By: MIKE CAPUTO
In convincing fashion, incumbent Carey Welt was re-elected to a sixth term on the East Meadow Board of Fire Commissioners on Tuesday.
Welt garnered a total of 1,069 votes in the annual fire district election, held at headquarters and Station 4. The turnout was deemed by officials as average for a contested race, with a total of 1,322 people casting their votes at headquarters and Station No. 4.
With the current state of the economy being what it is, Welt stressed that he will work with the board to bring in additional sources of revenue and seek ways to cut costs.
"I hope to keep East Meadow in the forefront of being an excellent fire department -- providing excellent fire and emergency service -- and to see how we can do it with the least cost," Welt said.
Despite a valiant door-to-door and web campaign effort, challenger Mike Finnegan attained 253 votes.
On Wednesday, Finnegan noted that he was not disappointed at the voter figures because he thinks people concentrate more on school-related issues than the fire district. Finnegan intends to continue his role as a community watchdog over the fire district.
"My belief is people are looking at the school taxes and so overtaken by those school taxes," Finnegan said. "But if they knew all the facts about what transpires in the district --- cars, trips, cell phones, laptop computers -- you better believe they would be crying foul."
The next meeting of the Board of Fire Commissioners in on Monday, Dec. 15 at 8:30 p.m. at district headquarters on 197 East Meadow Avenue. Meetings of the Board of Fire Commissioners are open to the public, and are held on the second and third Monday of the month, unless noted otherwise.
Comments about this story? MCaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
