By Deborah S. Morris
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2007 Newsday, Inc.
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — New State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli yesterday made an issue of sweeping significance on Long Island - the conduct of fire districts and fire companies - the subject of his first major oversight proposals.
The former Nassau County assemblyman, tapped recently by state lawmakers for the new job, credited earlier work by his office in proposing new regulations setting training requirements for fire district commissioners.
“It certainly is an important issue and one that this office has been working on for a period of time,” DiNapoli said yesterday, also citing work by Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst) to pass fire district oversight legislation last summer. “We didn’t want to hold up an important initiative any longer. This will really help local officials to do the job the right way with integrity and expertise.”
Doug Muzzio, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College, noted that DiNapoli, who was tapped for the job over the objections of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, picked an issue that has had its fair share of news coverage.
“Clearly one would have expected, considering the controversy surrounding him when he got the job, that he would have come up with something more to establish his name, not something that had been done already,” Muzzio said. “But it’s a small step. He knows he has four years to get established.”
DiNapoli’s regulations would require that within 270 days of taking office, all fire district commissioners get at least six hours of training in such issues as fire district management, travel procedures and policies, internal controls, fraud and abuse detection, conflicts of interest and ethics.
Districts would be required to hold annual budget hearings, adopt a code of ethics and comply with new requirements for establishing capital reserve funds and for paying travel expenses for district personnel.
“The training requirement will fundamentally reform how these entities operate and will ensure better management of public funds,” DiNapoli said. “Besides the auditing function, this office also wants to play a role as a guide dog, so they can do right by the taxpayers.”
Giovanni Graceffa, chairman of the Syosset fire commissioners board, said the new training schedule will serve as protection in the long run.
“There’s got to be some kind of understanding, a standard, where we are held accountable,” Graceffa said. “At the end of the day after training I can’t use the line, ‘I didn’t know.’ If the state thinks we need more training, we are behind them 100 percent.”
The particulars of the training still must be worked out. The public will have 45 days to comment on the proposed regulations, state officials said.
Although for years commissioners have been trained through seminars and conferences, the proposed regulations are more structured.
“We all have to be held accountable for our actions with what we do within our fire districts,” said Billy Theis, a Terryville commissioner. “Fire commissioners work very hard for their districts and more training would be a benefit.”
Charles Smith, a commissioner in Bay Shore, said he welcomes the training, but that everything must be spelled out.
“The state needs to be more specific in their laws and guidelines of what they expect of us,” he said. “If you give it to two lawyers, each reads it a different way. That’s not right.”
OUT OF COMFORT ZONE
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said yesterday past audits by the comptroller’s office uncovered “troubling details... regarding unchecked spending.”
Among expenditures uncovered by Newsday in the past are deluxe hotel accommodations at conferences, extravagant recreation rooms in firehouses, race cars, hand-tailored cashmere suits and custom shirts, and non-itemized meal expenses.
Extinguishing financial excess
Regulations proposed by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli to strengthen oversight of fire districts and fire companies in New York State call for:
All fire district commissioners must get at least six hours of training on their responsibilities within 270 days of taking office.
Training course content must include information on fire district management, travel procedures and policies, procurement and disposition of fire district assets, internal controls, detection of fraud and abuse, conflicts of interest and ethics.
Fire districts must hold annual budget hearings, adopt a code of ethics, and comply with new requirements for establishing capital reserve funds and for paying travel expenses.
Fire districts with revenue of more than $200,000 also will be required to obtain an annual independent audit through a competitive process and limit the audit contract to five years.