Tradeski Wins Fire Commissioner Election By Two Votes

After the ballot counting of last week's election for fire commissioner was essentially put on pause to count 11 affidavit ballots, about a dozen people gathered at the fire department headquarters on Monday evening to find that John Tradeski Jr. sustained his lead over James Carey. Barely.

Tradeski won the election, 331-329, perfectly illustrating the old adage that 'every vote counts.'

"Now I'll be able to sleep," said Tradeski Jr., an ex-chief and veteran of Riverhead Fire Department for the past 33 years. "It was definitely a challenge."

On Monday night, a representative from the Board of Election spoke on a conference call while district secretary Bob Zaweski opened the previously sealed affidavit ballots and stated the voters' names. The BOE then verified the address of the person, and Zaweski would verify the date of birth. 

Eight of the 11 ballots belonged to unregistered voters, not even giving Carey a chance to climb out of his 5-vote deficit leading into the count. He did, however, win all three affidavit votes. 

Carey was home sick Monday night and unable to attend the count.

According to Pam Carey, his wife, two of the eight unregistered affidavit ballots belonged to Jamesport Fire District residents and two from Wading River Fire District. Another two had supposedly missed deadlines for filing. She said the paperwork for one voter was never received, and another she was unsure about.

Carey noted dissatisfaction with the layout at the headquarters when people came to vote last Tuesday. So many people reportedly came to vote that at one point the line went outside, and voters - standing in the cold - decided against casting their votes and went home. She said within an hour, though, the line was brought inside.

Despite the final outcome, she said she was happy that "more people are aware what goes on now. You can't raise taxes year after year."

Both Tradeski Jr. and Carey ran on fiscal responsibility platforms.