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Fire Commissioner's race in Massapequa heats up The race for a five-year seat on the Massapequa Board of Fire Commissioners is generating a lot of heat. As the campaign winds down to the Dec. 11 vote, candidate Pat Pogan, who is waging a challenge against incumbent Commissioner Denis Molloy, is charging that the district is playing favorites and doing everything it can to extinguish his chances of winning. District officials said that simply is not the case and that they are only working to ensure that all laws and regulations are followed and that the not for profit integrity of the district is maintained. The issue began early last week as Pogan was in the midst of mounting his campaign. He said he was told that his firehouse, the Park Firehouse, is prohibited by law from endorsing anyone, and that funds from Companies 3 and 5 cannot be used to pay for political advertising or to endorse any candidate. Pogan and others said that the members of the Park House took a vote and unanimously endorsed him for the seat. Those members also approved the expenditure of funds from the Park House Community Action Fund to pay for advertising in the Massapequa Post newspaper. Following that, however, Pogan was told by his captain that the fire district's attorney advised him that this would violate the department's not forprofit status. "Not-for-profits are not supposed to be political and endorse candidates because they could lose their special tax status among other things," said the district's attorney, Joe Frank of Sapienza & Frank in Massapequa. "The money in department funds is supposed to be used only for department purposes. If some inused dividuals or a group of people want to endorse him, that would be okay; they just cannot say they are representing the fire house." The funds that the members wanted to use are raised through contributions, not taxes, which, said Pogan, makes them different and allows them to be for different purposes. In fact, he said, candidates have been provided with money from that fund for their campaigns in 2004 and 2000. "My supporters are just trying to do the right thing and the fact that we can't use our name never came up before," said Pogan an 18-year member of the department. "We set up the Community Action Fund in 2000 specifically to take out advertising to endorse candidates and educate the public." "I can appreciate that they don't want us to use the name of the Massapequa Fire Department or District without permission, but I am not sure that is even written anywhere," said a Pogan supporter who asked that his name not be used. "We were not looking to represent the entire department, just make the public aware that we as the Park Firehouse believe Pogan is the best guy to represent the taxpayers because he's trustworthy, accountable and fiscally responsible." Massapequa Fire Chief Tom Kennally declined to comment, referring all questions to the district's attorney. Another Pogan supporter who also asked that his name not be used pointed to another issue that he said clearly violates the spirit and intent of election laws. He said that a district newsletter, mailed to every home last week, included a profile of Molloy. And, while the article does not say Molloy is seeking reelection, nor that the district supports him, the Pogan supporter called it a veiled attempt by the district to swing the election in Molloy's favor. Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Hanna said Pogan's claims are unfounded. "The newsletter was set up even before we knew that Pogan was running," said Hanna, adding that the story was to acknowledge Molloy's 15 years of service on the board, and all that he has done. "In no way was it designed to tell people who they should vote for." "It remains to be seen whether we'll be able to do this [use the funds for his campaign]," said Pogan. "Other firehouses in other municipalities have told me they regularly do it, so we need to find out what the truth is," he added. Molloy also declined to comment on the charges saying only that he has been doing a good job on the Board and is running on his record.
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