Huntington board expands checklist of requirements for management jobs at town agency

Huntington’s Community Development Agency has a new management hiring policy that requires prior notice before any director, deputy director or other management title created by the agency is appointed.

The policy also requires that each of the positions for consideration have a minimum of two resumes and that candidates should possess requisite expertise in the housing and economic arenas or related experience. Those resumes must be presented to the agency board no less than three weeks prior to the meeting in which appointments will be voted on, the policy states.

The resolution stipulating the changes was offered by CDA board member Joan Cergol, who was director of the agency from 2013 to 2017. She said the agency administers millions of dollars through government agencies, which can create room for errors.

"I had 11 years of economic development and housing experience," Cergol said. "Had I not had that type of background and skillset it would have been a very steep learning curve."

The board voted to approve the resolution 3-2, with Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci and town board member Gene Cook voting against it.

The CDA’s mission is to serve the needs of low- to moderate-income residents through various programs and services funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other sources. These include managing the town’s rental and ownership of affordable housing and the lotteries related to such housing. Its five-member board is made up of town board members.

In January, Cergol’s resolution for a similar policy for prospective public officeholders for Huntington Town was approved by the town board.

The CDA policy comes after Timothy Francis, a fitness instructor and deputy director of the town’s General Services department, was named deputy director of the CDA last month at an annual salary of $90,000.

Cergol and CDA board member Mark Cuthbertson criticized the appointment because no other candidates were considered and a request for more time to consider the appointment was ignored. Cuthbertson also said Francis lacked experience in the housing field, but Lupinacci defended the appointment at the time.

In October, it was revealed during a meeting discussion that two CDA staffers were ranked near the top of a list for affordable homes in a Melville development, with one of them closing on a house. Town officials said the other staffer is no longer on the list.

Lupinacci called the new policy "burdensome."

"Oftentimes it is difficult to find people with the appropriate skillsets who are willing to leave higher-paying jobs in the private sector to come and work for the Town at a lower salary, and time is of the essence in certain cases, where unexpected vacancies in key roles must be filled quickly to avoid disrupting or impacting operations and services to residents," the supervisor said.