CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Newly elected Hyannis Fire District leaders get sworn in at last night’s annual meeting. Victor Skende, left, and Demetrius Atsalis, right, are the new fire district commissioners. Deb Krau is the new district moderator.
HYANNIS – Deborah Krau, the new moderator for the Hyannis Fire District, asked a range of questions at the district’s annual meeting last night. That is a precursor of what is to come, Krau said, after the meeting.
“I’m definitely looking for better input going into the meeting, a better process and a better outcome,” she said.
The questions she asked at the meeting, she said, are toward that goal.
“We should have all our funds explained before we vote on them. There should be a presentation on the budget,” she said, adding that now that the meeting is held in the Knight Auditorium at Barnstable High School, it can perhaps be televised.
Besides electing Krau, fire district voters elected two new fire commissioners this week. Victor Skende and Demetrius Atsalis were sworn in last night, along with Krau.
For Atsalis, it is a second act in politics. He served as state representative in the Second Barnstable District for 14 years before losing the 2012 election to Brian Mannal.
Atsalis said, he decided to run for the fire commissioner seat at the last minute but he has always enjoyed civic involvement.
“There’s always been that itch [to get involved]. I like the civic involvement and I thought it was important for the village of Hyannis because I grew up here. A week before the nomination papers were due, I decided to run so we kind of had to scramble to get the necessary signatures,” he said.
Atsalis said he campaigned hard for the seat.
“I went out and did the door knocking. I made phone calls and did everything you’re supposed to do for any race and, as I say, you learn from your mistakes. Well I learned from my mistake and never took anything for granted,” he said.
Comparing the run to his 2012 run against Mannal, Atsalis said, “A decision was made, don’t do what you did last time, you have to run as though you’re losing.”
At last night’s Hyannis Fire District annual meeting, most of the 18 articles on the warrant were passed unanimously by the voters in attendance.
Hyannis Fire Commissioner Vice Chairman Dennis S. Sullivan announced that the district has received four bids for land it has put up for sale on Phinney’s Lane.
The high bid, Sullivan said, is $910,000 and district leaders are still in the process of doing their due diligence in evaluating the bids. There have not been any bids yet on another district property for sale, the former Hyannisport Fire Station.
Hyannis Fire District leaders have said the money earned from sale of the two properties is to go toward the construction of a new fire station. Fire district voters turned down the fire station project three times last year, citing the high cost as a major issue. District leaders have not yet announced when the project will be brought back before voters.
