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Fire
call
response
now
issue
in
race
Article
from: 
The
The
Record 
(Bergen 
County, 
NJ)

NJ)

 Article
date: 
October
October
21, 
2008
Author: 
MAYA
MAYA 
KREMEN, 
STAFF
WRITER

The
Record
(Bergen
County,
NJ)

10-21-2008

Fire
call
response
now
issue
in
race
By
MAYA
KREMEN,
STAFF
WRITER
Date:
10-21-2008,
Tuesday
Section:
LOCAL
Edtion:
Bergen
edition

ENGLEWOOD
CLIFFS
The
suspension
of
a
council
candidate
from
the
volunteer
fire
department
has
turned
into
election
season
finger-pointing.

Republican
Robert
Agresta
says
his
suspension
last
week
was
politically
motivated
Fire
Chief
George
Drimones
is
married
to
his
competitor,
Democratic
incumbent
Patricia
Drimones.
The
couple's
son,
who
is
the
fire
department's
secretary,
sent
the
disciplinary
letter.

But
the
chief
says
Agresta
was
suspended
for
poor
attendance
along
with
other
volunteers,
including
the
mayor's
son.
Agresta
had
a
3
percent
response
rate
to
alarms,
Drimones
said.

"It's
in
our
bylaws
that
you
have
to
make
a
good
faith
effort
in
attending
calls
and
house
duties
and
he
hasn't
done
it,"
he
said.

The
issue
made
it
into
Patricia
Drimones'
campaign
fliers,
which
read:
"Agresta
and
Petrone:
An
Absence
of
Leadership."
Agresta
is
running
with
fellow
newcomer
Eric
J.
Petrone
against
incumbents
Drimones
and
Lynn
Norton
for
two
three-year
spots.

"As
a
volunteer
firefighter,
Agresta
has
answered
only
3
percent
of
fire
alarms
this
year
putting
our
community
at
risk,"
the
ads
say.

Drimones
used
Agresta's
low
rate
as
part
of
a
larger
attempt
to
send
the
message
that
he
is
an
Englewood
Cliffs
outsider.

"Don't
stand
there
and
tell
people
that
you're
going
to
represent
them
when
you're
not
going
to
show
up
to
a
fire,"
she
said.

Agresta,
who
interned
at
the
Brooklyn
District
Attorney's
office
over
the
summer
and
keeps
an
apartment
in
New
York,
does
not
contest
his
low
attendance
rate

He
said
he
explained
to
department
officials
that
he
would
have
to
go
on
academic
leave
last
year,
and
they
approved
it.
He
is
planning
to
contest
the
suspension,
based
on
the
fact
that
the
department
did
not
follow
proper
procedures
to
suspend
him,
he
said.

"They
have
a
vested
interest
in
keeping
their
family
in
the
government,"
he
said.
"They're
certainly
frightened
to
have
new
people
coming
in.
By
suspending
me,
they
have
an
opportunity
to
use
that."

Keywords:
ENGLEWOOD
CLIFFS,
FIREFIGHTER,
ELECTION,
POLITICS

Copyright
©
2008
Bergen
Record
Corp.
All
rights
reserved.

Provided
by
ProQuest
LLC.
For
permission
to
reuse
this
article,
contact
Copyright
Clearance
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