The race for a seat on Montauk Fire District's board of commissioners is contested this year, with two experienced first responders facing off for a five-year term. Voting is Tuesday from 2 to 9 p.m. at the Fire Department headquarters on Flamingo Avenue. All registered voters in Montauk are eligible to cast ballots; the commissioner's election is not limited to department members.
Jim Wright is a department member and incumbent commissioner seeking a second term, and Donna Hitscherich is a volunteer Montauk firefighter and paramedic running for her first seat at the commissioner's table. For a partial term created when a previous commissioner resigned midyear, Tom Dess, who has served two previous terms on the board, is running unopposed.
Ms. Hitscherich, who now lives in Culloden Shores full time after being a summer resident for many years, is a member of the finance department faculty at Columbia University, where she lectures on discipline in business and directs the private equity program. She previously had a career in investment banking. She has been a volunteer firefighter and paramedic for more than 17 years. Ms. Hitscherich is the administrator of its CPR and automated external defibrillator (A.E.D.) programs for the St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church. She teaches CPR and is a certification instructor for the National Association of E.M.T.s. She helped secure $300,000 in Federal Emergency Management Agency grants for the Montauk Fire District, including for power stretchers, cardiac monitors, replacements for 17-year-old A.E.D.s, and more.
"There are important issues that need to be considered carefully," Ms. Hitscherich said in an interview. "I'm passionate about the safety of my community. I've been here since my parents bought a Leisurama in 1965. I'm proud of the department . . . and I think I can do more if I had a seat at the table."
Mr. Wright, who first came to Montauk as a commercial fisherman about 30 years ago, is the owner of a property care business, managing several large estates. He is also an Army veteran. In his first term on the board of commissioners, he said, he used his experience in property management to oversee the renovation of the department substation, secure new garage doors and LED lighting for the facilities, and begin a boiler replacement project. He said his skills include being a team player and people person who is adept at managing contracts and facilities. He said he is running again at the request of "a lot of prominent Montauk people."
"I really try hard to support the paid paramedics and all the men and women of the Fire Department, who do a great job," he said in an interview.
Mr. Dess, a 42-year veteran of the State Parks Department, is running unopposed to fill a vacant seat for the next two years. He oversees state parks on the South Fork including Hither Hills, Camp Hero, Montauk Downs, and others. He said his work managing budgets and facilities, as well as staff training and safety considerations, mirrors what he has done and enjoys doing for the fire district. He and Mr. Wright are running together.
"Basically it's my whole career — following the rules, staying organized, getting the job done," Mr. Dess said.
Mr. Wright has responded to concerns raised over his residency — he is currently living in East Hampton while his spouse, Dr. Ralph Gibson, is caring for his ailing mother — by saying he has consulted with multiple attorneys who say his candidacy in Montauk is valid. Mr. Wright said he still owns property in the hamlet, receives mail and votes there, and that it's his intention to move back as soon as the health care situation allows — meaning that he can still hold elected office in Montauk.
Ms. Hitscherich has responded to concerns raised over her candidacy as well. She said someone posted only part of a news article, out of context, around the hamlet suggesting that her service to the Rockville Centre Fire Department was marked by controversy after she pointed out that certain necessary ambulance equipment had not been installed and filed a complaint with the state. It left a mistaken impression, she said, "that I sued Rockville Centre, which is not true, and that I may have done something illegal in Rockville Centre, which is also not true."
A 2013 letter from Joseph Lenahan, then chief of the Montauk department, confirmed that Ms. Hitscherich never received any New York State service credits or other benefits from Montauk while she was formally volunteering UpIsland, and calls her an "asset" to the fire and E.M.S. service.