Candidates for Fire Commissioner Agree on One Thing: Watching the Budget

Two longtime volunteer firefighters are vying for an open seat Tuesday on the Riverhead Board of Fire Commissioners. Voting will take place at the Riverhead Fire District Headquarters from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

John Tradeski Jr. and James Carey will face-off to fill the seat, with a five-year term, vacated by William Bilski, a 20-year incumbent.

In separate interviews, both stressed the need to control spending, Carey moreso than Tradeski.

"You can't just cut things like [Carey] would like to," said Tradeski, a department chief from 1997-1999 and member of the department for over 30 years. "We have safety mandates we have to adhere to through NFPA (National Fire Protection Association)."

Tradeski touted his experience as chief as one of his qualifications, though Carey voiced the need for a different perspective on the Board of Commissioners. Currently, all five Commissioners are ex-chiefs.

"We need to get an individual in there who is, number one, not an ex-chief," said Carey, a retired construction foreman and current member of Teamsters Local 282. "Number two, we need an independent thinker; and three, we need someone who will work for the taxpayer. I'm a taxpayer first, and a volunteer second."

Tradeski described himself as an independent thinker, saying that he doesn't always agree or disagree with everyone. Making his third bid for Fire Commissioner, he said he would like to begin a junior firefighter program to involve the town's youth.

While Carey, a volunteer for 20 years, voiced more of a need for reducing the fire district budget, he said he would only do so "without jeopardizing safety."

According to Town Assessor Paul Leszczynski, the Riverhead Fire District levies approximately 3 percent of the average tax bill for residents living in the Riverhead Fire District. For a taxpayer with $50,000 of assessed value, Leszczynski said, next year's tax bill will jump $9.50 to $356.70.

, a result of multiple factors, said secretary Robert Zaweski in October, before a public hearing on the budget: a $14.7 million bond the town approved a few years ago, increased employee training, and the cost of maintaining older structures.

Carey said he questioned at the budget hearing whether the district is receiving any rental payments from the town for using the old fire headquarters on Second Street as storage; he said the answer was, "no." He also said he would also like to see more transparency in the future. For example, he would like to break down the budget further for the public to see more line items, and make more of an opportunity to get information on budgets and district votes out to the public. He added that four members of the public attended October's public hearing on the 2011 budget - two of them being himself and Tradeski.

Tradeski said he would use his experience at Brookhaven National Lab, where he works as a technical specialist, to make a fair budget for taxpayers. Tradeski added that he recently served on a committee to price out fire pumpers. Though the cost of a single pumper totaled $700,000, he was able to help get the district two for $820,000.

Both candidates for Commissioner at least agreed on one area where the district may be able to shop around and save some money in the future: insurance.

"The insurance was about $1.1 million (out of a $4.5 million budget)," said Tradeski. "That includes workman's compensation, employees in the district, the fire apparatuses. I think that would be one way to maybe find a tentative way to cut costs ... But we can say 'cut' all we want. If we get less than what we're getting, I don't think that's a fair option."