Town Board Approves Public Hearing to Abolish Elective Highways Superintendent Position

At the July 24th, 2012 meeting of the Huntington Town Board, three last minute resolutions were passed which schedule public hearings on the following matters.  The public hearings for the matters listed below will be held on August 14th, at Huntington Town Hall. All three resolutions passed by three to two votes with Councilman Mark Mayoka and Eugene Cook voting no to all three.  Both Councilmen stated that these resolutions were slipped through very quickly and more time was needed to absorb what was being proposed.

The first resolution is regarding abolishing the elective office  position of Highway Superintendent and creating an appointive office of Highway Superintendent.   According to details outlined in the resolution this item is subject to voter referendum whereby the residents of the Town of Huntington would vote on election day, November 6, 2012.  If the voters approve to abolish the elective office of Highway Superintendent, the office would transform from an elective one to an appointed office on January 1st, 2014.  At that point the Highway Superintendent would be serving at the pleasure of, and would be accountable to the Town Board.  The current Highway Superintendent is William Naughton. Further reasoning outlined in the resolution to take such action include  streamlining Town processes and promote efficiency.

The second resolution sets a public hearing to eliminate the Town’s General Services Department.  The General Services Department would then be transformed into a “Division” that would fall under a newly created Town Public Works Department.

The third resolution would then effectively establish a Town Public Works Department.  This newly created Department would have under it’s umbrella the new Division of General Services.  Services to fall under this category include buildings and grounds, facilities management, parks maintenance, vehicle operations and maintenance and related inter-departmental services. Other divisions may be added to the newly created Public Works Department.  The Department would consist of a Director that would serve at the pleasure of the Town Board and a Deputy Director for each division created within that department.