Letter to the Editor: Fire Commissioner Jerry Napolitano Urging Vote for Dennis Winter on December 8
To the Editor:
Dec. 2, 2015: On December 8, 2015, Dennis Winter will be running for re-election to the Town of Eastchester Board of Fire Commissioners.
Dennis has served as the board's chairman for the last three years and, under his leadership, the board has achieved many significant accomplishments, including:
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Transparency and accountability to the district taxpayers.
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Creation of an impartial board of fire district commissioners with no alliances to current or former fire district employees.
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Adoption of a 2016 budget with no increase to the current $16.5M property tax levy.
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Reduction of the fire district's property tax levy in 2015.
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Completion of critical revitalizations of two aging district firehouses.
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Increase in the district's insurance service office rating that places the fire district within the top 2% of fire departments nationwide; this rating can result in lower insurance premiums for homeowners within the Eastchester Fire District.
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Restructuring of the district's administrative office, including an appointment of a new treasurer and auditor.
The fire district election is especially important this year. His opponent, Cara Piliero, is the same former district treasurer whom the board placed on administrative leave in 2013 after an internal audit uncovered accounting irregularities.
The board's investigation found:
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Ms. Piliero billed health insurance premiums to some, but not all, of the retired firefighters required to pay such premiums, costing the fire district an estimated $800,000 in uncollected premiums.
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Ms. Piliero failed to bill two fire commissioners (who had previously been firefighters) for their percentage of health insurance costs.
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Ms. Piliero overpaid one retired firefighter $235,200 in disability payments over 13 years.
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Computer accounting records were improperly maintained. The new treasurer took over the department general ledger with a $30M deficit incorrectly recorded.
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While Ms. Piliero was treasurer on administrative leave, the fire district was paying her benefits and salary. The board subsequently found out she was also employed at the Greenburgh School District collecting a second paycheck and did not inform the fire district or the Greenburgh School District she was simultaneously collecting a full-time (40 hrs. per week, 9-5) salary from both entities.
Despite this alarming history, Ms. Piliero now seeks election to the Eastchester Board of Fire Commissioners, the very district she has instituted several legal actions against, which have been dismissed or withdrawn at a cost to taxpayers of $16,000 in legal fees.
Dennis's volunteerism to the district has been invaluable and greatly appreciated by his fellow commissioners and the citizens of the Town of Eastchester.
Your vote matters and is crucial to this year's election, so please get out and vote for Dennis Winter on December 8.
Jerry Napolitano
Commissioner, Eastchester Board of Fire Commissioners
Editor's note: MyhometownBronxville does not fact-check statements in letters to the editor, and the opinions do not necessarily reflect the thinking of its staff. Its objective in publishing letters to the editor is to give air to diverse thoughts and opinions of residents in the community.
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