Hempstead Town supervisor protests $800G in proposed raises

Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen removed a resolution from Tuesday’s town board meeting agenda that would award about $800,000 in proposed raises to town staff and political appointees.

Gillen, at a news conference Thursday, tore up the resolution submitted by Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney that was set for a vote next week. The resolution was not listed on the agenda the town released Thursday.  

The resolution was to award raises to 86 staff members retroactive to 2017 and through 2021, Gillen said. The town earlier this year gave out $200,000 in raises.

The resolution included raises of 1.5 to 2 percent to management employees and appointees for as much as $3,600 per year through 2021. About $286,000 of the $800,000 will pay for 2017 and 2018 raises. Gillen said she would also waive the $24,884 included in raises for her staff. 

She said the deal was negotiated by the CSEA Local 880 Hempstead Employees union behind her back and undercuts her authority.

"What’s more egregious is that the Council had the audacity to put my name on this improperly negotiated agreement that rips off taxpayers to pay political appointees with a space right underneath for me to sign," Gillen said in a statement. "Well, I’m saying right here and right now that I’m not signing this, nor will I ever sign this, because it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on."

Gillen called the resolution illegal and said she unilaterally has the authority to remove the item from the agenda as the town’s chief financial officer because it was negotiated illegally without her knowledge.

The action would force the four Republican board members and Democratic Senior Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby to revive the proposal with an emergency hand-up resolution.

Union President Charlie Sellitto said there was no agreement and he had discussed a cost of living raise for employees with Gillen’s office.

About 10 percent of employees, consisting of commissioners and town management staff only receive raises by town board resolution and Sellitto said employees faced a five-year salary freeze without the board voting on raises.

“I’m surprised by this blatantly false and fake news over a simple cost of living increase,” Sellitto said. “This is a lot of political grandstanding.”

King Sweeney defended the resolution as legal and said she had the backing of other board members to discuss overlooked pay raises.

She said Gillen never addressed any concerns she had with the resolution before her announcement to withhold it from a vote.

“It is unfortunate that the Hempstead Supervisor has chosen to resort to political theatrics instead of forthright and transparent interaction with her colleagues on the Town Board,” King Sweeney said in a statement. “By removing an item from the Town Board calendar that has been scheduled for public discussion at an upcoming council meeting, the Supervisor has gone well beyond her authority under the law.”

She said the resolution was approved by the town comptroller, but a financial analysis was not done.

“In effect, this resolution would dole out for $800,000 in taxpayer money to the town board’s politically appointed employees and make pay raises an automatic occurrence every year, regardless of the economic conditions the town is in,” Gillen said. “Altogether the taxpayers would be on the hook for $1 million.”