Fire board hopefuls holding forum

Residents can meet candidates tonight at 6

CROWMELL — Residents will have an opportunity Wednesday to meet and converse with four candidates for the Board of Fire Commissioners.

The candidate forum will begin at 6 p.m. at the Coles Road fire station.

It is being held in advance of the election of three commissioners, which will take place on Oct. 7.

The candidates are LeRoy D. Brow, Charles Epstein, Jason Hinners and Robert McIntrye.

They are seeking election to three-year terms on the board.

Brow, Epstein and Hinners are all incumbents.

Brow is currently the president of the nine-member commission.

The district holds election for one-third of the commissioners every year, so the membership is staggered.

Epstein ran for re-election last year, but lost.

Then commissioner (and former board president) Craig Murphy resigned, citing an increased workload at his employer, Pratt & Whitney.

Epstein then ran to fill that vacancy, and was successful.

The seat Murphy had occupied is among the three seats that are in play this year.

Epstein, who has long been active in both district and town

politics, is a judicial marshal.

He has made more of a mark for his role of longstanding in emergency response management.

Brow is a lieutenant in the East Hartford Fire Department as well as an instructor at the Connecticut Fire Academy.

McIntyre, who is a carpenter by trade, is the assistant chief for Emergency Medical Service.

“Mr. McIntyre is a long-time member of CFD and has advanced from firefighter /EMS to lieutenant to captain and now to assistant chief,” according

to information provided by the district’s executive director, Julius C. Neto.

Hinners, who is an HVAC contractor, has also served at the department’s training officer.

This is Hinners’ first time serving as a board member; he was elected to the board in was 2016.

Brow was a commissioner from 2010–13 and then ran again and won in 2016.

This will be the first time such a forum has been held.

The idea for the forum was developed by Neto and his predecessor as executive director, Michael Dagostino, when Neto served on the commission.

Their proposal required would-be candidates to submit a letter announcing their candidacy more than 30 days prior to the election.

In large driven by a desire for more transparency in the election process, they also proposed the forum.

Until the two men brought forward their proposal, candidates could be nominated from the floor and voted to be appointed to the commission in less time than it takes to type this sentence.

“All the candidates will have an opportunity to introduce themselves and inform the public as to why they are running, and they will also be available to answer questions from the public,” Neto said on Tuesday.