(Editor's Note: The following letter was sent to Hicksville Fire Commissioner Charely Hearon and is printed here at the writer's request.)

The purpose of this letter is to inform you that for several months now we have been circulating a petition to increase the voting hours in the Hicksville Fire Commissioner election to 1 to 9 p.m. To date we have collected more than 500 signatures. Our effort is ongoing.

As noted in our presentation at the Hicksville Gardens Civic Association public forum on Sept. 30, we believe the extension of the voting hours is long overdue and necessary for the following reasons:

• Hicksville has the shortest polling hours of any fire district in the Town of Oyster Bay;

• Last year Hicksville had the largest voter turnout in the Town of Oyster Bay, perhaps the largest turnout on Long Island and is anticipating a similar or larger turnout this year. Three hours is insufficient to handle the potential 1,600 or more voters and poses a hazardous situation as well as an inconvenience to our community;

• It is simply not fair to a community of our size and to our senior citizens in particular to have to come out during a winter evening, face the parking problems and wait in line for half an hour or more as was the case last year; and

• Having one of the largest fire district budgets and largest number of volunteers on the Island, there is simply no excuse not to expend a little bit more time and money on something as important as the election of a fire commissioner.

We are aware that you, Commissioner Hearon, are in favor of expanding the voting hours but have been unsuccessful in your attempts to get your fellow commissioners to even second your motion to put this up for a vote. As the next election is only about 10 weeks away, please make a motion to vote on this important change at the next regular Board of Fire Commissioners meeting on Oct. 12.

It has also come to our attention that some residents have sent letters and one senior group has sent a petition to the board, but never received any response or even acknowledgement that their letter or petition was received. That is why we are writing to you directly.

Please let us know the outcome of your efforts to make the election of fire commissioners more accessible to the public.

The Briggs Neighborhood Committee

RoseMarie Ehrich

Adam Kounas

Linda Quackenbush

Terry Tietjen