Retired FDNY Lieutenant Wins Giants Season Tickets
Fire Co. 2 draws raffle Thursday night
Photos
A retired NYPD firefighter and current volunteer member of the Mahwah Fire Department won an FD raffle giving away 2012-13 NY Giants season tickets Thursday night. Though John Spiech III was not present for the evening raffle drawing, members of the Co. 2 fire department who drew his ticket said Spiech is a big Giants fan who will be happy with the tickets.
The fourth annual season ticket raffle was a financial success for Fire Co. 2. Officials say funds raised from the raffle will be used to fund the department’s annual Santa Detail ride through Mahwah, to furnish the interior of the firehouse, for a yearly installation dinner for new members, and a memorial mass and breakfast in honor of fallen firefighters.
Co. 2 firefighter and raffle committee chair Ed Sinclair said all of the company’s members “went all out. They really put everything they had into selling tickets, and I want to thank all of them, and everyone who bought tickets.” He called the raffle “a big help,” to the department.
The FD is already getting ready for the fifth year of the raffle, which will give away tickets to the 2013-14 season.
The NY Giants are gearing up for preseason play at summer training camps. The team is set to play its season opener against the Cowboys September 5.
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Mahwah Fire Rescue Company 1
6:13 am on Friday, July 27, 2012
These raffles are an important fundraising tool for the all-volunteer Fire Companies in town. Please be on the look out for Fire Co.1 selling their Super 50/50 raffles. The drawing will be in October.
Giants Fan
3:52 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
How nice! A retired FDNY Lieutenant wins a football season raffle ticket worth thousands being raffled by the fire dept. where he volunteers. He also happens to be a big Giants fan. You know that a generation ago, this kind of thing was almost invisible. Nobody would pay attention to it. Now a days though, with the internet and news sites like Patch, this kind of thing is witnessed by a lot more people and raises eyebrows because it smells rotten from the conflict of interest. Members of the department should have stayed out of this raffle. I believe this may be violating ethics laws. Any comments?
Hank
6:11 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
don't buy a ticket if you don't like the raffle
Frianne
10:26 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
Please tell me why the Members of Mahwah Fire Dept should have stayed out of this raffle i do not understand, why cant they have a chance at winning the raffle??
ref
5:10 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
Giants F
Why the doubt,because this is the way you would have done it,I was there and it was done on the up and up,the winning ticket was drawn by an independant person who is highly respected and their integrity is beyond reproach. I suppose than you would have a problem when someone from Mahwah won the car the MMA raffled off
because the person lived in Mahwah,come on Giant F get with the program
giants-fan
7:15 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
Kill the messenger. Why don't you. It's the appearance of a conflict that you should avoid. Nobody is saying anything about the MMA raffle. Nobody is saying anything about state employees. When an organization raffles something, employees and their families of the organization are usually excluded from participating because it appears to be in conflict. By not having these simple ethics rules in raffles you put a big question mark on good decent people's integrity. You do this to protect your people's reputation. Remember, you are protecting your people and your organization by having these rules in place. That is the objective.
giants-fan
7:23 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
Hank, it's not that I like or dislike the raffle. It's that the organization looses out in the end because less people will be interested in this process because of appearances. By not having ethics rules prohibiting people working or volunteering for the organization and their immediate families from participating, the raffle process is hurt not improved.
NDW
6:19 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
And if a State employee won the lottery? What sholud they do? What doesn't pass the smell test here is your logic.
giants-fan
7:18 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
No NDW. Because they put this process under the supervision of a third party accounting firm.
