North Merrick re-elects fire commissioner

Greg Smith, a commissioner of the North Merrick Fire Department, won re-election on Dec. 9 to his seat on the department’s governing board. He defeated challenger Sean Kelleher, the department chief, 228-102.

Smith’s victory, with 69.1 percent of the vote to Kelleher’s 30.9 percent, greatly expanded on his razor-thin win, by five votes, in last year’s special election for a vacant seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners. In January, he begins a five-year term on the board, which oversees the department’s operations and finances, through 2019.

North Merrick voters also approved a ballot referendum for the purchase of two LIFEPAK 15s — defibrillators used in ambulances — for the department. The measure passed 125-25.