Proposed legislation targets fire district elections
Groton - State Rep. John F. Scott has introduced a bill that would change the way fire districts elect their boards of directors, and will pursue it despite recent changes at the Poquonnock Bridge Fire District, he said Wednesday.
Poquonnock Bridge, the largest of nine fire districts in Groton, recently increased its staffing and decided to buy a combination ladder and pumper truck. But the improvement followed more than a year of financial crisis, loss of the department's only ladder truck, legal fights with the union, closure of one of its two fire stations and layoffs.
"The situation has improved, but the issue that really has been brought to the forefront because of the situation over there, is the elections process," Scott said.
Fire district boards in Groton are elected at annual meetings attended by relatively few residents compared to the size of the districts, allowing a small number of people to decide the taxes of many, he said.
"If there's a fire district in your town and you decide that you'd like to take over the fire department, you get 25 or 30 of your friends and neighbors together, and that might just be five more people than the crowd at the annual meeting," Scott said. "You can vote yourself in and nobody really knows anything about you."
The proposed legislation would change the process so fire district boards are elected the same way communities elect a town council or board of selectmen. Local Democratic and Republican committees would nominate potential board members, nominees would campaign and their names would appear on the ballot during municipal elections. A caucus would nominate board members if a fire district straddled multiple towns. Groton has nine fire districts, two of which extend into Stonington.
If approved, the law would apply to all fire districts. The Office of Policy and Management provides grants to 44 fire districts statewide, said Gian-Carl Casa, undersecretary for legislative affairs. But there may be more that don't receive grants, he said.
James O'Neil, president of the Connecticut State Firefighters Association Inc. and fire chief in Thomaston in Lichfield County, said every community is facing financial pressure.
"We're all fighting for dollars in some shape or form," he said. A taxpayer group could influence the outcome in a community regardless of the government structure, he said.
Some fire districts have found arrangements that work for them, O'Neil said. While changing the law on elections might help Poquonnock Bridge, it could force unwanted change elsewhere. "My (thought) process is, if it's not broke, don't fix it," he said.
Poquonnock Bridge District board member Ron Yuhas said he understands Scott's concern that votes could be swayed depending on who attends an annual meeting.
But that's not the real issue, Yuhas said.
"The bigger problem is the independent districts," he said. "It should just be one big town department run by the town to save taxpayers money."
Mystic Fire District Chief Frank Hilbert said districts have worked with annual meetings for years.
"You try to find a legislative solution to a local problem and, in many cases, I don't think it's necessary," he said.
The bill has been referred to the joint Government Administration and Elections Committee. A public hearing on the matter has not yet been scheduled.
d.straszheim@theday.com
Twitter: @DStraszheim
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