During the Dec. 15 New Hyde Park Fire District open board meeting, fellow New Hyde Park resident Erin Bonura, daughter of Chairman-Elect Commissioner Michael Bonura, made certain comments about my campaign to make the operations of the fire district transparent.
Sadly, Ms. Bonura’s comments at the open board meeting were made without knowledge of the operations of the fire district and its board over the past several years.
Ms. Bonura is sadly misinformed about what has transpired in this special district.
To be clear, while I have been justifiably critical of the Board’s operations, I have never called into question the heroic job the volunteers, and paid EMTs, that the New Hyde Park Fire District undertake on a daily basis.
My family, too, has a proud extensive legacy of serving this community as volunteer firefighters, including our mother as a five-term president ladies auxiliary member, and even to this country, as members of the United States Marine Corps and Army.
Most notably, is my father, former Commissioner Michael Dolan, being a Purple Heart recipient from his service during the Vietnam War, and my brother, Michael Jr., whom has honorably served two tours in Iraq.
The entire Dolan family is no stranger to the concept of public service, or the sacrifices made by the brave fire fighters and EMTs of this District.
My quarrel with the board of the special district does not arise from any personal vendetta relating to the baseless and false criminal charges brought against my father and brother — charges which the Nassau district attorney and the Supreme Court of the State of New York ultimately dismissed as being baseless.
Redress for those politically motivated malicious acts by former, and current members of the board, is currently in the hands of a federal judge.
My initial involvement with the Board relates to issues of impropriety and egregious errors relating to meeting minutes, which began with the falsification of meeting minutes from the April 16 and May 7, 2013 board meetings.
Those minutes reflected a vote that did not take place during an open board meeting and identified the vote as being unanimous.
Since then, this board has continually ignored the will of the people who asked for meeting minutes to be posted on the Department website.
A task that the vast majority of Long Island, and New York State Fire Districts and special districts, perform on a monthly basis to allow the general public the ability to view what is occurring within the special district that they are funding with their hard earned money.
Over 500 residents of the New Hyde Park Fire District have sought this access, by way of formal petition, which has fallen on the deaf ears of the board. Stonewalling continues to show the lack of concern this district has for its residents and how far behind the district is in providing transparency into its operations that tax payers expect.
Echoing the obstructionist sentiments of the Board, Ms. Bonura, during the Dec. 15 meeting stated: “[i]t is my humble opinion as a member of this community that if you have never run into a burning building or saved a person’s life, that you are in no position to lecture the organization providing those services, on how you feel it should be run or what you think you are entitled to.”
She continued by stating, “[t]he fact that we as members of this community can attend these meetings and speak freely is a privilege. . .”
Regardless of the comments made by young Ms. Bonura regarding her “humble opinion,” on whether district residents that are not fire fighters or board members should have any input on how this special district should be run, each and every resident of this special district has the right to be heard and to voice their opinion — especially regarding matters concerning the budget.
Fire commissioners make most of the key decisions affecting fire and emergency medical service throughout New York State.
Fire commissioners sit on boards which have the authority to raise taxes and approve large budgets. The role of a fire commissioner should not be taken lightly and the residents of this and every special district have a right to be heard and a right to question how government is run.
Moreover, it is a basic tenant of American government found in a number of places, such as the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which gives us a right to be heard.
This is something that I would hope Ms. Bonura, and the board, would be familiar with.
What Ms. Bonura and the board do not understand is that the privilege is not mine or yours that we are able to attend open board meetings.
The privilege lies in the elected officials of the Board that serve the public. They are public servants; we are not the servant public. The United States Constitution, New York State Constitution and New York State’s Open Meetings Law ensure that is the case.
I encourage the residents of the New Hyde Park Fire District to attend open board meetings and become involved in the process on the first and third Tuesday of every month at 8:00 p.m.
Together we can push to make our local government more transparent.
Deirdre Dolan
New Hyde Park
