Two seats on the Speigletown fire commission are on the ballot December 8. Letters to run are due November 18.

The Speigletown Fire District will fill two seats on its Board of Fire Commissioners at the annual fire district election on Tuesday, December 8, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the firehouse, 146 Speigletown Road. One seat is a full five-year term beginning January 1, 2027. The other is the remainder of an unexpired term. The candidate with the most votes takes the five-year seat.

How to run

State law requires candidates for fire commissioner to file their names with the district secretary at least twenty days before the election. For December 8 that is Wednesday, November 18. The district asks for a letter to the secretary, Jim Westhead, at the firehouse. The board voted at its October 19 meeting not to put forward nominees of its own, so the field is open to any qualified resident of the district.

To hold the office you must be a resident of the fire district and a registered voter. The district covers the Speigletown and Melrose side of the Town of Schaghticoke along Route 40 and a corner of the Town of Brunswick; the fire protection line on your January tax bill tells you which district you are in.

How to vote

Any registered voter who has lived in the district for at least thirty days before the election may vote. Polls are open 6 to 9 p.m. at the firehouse, with no early voting and no absentee ballots unless the district adopts them. This election is separate from the November 3 general election and is run by the district, not the county Board of Elections.

What commissioners do

The five commissioners are the fire district’s government. They set the budget, $714,170 for 2027, levy the fire tax on both towns, own the firehouse and the trucks, hire no firefighters (the fire company’s volunteers answer the calls) but buy their gear, insurance and training, and meet the third Monday of every month at 6 p.m. at the firehouse. The meetings are open, and our unofficial minutes of recent ones show the work: a $318,957 state grant for the building, a new chief’s vehicle, the service award program, and the budget.

The district is required to publish a legal notice of the election between 27 and 34 days ahead, so expect it in early November. We will add the official notice and the candidates here as they come in. Last year’s election and the board’s current members are on our fire department page.

Sources: the Speigletown Fire District Board of Fire Commissioners’ October 19, 2026 meeting, attended and recorded by speigletown.org; Town Law section 175 (election date, hours, voter qualifications, notice) and section 176, subdivision 7 (candidate filing at least twenty days before the election); the district’s adopted 2027 budget.