Rich Stein said he has spent the last four years as a commissioner in the New Hyde Park Fire District talking to volunteers in the fire department and residents in the community.
“Over the last few years, I have worked hard. I’ve listened to the needs of loyal volunteers within the fire department. I’ve also listened to the needs of the community,” Stein said.
Stein said he hopes to put what he has learned in these conversation to good use in a third term.
Stein, 57, who has been a member of the New Hyde Park Fire Department for the past 39 years, is running for re-election against Anthony Vaglica in the Dec. 13 election.
In running for re-election, Stein points to a record in helping to cut costs in the fire district and getting grant money.
One $6,000 county grant, secured through Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello, provided the department with gas detectors. A $96,000 federal grant provided for paramedic training, as well as upgrades for the firehouse and firefighting equipment.
“We’ve been going for grants. We’ve never done that before,” he said.
Stein, who has served for 20 years as a deputy safety inspector for the New York City Fire Department, has held the posts of lieutenant, captain and safety officer as a member of Active Hook & Ladder Co. 1. He also regularly responds to emergency medical calls the department receives.
He said his primary objective is “to keep taxes down,” which he said, “I’ve been very instrumental in doing for the past four years.”
Stein said the fire district has reduced the budget successively for the past four years while maintaining the same levels of fire safety prevention and response time for residents.
Stein said he’s also improved the working environment in the department by keeping its members in a safe working environment and recognizing them for their achievements.
Vaglica has promised to try to reduce the $400,000 the fire district currently pays to the Western Nassau Water Authority for rental of fire hydrants. But Stein said the costs are outside the fire district’s control.
“We are concerned about it. We’d all like to cut it down. Unfortunately the Western Nassau Water Authority is implementing it,” he said.
A lifelong resident of New Hyde Park, Stein is a graduate of New Hyde Park Memorial High School.
“I can’t think of any other place to live,” he said.
In discussing costs cut during his tenure, Stein cited the replacement of two full-time maintenance positions in the district’s two firehouses with two part-time positions, which eliminated the cost of paying benefits.
Stein has been named fireman of the year and earned “Man of the Year” honors from the local Republican Party last summer.
He has also served as chief of New Hyde Park Auxiliary Fire Department, and on the executive board of the Nassau County Fire Museum. He also is special assistant to New Hyde Park Village Justice Chris Devaine and a former assistant to Nassau County Court Judge David Sullivan.
Stein is an active member of the Gladiator Club, the New Hyde Park alumni club that raises money to help disabled children, and he is volunteer with Wounded Warrior, the fire department-based group that raises funds to help disabled military veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He also a member of the local Elks and Lions Clubs.
In a role he’ll be reprising on Saturday afternoon, he has portrayed Santa Claus at the annual village tree-lighting festivities for the past 30 years. He said he hope to keep doing it for another 30 years.
