Huntington highway chief spars over job

The Huntington Town Board and its highway superintendent are disagreeing over filling a job vacancy - again.

On Dec. 29, Highway Superintendent William Naughton announced he had appointed a new deputy superintendent, Patricia Irving. But town officials say that the job does not exist.

"There is no position for her to be hired into," John Leo, town attorney, said Monday.

Two weeks before Naughton's announcement, at its Dec. 14 meeting, the town board voted to move the highway deputy job and 18 others - all vacated by employees who took the state's early retirement incentive - into the town contingency budget as of Jan. 1, 2011.

On Dec. 15, town Supervisor Frank Petrone sent a memo to elected town officials and department heads saying that "no position will be filled in 2011 unless it has been removed from contingency by the town board."

"Effective immediately," the memo said, any positions to be filled require a form that must be cleared, first, by the personnel and comptroller's offices before being sent to the supervisor's office. Petrone serves as the town's chief fiscal officer.

Naughton insists the job does exist and he is acting within his authority.

"I worked within town law that says I have five days to appoint a deputy" after the position becomes vacant, he said. "It's all by law. Town board resolutions don't usurp state laws. The job exists and is funded."

The previous deputy superintendent, Carl Cavanaugh, retired Dec. 28. Cavanaugh had a salary of $115,576, and Naughton said Irving's is just over $103,000.

Leo said that although town law says the highway superintendent can hire a deputy, such a job must first exist.

"Any highway superintendent has an absolute right to appoint a deputy once a position exists and/or is created by the town board," Leo said. "If it doesn't exist, or is not created by the town board, then he can't just appoint somebody and say, 'Here, town, create that position.' "

Naughton said Irving, who is also mayor of Asharoken, has been showing up to work but has not been paid.

"We'll see what happens with the next payroll" Jan. 21, Naughton said. "I hope they come to their senses and pay her."

Leo said Irving can't be paid because she doesn't hold a town job.

Irving confirmed that she has been working. "At this point I think it's between Mr. Naughton and the town board," she said.

Last February the town sued Naughton, accusing him of ignoring hiring procedures when he added eight workers to his staff in December 2009 and January 2010. Naughton later ended efforts to add the workers, and the suit was dropped.