By JEFF LIPTON
Gary Viscio, 42, an Oceanside resident since 2000 and an attorney who practices insurance litigation and corporate law in Rockville Centre, announced that he will challenge incumbent Oceanside Fire Commissioner Paul Napoli in the December election. The post is for a five-year term on the board.
Viscio is representing a female firefighter in a sexual harassment lawsuit against the fire department and said that if he¹s elected commissioner, he probably would have to recuse himself from the case.
This year, candidates will be vying for two seats on the board, instead of the usual one, because commissioner William F. Lynch resigned suddenly in June, tossing his seat up for grabs. Lynch¹s vacated seat is for a three-year term, to finish his remaining term in office.
Viscio said he¹s running for the first time because he¹s disenchanted with the way the commissioners have handled themselves.
³I¹m just really sick and tired, as a resident of Oceanside and a former member of the fire department, to see all the wasteful spending and the commisioners doing what they want and not being held accountable for anything,² said Viscio, a volunteer firefighter for three departments over 10 years, including the OFD for four years in the early 1990s.
He accused the commissioners of treating fire chiefs, firefighters and district employees as ³second-class citizens.² He said, for example, the commissioners have allotted fire chiefs 85 gallons per month for gasoline.
³That¹s totally ridiculous,² said Viscio. ³They respond [to emergencies] from all over. Most chiefs respond to calls from family parties, from work and functions out of the community. Eighty-five gallons for a Suburban with a 30-gallon gas tank? That¹s less than one full tank per week. And this is the commissioners¹ attempt at cutting budgets?²
Napoli did not respond to a call for a comment, but Oceanside Fire Commissioner Douglas DiCeglio defended the board against Viscio¹s accusations. He said the board is trying to cut down on the personal use of department cars and is willing to pay for 100 percent of the gas used by the chiefs on top of the 85 gallons ³if they can demonstrate to us that it is needed to do their job.²
³We¹re trying to balance the needs of the firefighters while keeping the taxpayers in mind,² said DiCeglio, who added that the district¹s budgets have been kept below a 3 percent increase each year.
Viscio also charged that the commissioners hold closed-door meetings, during which decisions are made that should be carried out in public sessions. He said the meetings held in private, called executive sessions, should only be used in cases when personnel issues are being discussed to protect the privacy of those individuals.
³It¹s totally inept the way they do things,² Viscio said of the commissioners. ³Every meeting they hold should be done in public unless it deals with a private matter. If I¹m commissioner, there will be no more closed-door meetings.²
DiCeglio strongly denied that commissioners hold closed-door meetings. ³I don¹t see that happening,² DiCeglio said. ³They are open meetings. People who come to the meetings are being informed.
³He¹s making comments, but he doesn¹t have the data or the factual information [to back it up],² said DiCeglio of Viscio.
Viscio said if he¹s elected commissioner, he will initiate widespread changes that will lead to a more responsive and efficient board of commissioners.
³From what I¹ve seen and been told, the commissioners have done a terrible job, and for the sake of residents of the community, district employees, chiefs and members of the department, sweeping changes have to be made,² said Viscio.
DiCeglio said he believes the commissioners are ³doing an excellent job.²
Dennis McGlynn, who was defeated in December 2005 by Lynch, has already announced that he will seek election to fill Lynch¹s remaining three years on the board.
Napoli, who has served 10 years as commissioner, has already announced he¹s seeking a third term on the board.
Candidates have until Nov. 21 to file petitions to be on the December ballot.
Comments about this story? Jlipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
