Patchogue mayor rebuffs call to step down

Two Patchogue trustees have demanded the resignation of Mayor Paul Pontieri, who they blasted for using the village gas pump to fill his personal vehicle.

"You have illegally accessed the Village gas pump at least 339 times and have taken at least 4,717.61 gallons of taxpayer gas," trustees Stephen McGiff and Gerard Crean wrote in a letter read at Monday's board meeting.

Crean said a "conservative" estimate of the cost of gas that Pontieri used since an electronic tracking system was installed at the pump in 2007 was at least $17,000.

Pontieri refused to resign, saying the trustees' letter is "more about personal destruction than it is about government."

"The village has gotten $47 million worth of grants and has about $150 million in private and public partnerships," he said, touting his accomplishments. "That doesn't happen by sitting in village hall, but by being out on the road and meeting with people. "

Crean and McGiff said Pontieri failed to follow the village requirement that he pay for gas used on official business, then submit receipts for reimbursement.

Pontieri said it "was the easiest and least expensive impact for the amount of work I do," pointing out the village doesn't provide him with a car, so he drives his 2009 Jeep Cherokee.

Since last year, the village finances have been undergoing a routine audit by state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office. McGiff said a copy of the trustees' letter was sent to the comptroller, but a spokeswoman for the comptroller's office said the letter had not arrived.

The dispute unfurled with the village's elections looming in March.

Elisabeth McGuire, a jewelry executive and former village trustee, has been tapped to run against Pontieri.

McGuire served as an appointed trustee from 1998 to 2000. Her husband Christopher McGuire is village justice.

She was nominated last week at a meeting of the Residents First party, formerly known as the Patchogue First party.

The Patchogue First party, which McGiff and Crean now lead, had backed Pontieri until a schism last August over Pontieri's governance led to his ouster from the group. Pontieri started his own party -- Patchogue 2012 -- to support his re-election bid.