1. Please go out and vote right after Shabbos. It is very important.

2. Can someone please explain what the importance is for this position? What does that position fulfill

3. yes it is. The fire department has been spending like drunk sailors. The need for two brand new firs staions next door to each other is outrageous. Why the paid and volunteer could not share a garage is betond me.

4. What are the qualifications of these two candidates?

5. Did anyone bother to think about what happens if the firefighters themselves get ticked off? Right now Lakewood is an almost all volunteer service. What happens when we don’t provide some perks and all the volunteers take their services elsewhere? The budget will more than double just to cover salaries. EXAMPLE: Volunteer – Current Budget (includes only 3 salaries) – $3.2 million. Paid service – 20 active firefighter at all times – 8 hour shifts w/ a salary of $75,000 + benefits = 20 x 3 x 100,000 = $6 million dollars. A little foresight goes a long way. “Ayzehu chochom, haroieh es hanoled”

6. the fire department spend 740 thousand dollars on salaries plus benefits are more than half of that $470,000.00 when if im not mistaken they have two trucks on the paid team that would leave 6 paid guys if they rotate every 8 hours!! that is a heck of lot of money for salaries and benefits!! i think that money should be allocated to help fight crime in town why are we losing cops by the dozens and not rehiring?? the answer is cauz the fire commissioners control their own budget and no one bothers to come out and vote so no one cares and they do what they want!!!! why in this ecconmy are they renovating fire houses??? where is gov christie???

   say no to the budget!! tell them we care, its our money!!!

7. “Resident” your comments are completely inaccurate – Look at the budget compared to other towns in Monmouth and Ocean County? Some of those towns have 3, 4 or 5 Districts, and you must add each Districts budgets together to get the full budget for that town. You should probably be a little more aware of the facts prior to making such a statement.

8. how many times do they have to explain the two fire houses are for different personnel, different operations, paid and volunteer. Unclog the ears and pay attention before you run your mouth…er, keyboard.

9. How many people total are on the board? Will two new members be enough of a change to make a difference?
   (I’m not being adversarial, I just want to understand. The fire commissioner position has never been a dominant issue, so most of us are clueless as to how it affects us. Thanks.)

10. A little insensitive and probably illegal to hold elections on Saturday in a town with a large religious community.

11. its not local money who cares how nice they make it

12. they can win just like the greatest askin in lkwd menashe miller won
    simply write in CAN win it

13. …. so what are these new candidates going to do any different that makes it so important to vote.

14. לא תעמוד על דם רעיך

    IS THIS SMART? The last time this was tried, the head of fire volunteers told then-mayor Harrison: “If you mess with us, WE WONT PUT OUT YOUR FIRES!”

    After all the talk of wasteful spending (which is no doubt true!) we are dealing with Nefashos. We are in Galus and can not cure every problem by flexing of muscles.

    PLEASE do NOT do this!

15. What does the Fire Commissioner do?
    What are his responsibilities?
    What is more important, that he have background in accounting or in Fire Fighting?
    Is the Vaad indorsing either candidate?

    It would be nice if the Scoop can interview both candidates, so that we can make a more educated voting decision.

    Thank you

16. These two are Tea Party representatives. they want to see less spending not less services.
    I know many feel that there will never be any tax relief but at least our taxes will not go up even more.
    That in itself would be a major accomplishment if we keep on fighting on all issues.

17. whoever claimed that only ff can be on the board. Even hatzalah has non-emt`s on the board. Ask every business consultant it`s always good to have someone withh an outside look!

18. well resident. our books are open to the public. a 3 million dollar budget is chump change. look at neighboring towns and do some research. more residents only means we need to continue expanding our dept. excuse me (your dept.) which you and everyone else needs. Fact: the state of new jersey comes in and looks into each firehouse to make sue we are up to code. we don’t they do, so we are ordered to bring ourselves up to code to support and take care of our community.

19. stop the chilul hashem. you write what you hear but without any research. please back up what you say and do whats right instead of your assumtion or what your friends think they understand rather than whats right. do the right thing. if you want to really change something or understand all you have to do is ask anyone of our frum firemen they will happily explain. every penny spent is accounted for. our current fire commissioners will be more than happy to show it all. one thing about our dept. is that they are straight forward and honorable and honest guys.

20. #6, are you kidding me?
    Illegal because your religious beliefs don’t jive with it?
    Insensitive, maybe. Illegal???????????
    Wow, just wow.
    This attitude explains so much.
    I am an Orthodox Jew as well, but you certainly do not speak for me.

