Huntington Town Board votes out appointed staff members in favor of civil service jobs
Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth plans to create a 311 call center at Town Hall staffed by civil service workers. Credit: James Carbone
The Huntington Town Board voted to eliminate eight appointed positions in the town council office to better serve residents, Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said.
Smyth plans to create a 311 call center at Town Hall staffed by civil service workers in place of the eliminated positions, he said. The laid off employees, who will be out of a job as of Feb. 21, can apply for the civil service call center positions, Smyth said.
"We, the town board, eliminated eight political patronage jobs to get away from the crony system and replace it with civil service positions which have specific job descriptions and prerequisites for employment," Smyth said.
The board on Tuesday night approved the resolution that included eliminating the jobs 4-1, with board member Brooke Lupinacci voting no.
The action has highlighted the chasm between Lupinacci and her board colleagues, all Republicans, who have been at odds over the Melville Overlay District. Lupinacci is accusing her colleagues of freezing her out and retaliating against her for being an outspoken opponent of the plan to allow the creation of a walkable downtown in the hamlet, saying there was no real plan or details. She voted against the measure that Smyth had been championing for months when it was approved in December.
The eliminated positions are legislative aides that had an annual salary of $72,050 and legislative secretaries that paid $49,322. Each of the four town board members had one of each to staff their office.
The new positions are for the citizens advocate III, with a salary of $73,172, and citizens advocate I, with a salary of $52,880.
Smyth said in an email Wednesday that the centralized system would be more efficient with a nominal cost increase to the town to bring the salaries in line with the civil service titles.
Lupinacci said she did not know about the job elimination resolution until 5 p.m. Tuesday, an hour before the start of the town board meeting.
She supports the call center, Lupinacci said, but believes she was not notified of the impending layoffs sooner in retaliation for being an independent thinker and voting independently on certain matters.
Smyth said Lupinacci was updated on the resolution late in the afternoon Tuesday at the same time as the other board members.
On Wednesday, Lupinacci, in a Facebook post, said her staff was fired "in an illegal act of using governmental resources for political retaliation" for her referral to law enforcement to investigate alleged criminal activity with the town board's governing.
In response to a question from Newsday about the post, Smyth said, "It's impossible to target any individual council staff," he said. "All patronage council staff positions have been eliminated."
The call center should be fully operational by early April with a staff of eight people, town officials said Wednesday. The board is considering retaining some staff to work in the council office.
Town spokeswoman Chris Geed said the town had a call center before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was not reopened after the pandemic. The new call center will have a centralized location, she said, with a dedicated staff that has phones and computer access.
The board also approved the department of information technology spending $140,000 for equipment, software and training for the call center, and allowing the general services department to spend $40,000 to build the call center on the second floor of Town Hall.
Those measures were approved with Lupinacci abstaining on both votes.
The Huntington Town Board voted to eliminate eight appointed positions in the town council office to better serve residents, Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said.
Smyth plans to create a 311 call center at Town Hall staffed by civil service workers in place of the eliminated positions, he said. The laid off employees, who will be out of a job as of Feb. 21, can apply for the civil service call center positions, Smyth said.
"We, the town board, eliminated eight political patronage jobs to get away from the crony system and replace it with civil service positions which have specific job descriptions and prerequisites for employment," Smyth said.
The board on Tuesday night approved the resolution that included eliminating the jobs 4-1, with board member Brooke Lupinacci voting no.
The action has highlighted the chasm between Lupinacci and her board colleagues, all Republicans, who have been at odds over the Melville Overlay District. Lupinacci is accusing her colleagues of freezing her out and retaliating against her for being an outspoken opponent of the plan to allow the creation of a walkable downtown in the hamlet, saying there was no real plan or details. She voted against the measure that Smyth had been championing for months when it was approved in December.
The eliminated positions are legislative aides that had an annual salary of $72,050 and legislative secretaries that paid $49,322. Each of the four town board members had one of each to staff their office.
The new positions are for the citizens advocate III, with a salary of $73,172, and citizens advocate I, with a salary of $52,880.
Smyth said in an email Wednesday that the centralized system would be more efficient with a nominal cost increase to the town to bring the salaries in line with the civil service titles.
Lupinacci said she did not know about the job elimination resolution until 5 p.m. Tuesday, an hour before the start of the town board meeting.
She supports the call center, Lupinacci said, but believes she was not notified of the impending layoffs sooner in retaliation for being an independent thinker and voting independently on certain matters.
Smyth said Lupinacci was updated on the resolution late in the afternoon Tuesday at the same time as the other board members.
On Wednesday, Lupinacci, in a Facebook post, said her staff was fired "in an illegal act of using governmental resources for political retaliation" for her referral to law enforcement to investigate alleged criminal activity with the town board's governing.
In response to a question from Newsday about the post, Smyth said, "It's impossible to target any individual council staff," he said. "All patronage council staff positions have been eliminated."
The call center should be fully operational by early April with a staff of eight people, town officials said Wednesday. The board is considering retaining some staff to work in the council office.
Town spokeswoman Chris Geed said the town had a call center before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was not reopened after the pandemic. The new call center will have a centralized location, she said, with a dedicated staff that has phones and computer access.
The board also approved the department of information technology spending $140,000 for equipment, software and training for the call center, and allowing the general services department to spend $40,000 to build the call center on the second floor of Town Hall.
Those measures were approved with Lupinacci abstaining on both votes.
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SARRA SOUNDS OFF: Newsday's All-Decade teams for the 1950's and 1960's On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg Sarra and former Newsday sports writer Mike Candel discuss their All-Decade boys basketball teams for the 1950's and 1960's, plus highlights from the county championships.
