By Carol P. Bartold 

Nov. 30, 2016: Two candidates will face off in the Eastchester Fire Board of Commissioners election to be held on Tuesday, December 13. The polling place at Bronxville Village Hall opens at 2:00 pm and will close at 9:00 pm. 

Stuart Rabin, a Town of Eastchester employee, will challenge incumbent commissioner Jerry Napolitano for a five-year seat on the board.

Both candidates cite transparency of communication to the residents of Bronxville, Tuckahoe, and Eastchester as a vital issue in the election. Napolitano, finishing his first term as a commissioner, stated that the board had no transparency five years ago when he was first elected. During his term, he said, the board has exercised open communication with the public not only by posting board meetings on YouTube for viewing, but also by automating department data and sharing it with citizens in the Eastchester Fire District.

Rabin disagrees with Napolitano. "Transparency is lacking," Rabin said. "The board acts in the best interests of themselves. It needs a push in a better direction for the betterment of the community." He feels that a Twitter feed and YouTube videos don't go far enough in providing the openness and accountability the board needs.

Also at issue in this election is the decision by the village trustees in Bronxville and Tuckahoe to follow the lead of the New York State Public Service Commission and discontinue collecting taxes from property owners to finance fire hydrant maintenance. Under the ordinances in effect in the villages, all water users, rather than only property owners, pay a municipal public fire protection surcharge on their water bills.

The Eastchester Town Board elected to continue collecting the fire hydrant maintenance tax from property owners. According to Napolitano, "This could effectively double-tax Bronxville and Tuckahoe residents."

Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin echoed Napolitano's concern that village residents could ultimately pay a portion of the Town of Eastchester's hydrant maintenance through town taxes.

"People tend to take fire safety for granted," Napolitano said. One of his primary aims in seeking a second term on the board is to "continue to educate the public about what they're paying for."

According to Rabin, the Eastchester Fire Board of Commissioners has a fiduciary duty to keep track of fire hydrants and their maintenance. He emphasized that the fire district must institute a proactive and preventive program in dealing with hydrant maintenance rather than react only when they're broken. He stated that there have been instances when firefighters have arrived on the scene of an emergency and found dry hydrants.

"I don't feel the board gives back to the community," Rabin said. "Its fiduciary duty is to collect taxes, reinvest in the community, and not save money on the side."

With 85 percent of the fire district's budget covering salaries and benefits, Napolitano said, the 15 percent remaining must be leveraged for operating costs and capital improvements. Those funds, he explained, are needed to purchase new equipment and upgrade the district's fire stations, all of which are at least seventy years old. "We maintain a public safety program twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week," he noted.

For the first time in an Eastchester Fire Board of Commissioners election, voters will use electronic voting machines. 

Pictured here:  Candidates for Eastchester fire commissioner Jerry Napolitano and Stuart Rabin.

Photos courtesy the candidates.