Ninety volunteer members of the Garden City Fire Department, their families and relatives went as a group to the village voting booths during the trustee election on Tuesday to make a statement by only voting for the two trustees who supported the retirement benefit they proposed during a recent budget work session.

The results show a marked difference: the two trustees who supported the benefit plan, Trustees Donald Brudie and John Watras, received 152 and 150 votes, respectively. Trustees Peter Bee and John Mauk, who did not support the plan, received 60 and 55 votes, respectively.

"The main goal was to show support for the two trustees who supported us in our efforts," said First Assistant Chief John Casey.

At a March 4th budget work session, the Board of Trustees decided to cut $232,614 allocated to the retirement benefit Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) from the volunteer fire department's budget, which will result in a .58 percent tax savings.

Fire Chief Ed Moran argued that the program would be an effective recruiting and retention tool. He also said only 10 out of 71 fire departments in Nassau County do not have the program, which allows fire department volunteers who have put in a certain number of years in the department to earn service credits toward retirement benefits.

Trustee Thomas Lamberti, who was not up for re-election this year, presented a scathing 41-page report from the New York State Comptroller's Office at the budget work session which concluded that the program does not either help recruit or retain volunteer firefighters. According to First Assistant Chief John Casey, who spoke to The Garden City News after the election, the report is almost seven years old. He said he has talked to fire department officials in surrounding communities who say the program is imperative to their volunteer department's survival. Casey added that the Garden City volunteer fire department looks forward to working with the Board on this issue.

Trustee Bee suggested that the village and fire department look at defined contribution plans as opposed to the defined benefit LOSAP plan presented by the fire chief. With a defined contribution plan, the Village would be certain of the annual cost, whereas a defined benefit plan's cost is based on factors such as actuarial assumptions and investment earnings.

"They have expressed themselves in a way that they are entitled to do," said Bee. "I have heard their message."

Trustee John Mauk also wants to explore other plan options. "I have always supported the firefighters' requests for the latest in equipment and other improvements to help them do their important job," he said. "As with all the many residents involved in serving the Village, our volunteer firemen provide a valuable service, and I appreciate that they think we should acknowledge that with more than just a pat on the back. I respect their right to express their displeasure through the vote, but I think there are more productive approaches they could have taken to make the case for personal compensation.

"What the firemen are seeking here isn't just a one-time payment. They want the Village to take-on a new pension program, at a time when public and private organizations all over the country are looking for ways to shed such programs because of their burdensome costs. The program that has been proposed to us would involve a long-term commitment by the Village and uncertain costs that are potentially very expensive for Village taxpayers. Although only one plan was presented to the trustees, I understand 22 different plan concepts are available; each with different cost implications. Given the fiduciary responsibility the trustees have to the residents, I wasn't comfortable committing to a program of this sort based on the limited information we received."