21. Hey “resident says”
    I don’t know where you get your information from but IT IS WRONG!!! As a matter of fact the fire tax went down this year!!!! The Board only spends money that they have and do not bond money so that you children will be paying for the things they buy today. Most of the posts today are a fear campaign to smear the board members. The township committee should be this fiscally responsible. AND no one ever said the Volunteers would not respond to fires, STOP THE LIES!!!! it is beneath you.

22. Why are we being asked to vote for these guys? & why are we hearing about them a day before the elections?

    I say we stay out of the FF way unless we have a good reason to get involved.

    The firefighters risk their lives for us & deserve our support.

23. lets get out of the fire talk for a moment and lets logically think about the situation. the election for everyone across the state. (that is fact) the hours were extended for our community because people were sensitive and wanted the votes. last night and this morning we all received the flyer about the two gentlemen who are running for the commissioner seats. Fact, this was done over night without anyone publicizing it. does any resident wish to have fire commissioners that are sneaky? do you want them spending your money if they have already proven that they are sneaky?

    the frum guys as well as everyone else didn’t know that anyone would try to run in this election. did either of these candidates consider what the consequences of this would effect them frum guys?

    please before you vote realize what the actions would before. there are frum guys already on the department. think of them. talk to them and whatever you do realize that the one fact we know about these gentlemen is that they snuck this on us and did not come forward and discuss this with our firefighters. good shabbos

24. it may be illegal. Thereis a NJ law about voting on any religious day,

25. the oilam is incouraged to make sure to vote.

26. its not illegal. speak fact not opinion.

27. A little information for everyone – The day of the election is not decided by the Fire Dept, The Fire District etc… The Fire District Election has been held on the 3rd Saturday of February in Lakewood and many other Fire Districts in Monmouth and Ocean Counties for DECADES!!!
    Another point here is do these two write in candidates have any Firematic or Fire District Knowledge?
    If the Fire District does not maintain standards mandated by the State of NJ, P-OSHA, and ISO, do you know your Insurance rates and taxes will be going up annually because your Fire Insurance rating goes down????

28. We do not care if the candidates have any firematic anything? Are they able to manage a business honestly,efficiently,unbiasly? Our candidates are not looking to jepordize our safety they are looking to insure that there will be fair and unbias translucent responsible business conducted the way it has to be. If they find that the current commissioners are not being above par then you will see these two candidates in action to insure that the township will reorganize the fire department as will be necessary. Though the commissioners business director has run the budget soundly there is no need for the fire department to have any frills and thrills. Most of the volunteers live out of town so they do not even contribute to the tax base. Most fire houses have more luxuary granite counters and custom cabinets and state of the art electronics and flat screen t.v.s and alcohol in their bars all supplied by the generous donations and taxes of those of us that live and work in Lakewood. I believe that these fire personnel who give of there free will to volunteer should have some reward as a thank you. Just not 8 beautiful but dorment fire houses that are cleaned by a janitorial service because there are no members ever around to brush off the cob webs. Think about all the electricity used to light up these empty buildings and to heat these empty buildings, and to upkeep the propertys with beautiful land scapes for whom to enjoy? We are paying for all these services. Now they hired 3 more employees and promoted their senior man a captain so 2 fire trucks and 2 fire personnel can now daily share the same 5 calls aday? I do believe they are fine brave fire fighters who are always ready but there is too much waste enjoyed by the same five commisioners for the last 20 yrs. Its time to cut the waste where it is needed. Thank You for your votes.

29. loose screw is a understatement. You will be sorry when there is no more volunteers to rush to your aide. My son is a proud lakewood fireman and if you had any idea as to how dedicated he is to the fire service and to his brothers and sisters and all he sacrafices when his pager goes off for a fire or a false alarm he makes no excuses to the fire department as he rushes oust to serve his civil sworn duty and the only thing his family gets are worrisom moments and apologies as he walks away from the family to go answer a call. You may see dollars and cents now lets all hope that you will never see yourself a victim who is relying on a fire man to save your life or your families life in the future. Think that over during shabbos.

30. go rosy!

