With Paul LaRocco