Amityville Village board cuts attorney's salary in half

The Village of Amityville has reduced by half the salary of its attorney.

Village attorney Bruce Kennedy volunteered to have his annual pay reduced from $48,000 to $24,000. The village board of trustees approved the reduction, 5-0, on June 25.

“It’s not due to a lack of knowledge or lack of work,” said Mayor Dennis Siry.

Kennedy said that when he was hired last year he told the board that, should he stay a year, he would cut his salary, saying $48,000 is “excessive.”

“I see this as a public service,” Kennedy said. “I’m not here to just make money.”

The salary was a holdover from the previous village attorney, Richard Handler. Handler was hired in 2014 at a salary of $17,000 a year. By 2015 his salary had increased to $35,447, according to village payroll records provided to Newsday.

Kennedy, who had served as village attorney for 17 years before resigning in 2014 at a salary of $17,500, was rehired by the village in April 2017 following Siry’s election.

Siry said the village hopes to “groom a new apprentice or assistant village attorney” to help with the workload, using some of the money saved from Kennedy’s salary toward that person’s income.