By JEFF LIPTON
Bruce Frumer, 63, of Lido Beach, is challenging incumbent Thomas Manning, 66, of Point Lookout, for the five-year commissioner's term, which will begin on Jan. 1.Manning, who is serving as chairman of the fire district's five-member board of commissioners, is seeking a second term as commissioner after winning election to an open seat in 2003. Frumer, whose two children serve in the fire district, is running for an elected position for the first time.
The board of commissioners is responsible for handling all finances for the fire district, as well as setting policy and establishing regulations.
For more than 33 years, Manning has held various positions in the Lido and Point Lookout and Williston Park fire departments. In his first term as commissioner, Manning said he is proud of several accomplishments, including obtaining a new tower ladder truck, a new pumper, two new chiefs' cars, an ambulance and a fire police van. He said the equipment was obtained mostly through grants and capital reserve funds, without any expense to taxpayers. In addition, he said the fire district's tax rate has not been increased during the past two years, staying at $20.34 per $100 of assessed valuation of a home.
“We haven't raised our tax rate in two years because of grant money, proper management and being prudent with our budget and grants we receive,” said Manning. Frumer said if he is elected commissioner, he would take steps to increase recruitment and help in the retention of younger members of the local fire departments.
“They are not actively recruiting for the younger generation in the fire department, which is getting very old,” said Frumer. Frumer said he has been attending board meetings for the past six months, “listening to how they are spending their money and running the department, and I don't feel enough effort is being made in recruitment, getting younger people and keeping younger people.”
He said an EMT course is taught at Long Beach High School, and an effort should be made to recruit from that class.
“The department is very thin on the people who have advanced training,” said Frumer, whose son Joshua is a second lieutenant and a paramedic in the fire district and daughter Jessica is an EMT with the rescue unit out of Point Lookout.
He said the neighborhood, in general, is losing young families who can't afford to live in the community. “It's expensive for young families to move into the area,” he said. “The department is growing very old, which is why we need recruitment and retention of members.”
If he is re-elected, Manning said he would like to increase membership, as well as enlarge the training facility at Point Lookout Beach.
“In fact, I would like to update all the facilities,” said Manning of the four fire district buildings, and would like to use grant money to do it. “I would also like to install decontamination showers, so our members don't have to bring that stuff home to their families.”
In previous years, he said the board of commissioners was able to buy new fire hoses, breathing apparatus and supply 60 pagers to its members. In addition, the board was able to purchase 46 sets of “turnout” equipment, consisting of fire coats, helmets and boots at a cost of about $2,000 apiece, with federal grant money.
Manning, who has been involved with Lido and Point Lookout for more than a dozen years, including a stint as fire captain, called his first term as commissioner “a little bit of a learning experience,” with the state changing regulations and responsibilities for training.
Manning said he knows nothing about his opponent, but added, “everybody's got an opportunity to run.”
“All I know is that we've accomplished a lot and I've definitely been an asset to the district and to the community, and I'd like to continue along those lines,” said Manning, who in 1973 received the Congressional Medal of Merit for saving a 9-year-old girl from a house fire in Williston Park.
He added that the board “has worked together very harmoniously,” mixed in with “healthy discussion at times. But for the most part, we're on the same page, which is why we get a lot accomplished.”
He said voters should re-elect him for his “experience and foresight and wanting to bring the district into the future.” Frumer said he is not running because he thinks Manning is doing a poor job as commissioner, but he feels the time is right. The board, he said, appears to have “a disconnect” with the district's members and with the community.
But he agreed that the board has done “a marvelous job” in supplying its members with the necessary equipment. Frumer said he could help the board with projects and the districts $880,000-a-year budget, since he has more than 25 years of experience as a chemical and construction engineer working on government projects. “But most of all I want to strengthen the department and I think that we could do that through the youth,” said Frumer.
Comments about this story? Jlipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