31. Hey “loose screw” It’s a shame you don’t know what you are talking about! Hope you feel better with that rant.

32. I hear alot of misstatements on here and no one using common sense to let the community know. The budget may sound big but it is small compared to other districts. First, the fire department has had 1 paid man who worked 24 hour shifts and off 48 hours since the 1970’s backed up by the volunteer personnel. Well since that time as we all know Lakewood has grown and late last year they put on a second paid man. Those paid men now split the town on calls from CO, smoke, and fire alarms, motor vehicle accidents, helicopter landings, hazardous material calls, and fires, etc. Yes even those non calls such as turn stoves and other items off on holidays or shabbos. They are backed up by the volunteers when a big fire happens but also back them up if they are tied up on another call. Over the years I have witnessed those paid men put alot of fire out along with the volunteers.Those volunteer firefighters are drying up very fast here and across the country but realize that if there are no volunteer firefighters then that budget will increase to minimumly man one truck 24 hrs a day will be at least 4 men or women which means more money in the budget all to meet the OSHA, NFPA or ISO requred for safety and insurance on your properties. So as you go to the polls you may disagree with how thing are handled but ask questions is it good to change at the moment or get more info before I make a decision. Because at some point the budget will be bigger if no one volunteers to respond.

33. I really hope these people do not win this will not be a good thing for the lakewood fire dept and the town of lakewood. Did you know that as it is we are short on members and we have more members leave yearly then new ones come on. We have very little support from the community and all we ask of you is $100 per a household per a year that’s less than half of what surrounding towns pay. We don’t have the nicest fire houses and we are not allowed to purchase alcohol with fire district money. Our trucks and equipment are not the newest but when that pager rings we are out the door without a blink no mater what we are doing or allot of times at 2-3am we sit in the burning hot building or out in the freezing cold with no complaints many of us do not even live in lakewood any more but this is still our town we grew up in and our fathers and family’s have served. We would love to continue to serve with the honesty and integrity we have given till now. But all we ask is once a year you come out and vote for Fire commissioner that are firefighters as well and know our needs. Please come out and vote Anthony and Mike as that is who we have selected and trust to handle our financial needs. Please vote yes to our budget as there is $0 to cut last year out budget was voted down and the township committee was only able to cut $50,000 that was for our building and truck fund that we save up for new trucks that cost $500,000- $1mil or to renovate a fire house every 20+ years to bring it up to today’s standards and codes. So please show us your support and we will continue serve as we have been serving till now.

    Sincerely,
    A Volunteer Lakewood Fire Fighter

34. I don’t think anyone understands about the budget or you would not be doing this every year. You pay less in fire tax every year than you do for your “if you pay taxes” township taxes.
    Leave the Volunteers Alone, Everyone wants to get their hand in the pot, Everyone wants to be able to control the volunteers. They work, have their own personal lives and volunteer to put fires out in this town. I am sick to death of hearing about how much money is being spent. They run a tight budget, not much out of the money isn’t spent on what the Fire Dept needs.

    And for the person that thinks the Paid Guys change shifts every 8 Hrs well you are wrong, they work 24 on 48 off ..most of the time. Its a hard job to do..wait till there are no more volunteers and you have to pay for a Full Paid Department. Then see how your taxes go up..

    loose screw:
    Most fire houses have more luxuary granite counters and custom cabinets, Not all firehouses have custom counter tops
    state of the art electronics and flat screen t.v.s – the members pay for what they choose to have as far as electronics in their house
    and taxes of those of us that live and work in Lakewood. I believe that these fire personnel who give of there free will to volunteer should have some reward as a thank you.
    Hey JA!!! When you call cuz you set your cooking on fire they come, when you call and say you are feeling sick but left your stove on all day- they come, when you call and say you have a problem with your heating system and you think its on fire – they come..do they ask for much ..NO do they complain when they respond in the middle of the night for a call ? No
    I dont know who is fueling the fire, but its rediculous you thank them for their service and then want to kick the leadership out of the office so you can run it your way.
    I believe to be a commissioner you should have to be a Lakewood Resident, have some knowledge of what this town is about and what it takes to run a department on a minimal budget. You complain about the BOE you complain about the Township Budget, and you complain when they are not “doing right by you”

35. can’t follow all this. hard to read! someone want to tell me whats going on? lol

36. As a long-time (45+ yrs) Lakewood resident, I am ashamed at some of the personal attacks & lack of factual information. This election should have been about 2 issues:

37. As a long-time (45+ yrs) Lakewood resident, I am ashamed at some of the personal attacks & lack of factual information. This election should have been about 2 issues:

    1-budget – yes or no
    2-fire commissioners (2)

    BUT there was misleading religious lines trying to be drawn, loads of mis-information/facts and personal attacks (the woman who works in the office, who fills 3 job positions).

    For the most part we all want what is best for Lakewood & ourselves. Can we stop with the personal agendas?

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