Suffolk IDA to meet on 'personnel matters'

The Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency is expected to hold a special meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Dennison Office Building in Hauppauge.

The session is being held to discuss “personnel matters.”

Sources tell Newsday the development agency’s board of directors will interview political strategist and fundraiser Anthony Manetta for the executive director’s job. The interview will be conducted in private but the board could take a public vote afterward on whether to hire Manetta.

The IDA board did not take a vote at last Thursday’s regular meeting even though Manetta attended. However, the board did accept the resignation of Bruce E. Ferguson, who has been IDA executive director since 1985. His last day on the job is Aug. 31.

Manetta, in an interview last week, touted his experience including an MBA from Dowling College, starting and running a company and working as a turnaround consultant in Westchester County. He hasn’t previously worked as an economic developer, according to his resume.

Manetta’s candidacy for the IDA job is backed by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.

The IDA is also without a board chairman because Jim Morgo resigned minutes before Ferguson. Morgo, chairman for six years, said he had too many time commitments with a new advisory role at the Long Island Association business group and joining the Suffolk County Community College board of trustees.

The county legislature must appoint a replacement for Morgo. It was unclear Monday morning whether the IDA board would name a new chairman at Tuesday's meeting. The vice chairman is David Rosenberg, an attorney respected by the other board members.