Bridgehampton Fire District Commissioner Race Derailed By Faulty Petition

Already bathed in the odd light of a recent decision to strip authority from the district’s longtime secretary, the Bridgehampton Fire District’s annual commissioners election has now been thrown into turmoil by the disqualification of an expected candidate’s petition.Bruce Dombkowski, a former commissioner who has mounted unsuccessful bids to return to the board the last two years, submitted a petition to be a candidate for commissioner again this year. But after reviewing the petition, the district’s new attorney, Brad Pinsky, said that it was invalid because it did not actually contain the name of the candidate, and because the two pages of supporting signatures were not signed by the person who collected them.The disqualification means that only the district’s chairman, Steve Halsey—whose petition Mr. Pinsky said was properly filled out—will be on the ballot, seeking reelection to the commissioner’s board.Mr. Pinsky, a Syracuse attorney who specializes in fire district affairs and was recently hired by the district, said Mr. Dombkowski’s petition was clearly not valid and could not be accepted. The district does not have a formal petition template, and Mr. Dombkowski’s petition was printed on Bridgehampton Fire Department stationery.Mr. Dombkowski said on Tuesday that he received the form for his petition from the fire district’s secretary/treasurer, Charles Butler, more than a month ago. He acknowledged that it did not have his name on it as the candidate, but said that in the past that Mr. Butler had always completed the formalities of the petition for the candidates, who are typically not politically savvy.“It was notarized, I’d signed my name to it—this petition was always good, as far as I know, for everybody,” Mr. Dombkowski said on Tuesday. “I’ve never put my name there that I recall—once it went back, Charlie always put the names on them.”Mr. Dombkowski could still mount a write-in campaign for a seat on the board, a tactic that has been successful in the district in the past. He said on Tuesday that would be his intention if his petition is ultimately disqualified and his name is not on the ballot.The deadline for filing petitions was November 20. The petitions had been submitted sometime before then to Mr. Butler. But Mr. Pinsky, while on the phone with a reporter on Monday, found the petitions still on Mr. Butler’s desk at the district offices in the Bridgehampton Fire Department headquarters.Last week the commissioners announced that they were stripping Mr. Butler of his secretary’s position at the end of the year and slashing his $60,000 annual salary down to $1,500. He will remain the district’s treasurer, which is an elected position. He’s been the district’s secretary and treasurer for more than 30 years.Most of the duties Mr. Butler oversees have already been handed over to Mr. Pinsky’s legal and financial management firm, and Mr. Butler has reportedly not been to the district’s office in weeks.At a district meeting on Monday night, Mr. Pinsky told the commissioners that the district will this year, for the first time, use Suffolk County Board of Elections voting machines and appointed election tellers for the December 10 vote.Mr. Halsey, who has been the district’s chairman for a decade, is also a former Southampton Town councilman.