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Politics & Government

New Hyde Park Fire District 2012 Election: John Waldron

Community-oriented candidate seeks to unseat incumbent and apply various experiences.

On Tuesday, voters in the New Hyde Park Fire District will cast their vote for commissioner for the next 5 years.

One of the challengers in this year’s three-way race is John Waldron, who was born and raised in New Hyde Park and has been a member of the New Hyde Park Fire Department for the past 14 years.

Waldron, who was reelected to the position of 2nd lieutenant in the department, cited his experience in that position as well as his time spent as 1st Lieutenant and Captain to aid him in the position as fire commissioner.

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He is challenging incumbent John Brown and fellow candidate John Neiwander in the election.

Waldron also cited his familial connections to the department: his father Ed has been an active member for 42 years, his brother Eddie Waldron served for 11 years before moving and another brother Steven has served 20 years and is currently deputy chief.

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Waldron said that he would like to bring “new, young blood” to the fire district and the creation of proper training facilities for the department’s members as sending members to outside facilities for training costs money and the majority of places being used are not designed for training purposes.

“By adding an in-house facility to train our firemen in, I believe it would benefit the fireman and community greatly,” he said.

Within the department Waldron is involved with Operation: Wounded Warrior and the Senior Smoke Detector Program. He has received two life-saving awards as well as the 2012 New Hyde Park Firefighter of the Year Class 1 award and the Gold Medal of Valor from the Nassau County Fire Commission.

Waldron is currently the assistant director for CYO Holy Spirit basketball, assistant coach for his daughter’s basketball team, and coach for his son’s lacrosse team for New Hyde Park P.A.L. He also served as a Hillside Grade PTA board member for three years and is a new member of the Elks Club.

Waldron is married to his wife Tessi Waldron and has two children, Andrea and John, who attend Hillside Grade School. He said that his involvement with the community and the different roles he has taken on have prepared him for the role of commissioner and looks forward to applying his different experiences to the position.

Voting will take place December 11 from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the New Hyde Park Fire Departments Headquarters located on Jericho Turnpike.

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