North Hempstead won't rehire highway superintendent who got more than $134G in OT

North Hempstead’s search for a permanent highway superintendent is expected to begin this week, town officials said after rebuffing an effort to rehire the department chief who resigned six years ago amid an overtime investigation. 

At a May 19 meeting, the town board’s Democratic majority tabled a resolution to reappoint Thomas Tiernan, who quit in 2016 during the OT probe prompted by Newsday reports.

The Democrats then pushed through the termination of acting Highway Superintendent Harry Weed, who was hired in April 2021 to succeed Richard Baker. Baker resigned abruptly in July 2019, four months after taking the job. Weed’s termination was effective May 19, according to the resolution, which listed his annual salary as $150,828. 

A resolution was proposed in January to make Weed’s position permanent, but the board tabled it indefinitely. Weed said he was hired as a permanent superintendent until last December, but was asked to stay longer in an “acting” capacity.

Weed, who took the job in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, said he was not given a reason for his firing. 

“It’s just unfortunate that [the Democrats] decided to play politics,” Weed told Newsday on Monday. “My idea was to do the best job for the residents and taxpayers of the Town of North Hempstead.”

Tiernan did not return a request for comment. 

Both moves were passed by a 4-3 vote along party lines. Two highway foremen will fill in until the town hires a new superintendent, officials said.

Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey, who introduced the resolution to rehire Tiernan, said that after taking into account all the feedback received from the community, some on the board decided a formal search “would work best to reassure the residents that we will be hiring the appropriate candidate.”

Tiernan was to be rehired at an annual salary of $153,845. He collected more than $134,000 in overtime between 2011 and 2016. Since his resignation, the town has had four highway superintendents. 

Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena has pointed to  a 2015 external investigation involving Tiernan, conducted by the town attorney’s office, following “complaints from a vendor of verbal abuse” and accusations of manipulating who received town contracts. She has stated that “credible evidence was found that Mr. Tiernan did indeed abuse town contractors.”

At last week’s meeting, Robert Hamilton, executive vice president of Trius Inc. — a truck equipment distributor in Bohemia — who was the vendor in the investigation, said he and Tiernan patched things over years ago and hopes it doesn’t have “any bearing” on a decision regarding his pending employment. 

DeSena, who opposed Tiernan’s rehiring, said in a statement that she’s glad the majority council members stopped “Mr. Tiernan’s hand-picked appointment due to the lack of a competitive and transparent hiring process.” She said she was disappointed with Weed’s firing and the decision to only table Tiernan’s appointment, which means it could be brought to another vote. 

“It shouldn’t just be handed to the most politically connected one,” she said. “Now that my colleagues have finally committed to an open and transparent process, I will ensure that the town publicly posts this position and aggressively search for someone who’s not only experienced and qualified, but someone who shows the necessary integrity to be a trustworthy highway superintendent.”