by ARI PAUL
Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy gained his third three-year term Feb. 8 in a landslide victory, making him the first UFA president in 40 years to potentially serve nine straight years.
'Shows We're Unified'
Mr. Cassidy won 72 percent of the vote in the 9,000-member union against Firefighter Rudy Sanfilippo of Engine 258. Health & Safety Officer/Sergeant-at-Arms incumbent William Romaka defeated Firefighter Timothy J. Moynihan with 74.6 percent of the ballots.
"I feel fortunate to work with a terrific group of guys that make up this current executive board," Mr. Cassidy said in a phone interview after the final vote tally. "I think it bodes well for the unity of this union going forward."
He pointed to the union's ability under his watch to secure legislation in Albany and secure funding for World Trade Center medical monitoring and treatment.
"For the first time in a long time we are operating under a current contract with the City of New York," he said, referring to a wage deal that runs through July 31. "Historically, we've always had expired agreements. We have put an end to that."
Mr. Cassidy said the top priority in the upcoming term will be improving wages and benefits, campaigning in this year's presidential election and continuing to press for more information about the Deutsche Bank Building fire that killed two Firefighters in August.
'We Want the Facts'
"We will not rest until all the facts to what the Fire Department knew about that case are revealed," he said.
The last UFA president to serve nine consecutive years was Gerald J. Ryan, who served from 1959 until '68.
The following union officers were re-elected without opposition: Vice President James Slevin, Treasurer Robert J. Straub, Recording Secretary Joseph A. Miccio, Manhattan Trustee Daniel Murphy, Brooklyn Trustee John G. Kelly, Queens Trustee Stephen G. Humenesky, Bronx Trustee Edward Brown, and Staten Island Trustee Donald J. Ruland.
They will begin their new terms May 1.
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