To date, more than 500 Hicksville residents have signed a petition in favor of extending voting hours for the Hicksville Fire Commissioner election, which takes placeannually on the second Tuesday in December. Extending the hours is very important because:

Our senior citizens in particular should not be expected to come out after dark, especially on a winter evening, to exercise their right to vote;

• Hicksville had one of the highest, if not the highest, voter turnout on Long Island for this election last year;

• Many fire districts, even those with much lower voter turnout, open their polls during daylight hours; and

• The cost of extending the hours is minimal and since Hicksville has one of the highest fire taxes and largest departments on Long Island, there is simply no excuse not to extend the hours.

Despite being presented with a petition signed by more than 500 residents to extending the voting hours to 1 to 9 p.m., the Hicksville Board of Fire Commissioners voted 3 to 1 on Nov. 2 to keep the same limited polling hours of 6 to 9 p.m.

We feel this is an attempt to suppress voter turnout and want all Hicksville residents to know:

• The only fire commissioner in favor of extending the hours is Commissioner Charley Hearon;

• The only candidate for fire commissioner in favor of extending the voting hours is Mike Krummenacker, a 33-year member of the Hicksville Fire Department and a Nassau County Fire Inspector; and

• Krummenacker's opponent, who quit the Hicksville Fire Department 15 years ago, refused to sign the petition.

We hope that you will come out and vote on Dec. 14 for Mike Krummenacker who has more than 20 years of experience in banking and finance, is fiscally responsible and opposes the recent vote by the current board of fire commissioners to increase our fire tax by 32-percent reported in the first district's newsletter, which was sent to more than 14,000 households more than two weeks after the vote.

The Briggs Neighborhood Committee, with the help of civic associations and members of the Hicksville community will continue to obtain signatures on this petition in the hope of seeing this important change made before next year's election.

Remember to vote on Dec. 14 for the fire commissioner candidate who gives equal consideration to the community and the department he serves. That person is Mike Krummenacker.

Any Hicksville resident who is a registered voter can vote in this election. The Hicksville Fire District does not permit absentee ballots.

Joan Healey

Mary and Joe Huber

Ann Ruffini

Ed Passarella