Fire commissioners serve an important role in their communities. They organize local fire departments, establish their operational procedures and, in so doing, decide how taxpayer money is spent.
The West Hempstead and Lakeview fire districts’ fire commissioner elections will take place on Dec. 9. The candidates in each district are running for five-year terms on a five-person board of commissioners.
In West Hempstead, incumbent Commissioner William D’Alessandro is being challenged for his seat on the board by firefighter Jonathan Poirot. Lakeview candidate Daniel McCrossin is running without a challenger.
Malverne doesn’t operate their firehouse this way, thus there are no elections to report for the village.
West Hempstead
D’Alessandro, 66, a board member for eight years, has served as chairman since January.
“I think we have a very good thing going with the five members of the board right now,” D’Alessandro said. “We all get along, we get along with the chief’s office, and we run like a very good clock. We do right by the taxpayers, we keep the budget as low as we possibly can, and we run the fire district very well.”
A lifelong West Hempstead resident, D’Alessandro joined the Fire Department in 1977 after graduating from high school. “It was a family business,” he said. “My dad was a 50-year member. My two brothers were chiefs and commissioners.”
D’Alessandro has been on the force for 48 years, and served as chief from 1991 to 1992.
After losing two earlier commissioner races, D’Alessandro was appointed to the board in 2017, when there was a vacancy. “The members of the board felt that I was well qualified because of my experience in the fire service as an ex-chief, the amount of years I had in the department, and my knowledge of firematics,” he said.
At the end of 2017, D’Alessandro was elected to serve the remaining three years of his term. In 2020 he was re-elected to a five-year term.
He serves as the department’s emergency medical services liaison, its primary contact with hospitals and health care organizations. He is also in charge of insurance, swearing in new members, ordering uniforms and ambulance billing. And as co-chairman of the Installation Committee, D’Alessandro organizes the department’s annual installation dinner.
“Since I’m home all day long, I take on anything else that needs to be done,” he said. “There are a lot of things that need to be done that I’m available to do during the day.”
D’Alessandro also oversees the department’s Length of Service Award Program. LOSAP is a state-run retirement benefit program for volunteer firefighters and EMS personal that is similar to a pension, intended to help retain volunteers by offering them financial benefits for their service.
Fire departments across the country face challenges in recruitment and retention, with many volunteer departments reporting significant turnover. D’Alessandro doesn’t see this as a major concern for the WHFD, however, he said, because it has many long-term volunteers whose children have joined the department to continue family legacies of service. As well, recreational activities, such as the junior firefighter program and the department’s participation in fire drill competitions, attract many young recruits.
Poirot, D’Alessandro’s challenger, said he was open to finding new methods to increase recruitment and retention in the district. “It’s very tough to be a volunteer these days,” he said. “But in West Hempstead we do actually have a couple paid employees within the department, so I just would make sure we’re putting people in the right positions to keep our emergency system working.”
Poirot, 43, is a correction officer for the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department. A lifelong West Hempstead resident, he joined WHFD in 2001, when he turned 18.
“I joined because, in my senior year of high school, I took an EMT class and became an EMT,” Poirot said. “I decided I would really like to be a first responder, and joined the Fire Department.”
Over the course of his 24 years in the department, Poirot has served as rescue director, and is an adviser to the junior firefighter program. He also oversees the fire prevention education programs for the West Hempstead schools.
If elected, Poirot said, he would bring his experience with emergency medical services and a fresh perspective to the board. He is willing to take on any duties to help the board keep the district safe.
“I feel I can do a really good job at being commissioner,” Poirot said. “I have new ideas. I would keep the Fire Department’s traditions, but I want to bring new ideas in.”
Those ideas, he said, include offering junior firefighters more practical experience, and updating department equipment to increase lifesaving capabilities — for example, purchasing an electric stretcher that can raise a patient into an ambulance, which has been shown to reduce injuries among paramedics while handling patients.
“It would mean a lot to me to be elected as fire commissioner,” Poirot said, “knowing that I have the support of the town, and to help run the district while making it better. I feel I could be a really good addition to the fire district.”
Lakeview
McCrossin, 39, is a resident of West Hempstead but lives within the Lakeview Fire District. The owner of a construction business, he has been a member of the Lakeview Fire Department for 14 years, and currently serves as a lieutenant.
He joined the department to “give back to the community and help people,” he said.
This is McCrossin’s first run for commissioner. McCrossin said he decided to run for the seat because “it would give me another insight into how the Fire Department works and allow me more access to help.
“As a firefighter, we’re limited to when there’s an emergency or a call that goes off, and there might not be one,” he continued. “As a commissioner, I feel like there’s a day-to-day job and things that need to be done to continue the fire service.”
McCrossin said his years of firefighting and business experience would be of value to the board. “I can use some of my skills to help the Fire Department,” he said.
“Once elected, I would fulfill my duties to the best of my ability to help all the residents of the Lakeview fire district.”
Voting will take place on Dec. 9, between 6 and 9 p.m., at the West Hempstead department, at 295 Hempstead Turnpike, and at the Lakeview department, at 891 Woodfield Road.
