Copyright 2005 Newsday, Inc.
By MICHAEL ROTHFELD
Staff Writer
The chairman of the State Senate’s Homeland Security Committee yesterday said he would call a summit to explore improving coordination and efficiency in local fire and emergency services in light of Newsday’s “Fire Alarm” series.
The eight-day series detailed problems with response times, spending and oversight among the patchwork of volunteer departments across Long Island. A summit will give local leaders a chance to explore those issues further and possibly lead to changes in state law, said state Sen. Michael Balboni (R-East Williston).
“It’s about time that we looked at all of this,” said Balboni, citing the “balkanization” of 179 separate fire agencies. “When you take a look at it from 10,000 feet, you say, ‘This is absurd. How could this possibly be?’”
Balboni and other elected officials in both parties who reacted to Newsday’s series uniformly praised the dedication of volunteers, who, in dwindling numbers, fight fires and make ambulance runs at a moment’s notice.
But some said the current system, which costs $319 million a year, is so fragmented as to thwart effectiveness and accountability. Fire stations are located very close to each other, and Long Island departments acquire far more trucks and equipment than is common elsewhere. And while more money is spent on firefighting, most emergency calls today are for medical services.
“The needs of the Island have changed,” said state Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset). “Forty years ago they were fighting fires. Today, they’re not.” He suggested more of a mix of paid and volunteer emergency medical workers, a phenomenon already quietly growing on Long Island to meet the demand.
Others focused on increasing auditing, based on reports in the series that elected fire district leaders used taxpayer funds or donations for training trips to the Bahamas and other exotic destinations, lavish banquets, huge firehouses with extensive bars, and more. The state comptroller has not audited a Long Island fire district since 2001.
“Accountability will be the key word going forward,” said Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), who is considering legislation that would strengthen state auditing powers. “I’m confident we will make changes that will accomplish that.”
On the North Shore of Nassau County, officials in three tiny villages have banded together to try to gain leverage over the fire companies that they say provide little explanation of how they are spending local tax dollars.
“I’d like it to lead to a place where they’re accountable or responsible to some government agency or someone,” Laurel Hollow Mayor Denise DeVita said. “They’re too large a part of every village’s budget.”
Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson said town officials should be given review power over budgets now approved by elected fire commissioners. Towns raise the fire taxes, but cannot alter the budgets under state law.
North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, meanwhile, said his aides would look globally at the town’s 48 fire, garbage, water and other special districts.
“The goal is to better understand special districts, how they operate, what they do, and to be a resource for the districts and the people who benefit from them,” Kaiman said.
Balboni said his goal is to “achieve economies of scale and uniformity of expenditures” in the districts, which are governed by state law.
He plans to hold his summit early next year followed by a legislative hearing. The topics he intends to examine include conducting an inventory of fire equipment across Long Island, consolidating some districts and possibly adding others, and giving county governments power to dispatch emergency calls that sometimes go unanswered now. Fire officials said they would participate.
“Most of the negative things that Newsday pointed out we were well aware of and have been working to examine and take hold of ourselves,” said Andrew DeMartin, vice chairman of the Nassau County Fire Commission.
While they appeared wary that a call for change could lead toward a paid fire service replacing the volunteers, a trend occurring across the country, DeMartin said he trusted that Balboni “would have no ulterior motive for destruction of the fire service or unionizing the fire service.” Balboni said that was not his intent.
“This is not a witch-hunt,” he said.
In an interview, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi called the summit “an excellent idea.” To succeed, Suozzi said, any attempt at change must acknowledge the volunteers’ efforts, recognize the problems, be bipartisan and involve multiple levels of government.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, a strong supporter of local volunteer fire departments, noted in a statement that counties have no legal authority in the area.
“If asked, I would always consider working with my colleagues at the state level to discuss the issue,” Levy said.
Sweeney, chairman of the Assembly’s committee on local governments, said he would look at giving more resources to the comptroller’s office to audit fire districts if necessary. He also said he is considering legislation to close legal loopholes that exist for auditing some types of fire companies.
In a statement, State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, a Democrat who has been auditing Long Island schools following the Roslyn scandal, did not commit to looking at fire districts. He criticized “extravagant expenditures by some districts,” however, and said he would continue providing financial management training to fire officials. He invited anyone with concerns about a specific district to contact his office.