Petitions Filed Requesting Referendum on VOL Paid Fire Chief

Firefighters and Village Board Await Judge’s Ruling

by Joan R. Simon

(June 14, 2007) Volunteer firefighters filed a stack of petitions with the Larchmont Village clerk on Wednesday, June 13, requesting a referendum on two Village Board resolutions that installed a paid fire chief in place of the traditional volunteer chief. (See: Larchmont Appoints Paid Fire Chief; Many Volunteers Resign.) There were 850 signatures on petitions relating to the May 16 appointment of career firefighter Richard Heine as chief at an annual salary of $115K and 835 signatures on petitions relating to concomitant changes in the volunteer Fire Council. Those numbers were comfortably above the 761 signatures (20% of registered voters) required for a referendum.

According to the Fire Council, the board’s actions are tantamount to a partial abolishment of the fire department and therefore subject to a permissive referendum of village voters. The voters must request the referendum within 30 days of the board’s action, or by June 15 in this case.

"The petitions speak loudly of the profound concerns Larchmont residents have about the board's actions," said Ned Benton, a former Village of Larchmont trustee and one of the volunteer firefighters suing the board over the hiring of the paid chief. "It shouldn't take a court to get the board to slow down and reconsider what they've done," he added.

Meanwhile, both sides in the dispute are awaiting an imminent decision by Westchester Supreme Court Justice Orazio Bellantoni on the volunteers’ suit. Final papers were filed last Friday, June 8, and the judge said he would rule as quickly as possible. (See: War of Words over Larchmont Fire Department Heats Up.)

Another significant date looms: the Fire Council has reported that 22 of the 28 most active volunteer firefighters will be resigning this month, beginning on Saturday, June 16. Already, one of two deputy chiefs resigned this week.

The Village Board, however, sees the situation in a more positive light. Asked to comment on the petitions, Mayor Liz Feld e-mailed the following: “The matter is working its way through the courts. In the meantime, the Board is unified in its view that a full time, professional Chief is in the best interests of the Village.” She noted that all calls for service are being answered, “and we are working with Chief Heine to make the improvements everyone agrees need to be made to maximize the $2.4 million resources of the department.”

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