Regenbogen
9:33 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
Congratulations to the winner! No eyebrows raised here!!
giants-fans
1:01 am on Saturday, July 28, 2012
It's not about who's up and up or down and down. When you raffle a ticket worth thousands as a non profit organization, you are handling other people's money. You have to build firewalls between your people and the people's money. Not because they are dishonest but because you have a fiduciary obligation to protect your staff as well as those who donate the money. This money is reported as a donation to the IRS. You cannot as a volunteer or employee of the organization profit from these donations. I do not know how else it can be said. We are not talking about a pair of bleachers tickets to see a baseball game. We are talking about season tickets to Giants games. The more I think about this the more it stinks. A tax attorney could probably explain this better. This in my opinion was not legal and should not be allowed.
Hank
7:43 am on Saturday, July 28, 2012
Giants open up with Dallas Sept 5
RealGiantsfan
9:22 am on Sunday, July 29, 2012
Giants Fan - I pray that you never need any of these guys at your house. The majority of their time is spent helping others for free.. I live in Rockland County and I'm on a volley department that does similar raffles and fundraisers Our members and their families are encouraged to contribute. Do yourself a favor, retain counsel and go find out if any laws were broken. Then come back and make a formal inquiry if you think this is that big of a deal. Your "opinion" laws have been broken holds no water.
Jetsfan
10:01 am on Sunday, July 29, 2012
Oh okay. I read your entire sentence and I do not believe you are praying for GiantsFan. If anything the praying for his safety statement has a sinister undertone of shut up or suffer vengeance. Let's at least be honest. RealGFan, you are praying that his house burns down.
tleahy0002
10:18 am on Sunday, July 29, 2012
If anyone really has the time and feels this is a worthwhile fight (which it is not), contact the state on Monday and find out if anything illegal was done. That's it.
Regenbogen
12:25 pm on Sunday, July 29, 2012
Giants-fans
ENOUGH...sore loser?
KBowles
2:15 pm on Sunday, July 29, 2012
The truth hurts. That is what some are counting on. That nobody checks on this and that people will feel like this is not worth it. The cat is out of the bag. What we have here is a real can of worms. This is what happens when you run raffles like some kind of carnival game. From here on, do these raffles so that people will say how much you appreciate their donations and how careful you are with their money. Yes is their money and you have to care for this money like an anal retentive bank teller treats your money. With the upmost care and beyond reproach.
KBowles
2:25 pm on Sunday, July 29, 2012
Now you guys have really done it. I am a bank teller very careful in the handling of money, but I never though people think of me as anal retentive. I am deeply offended by this but at the same time feel good that bank tellers are thought of as good examples of how money should be handled.
ref
6:05 am on Monday, July 30, 2012
KBowles,what have you been smoking? If you really think(not just hopping on the band wagon) that this raffle was done improperly I strongly suggest that you contact the New jersey gaming commission(under which this raffle was conducted by their rules) before you make anymore silly uninformed statements. Wish I knew what bank you were a teller at I would with draw my accounts imediately because I am deeply offended.
Mahwahreader
9:05 am on Monday, July 30, 2012
Dear Ref, why the jabs at poor KBowles? Let's all just get along. Who care about who won the raffle. It's over, and nothing can be done to change things. Enjoy the season tickets to the Giants.
Andy Schmidt
9:29 am on Monday, July 30, 2012
I think it's admirable when volunteers first donate their own time and in addition spend their money to fund their cause. I'm happy for the winner. Let's be real - the REAL reason for buying tickets is NOT the chance to win, but to support the fire department. The raffle just makes it a little more fun.
It's the same with HSO raffles/silent auctions where it's not unusual for teachers/staff members to win, and end-of-year team events where it's not unusual that the biggest supporters (who donated the biggest prices) also end up buying the most tickets and end up winning some back.
To avoid these kind of hypothetical discussions in the future, they could consider having a third party (who will not be permitted to win) oversee the process and conduct the drawing (like a council member, the mayor, their CPA, etc.).
toughguy
1:24 pm on Sunday, August 19, 2012
It's like trusting cookie monster with a cookie. From now on, why don't you firemen just run your own raffles internally amongst the firemen. Then when you want to run a real raffle with the public, you keep your hands off it.