Fairview FD (NJ) Donation Scandal

[HFD201 0]

Did Fairview fire department volunteers use donations to party in Cancun?     

Thursday, March 1, 2007

By MONSY ALVARADO

STAFF WRITERS

 

Members of Grandview Volunteer Fire Company 1 on vacation in Mexico in January. From left, Pat Buglione, Mike Juliano, Nick Leto, Geremia DeMartino and Wally Lindsley. The photo is from Leto's myspace.com page.

Authorities are investigating whether seven members of Fairview's volunteer fire department used donations from the public to pay for a four-day jaunt to Cancun in January, officials said Wednesday.

Also in question is whether some of the firefighters solicited the donations by donning their uniforms and going door-to-door on Sept. 11, 2006, the fifth anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the borough's fire chief said.

At the center of the probe is Grandview Volunteer Fire Company 1, which is housed next to the municipal complex. Though not all 12 members of the firehouse traveled to the Mexican resort city, Deputy Police Chief Frank Del Vecchio said the investigation will involve everyone.

"At this point we are actively investigating these allegations to see if they are true," Del Vecchio said. "We are looking at what funds were actually utilized. ... We are investigating the company as a whole."

One firefighter who went on the trip confirmed that he did not pay for it.

"The company paid for me," said firefighter Jean Meeuwissen, who retired in December. "It was money we saved. ... They celebrated my 70th birthday and my last time in the fire department."

 

Meeuwissen said he did not know where the saved money came from.

Several former fire chiefs were among the firefighters who made the trip.

The firefighters are: Anthony Andretta, a former chief and current treasurer of the company; Capt. Wally Lindsley, a 17-year member; Lt. Patrick Buglione, a former chief and 29-year member; Meeuwissen, who retired after 35 years on the job; and Michael Juliano, Geremia DeMartino, and Nick Leto, all of whom joined the company as junior firefighters in 2002.

Most of the firefighters could not be reached Wednesday. Contacted by phone, Lindsley declined to comment.

"I really have nothing to say, whether it's true or false. I don't want to say anything more than what the police are saying,'' he said.

Mayor Vincent Bellucci, who asked police to begin the probe after his office received a tip, said he wants to wait until the investigation is complete before talking about any consequences or penalties the firefighters could face. He said he was surprised to hear the allegations.

"I just couldn't believe it," he said. "We don't condone anything like that in the borough, and we never would."

Del Vecchio said that the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office would be notified as the investigation continues.

Fire Chief David Masso called a special meeting Wednesday night for chiefs, captains and lieutenants of the 68-member fire department to discuss the investigation.

"Different members of that company have told different stories," he said. "We have heard different versions, and you just don't know what to believe."

Outside the meeting, several borough firefighters not in the Grandview company worried about whether the incident would hamper future fund-raising efforts.

Among the issues being raised is whether the firehouse used money collected on Sept. 11, 2006, for the trip, Masso said.

Masso said that on that day he saw some firefighters, clad in their dress uniforms, soliciting funds on Fairview Avenue.

He said he immediately called the firehouse and asked whether the donations were going to go to 9/11 victims.

He said he was upset when he was told that the fund raising was for the fire company.

"I think that is very distasteful," he said. "I can't tell them how to raise their money, or how to spend it, but I thought that was wrong."

"I'm not a lawyer, I don't know if it's legal or not legal, but is it morally wrong? Absolutely," Masso said.

"I wouldn't do it, my company wouldn't do it."

Del Vecchio declined to say whether the funds collected that day were being investigated. But he said police have determined that money the fire department receives from the borough for apparatus, uniforms and daily operations was not involved.

"We cannot comment on which funds were actually used," he said. "Municipal funds were not used, we can confirm that."

Diane Testa, the borough administrator, said fund-raising is done by each of the four fire companies on their own. How much money is raised and how it is spent is not reviewed by the borough, she said.

Photos of the trip appeared on Leto's myspace.com page Wednesday afternoon.

Several of the photos were captioned as having been taken in Cancun, and bear January 2007 timestamps.

By 8 p.m., Leto's page had been set to private.

Staff Writers Giovanna Fabiano and Brian Aberback contributed to this article. E-mail: alvarado@northjersey.com

Direct link to the website: http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=e...2Y3dnFlZUVFeXky

[ex-commish 490]

Direct link to the website: http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=e...2Y3dnFlZUVFeXky

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Uh oh....doesn't smell too good.

[ltjay157 10]

Only time and the investigation will reveal the truth. If it turns out to be true, they should be forced to face the families of the 9-11 victims and tell them of their misdeeds. This will be one hell of a bLack eye for all fire depts if it is true.

[Guest]

Will the investigation be fair? Is this internal or external? If you ask me, they need to bring in a third party to investigate this matter, i wouldn't trust anyone in that company with my tax dollars.

On another note, is it me or does it seem like there has been a surge of volunteer oriented scandals coming to surface in the press recently?

Edited March 1, 2007 by 66Alpha1

[LED138 10]

Uh oh....doesn't smell too good.

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Im not saying they did it or not, just keep in mind that we all know what the press can do to twist a story..........

[JetPhoto 626]

This is not good in general. In general I think it's morally wrong.

The article states no municipal funds (taxes) were used.

[Guest]

If they are so quick to use donation money, i wouldn't put it past them...hence the point i was making.

Edited March 1, 2007 by 66Alpha1

[AFS1970 504]

Using donations for anything other than what they are intended for is wrong, I don't think any of us will disagree on that. I hope this is all a mistake but that is up to the investigators to determine.

As for the connection to Septemnber 11, I hope that was just bad timing and not some way to tug on the community's heart strings. I know that my department does our fund drive in the fall, although we do not do door to door solicitations, it is possible that our fund drive could occur on or arround September 11, which would be strictly by accident.