Montauk Chooses E.M.T. for Commissioner

The turnout for the Montauk Fire Department's fire commissioner election on Tuesday was the largest in 10 years, with Dick Monahan winning the election with 215 votes and the incumbent, Edward Sullivan, receiving 147. Mike Mirras, running unopposed to fill the remaining year of Vinnie Carillo's five-year term received 346 votes.

The candidates for the open full terms had clearly different platforms. Mr. Monahan is the department's only volunteer certified as an advanced life support provider. He was secretary of the department for the last 12 years, but has resigned the post to avoid any appearance of conflict, he said yesterday. "The winner last night was the community," he said in a phone interview.

In his platform, Mr. Sullivan spoke of his mechanical ability and the money he had saved the district by maintaining the department's emergency vehicles for the last 10 years.

Mr. Monahan had written several letters to The East Hampton Star and placed an ad in the paper last week, which called for more transparency from the commissioners. He also supported around-the-clock, full-time paid paramedics, which had become a bigger community issue with the recent news that Dr. Anthony Knott was leaving his Montauk practice.

It was a long night for the ballot counters, election inspectors, and Terri Czeczotka, the district secretary and chairwoman of the board of elections. She said the votes were tallied by two inspectors, Ann Clemenz and Therese Jarmain, who compared their numbers and recounted. By 11 p.m. the vote was official.

The issue of paid medical support came to the fore when the commissioners cut the coverage back to 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. after Columbus Day weekend. It had been full time during the summer. At a commissioners meeting two weeks ago, however, some 80 to 90 residents showed up to ask them to reconsider full-time coverage. At that meeting, Joe Dryer, the chairman of the board of commissioners, said they would look to tweak the budget to expand the program.

At a meeting held right before Tuesday's vote, they did so. "In a unanimous decision the board of fire commissioners moved to extend the existing paramedic program to provide full time 24/7 year-round coverage," he said in a statement.

Jay Levine, a health care consultant and member of the board of directors of Southampton Hospital, had also spoken out on the issue. In a statement yesterday, he said Mr. Monahan's win indicates strong grass-roots support for full-time coverage. "Many senior citizens braved a nor'easter to trek to the firehouse to elect a man who brought this issue to light," he said.