East Hampton official Larry Penny suspended

Larry Penny, East Hampton's director of natural resources, has been suspended without pay for 30 days while the town board reviews more than a dozen disciplinary charges against him, including an accusation of insubordination regarding the disposal of animal remains.

The board approved the suspension 5-0 at its work session last week.

Penny, 76, a sometimes controversial public official who has worked for East Hampton for more than 28 years, is accused of storing formaldehyde and animal pelts and bones in a basement storage room of the town's office condominium complex, next to town hall, after being ordered to remove them.

He said he had all the necessary permits to take and store the remains, adding that the town subsequently hired a firm to remove and dispose of them. Of the suspension, Penny said it was a bad thing to happen just before Christmas.

"They've been after me to retire for a long time now," he said.

His attorney, Thomas Horn of Sag Harbor, said the town was within its legal rights to suspend Penny before any charge is actually filed with a hearing officer, but complained that in any disciplinary procedure the town has the advantage of picking the person who will rule on the case.

"There is a tendency in the Town of East Hampton to get a head start on punishment," Horn said. "There is no real reason for him to be suspended. . . . If this were a case where he was handling large sums of money and they were charging him with embezzlement, or if he were a police officer, there might be a reason to suspend with due cause. And even a police officer would get desk duty."

As the director of a town agency, Penny, a resident of Sag Harbor, is not in a union. He has not yet decided whether to make a formal response to the town board, which is not required by law. If found guilty by a hearing officer, he could be dismissed from his $95,900-a-year job.

Though he has sometimes gotten into disputes with elected town officials, Penny has been a prominent environmentalist in East Hampton for many years.

"Mr. Penny's conduct has been . . . consistent over the years [and] was approved or tolerated or accommodated by administrations of every [political] stripe, whether they are Republican or Democratic," Horn said.

There is no legal timetable requiring charges to be filed against Penny, and Horn -- who is experienced in labor law -- said such charges normally take months to resolve.

It is not clear what will happen when Penny's suspension is up, including whether the suspension will be extended or Penny will face further disciplinary action.