Smithtown supervisor appoints councilman as his assistant 

The Smithtown supervisor  has appointed a councilman to a new assistant role that carries a $30,000 yearly stipend. 

Councilman Thomas Lohmann was named part-time executive assistant to Supervisor Edward Wehrheim at a Jan. 8 town council meeting. Lohmann was the only candidate considered, Wehrheim said, and personnel rules did not require a civil service candidate search or a vote by the town council.

Lohmann will work with other governmental agencies and help coordinate the work of the town's 23 departments as Smithtown readies an $8.5 million renovation of the St. James downtown and the construction of a sewer system for Kings Park. Those projects will be among the biggest and most expensive in the town in decades and will involve cooperation with Suffolk County and New York State officials.

"He'll be the point person" running meetings associated with that work, Wehrheim said. "His qualifications fit perfectly."

Lohmann was one of Wehrheim's running mates in 2017, losing his bid for a council seat. The council appointed him to fill an open seat in January 2018, and he was elected last fall to fill a term that expires in 2020. Lohmann joined government after a 35-year career in law enforcement with NYPD, Suffolk County district attorney’s office and the not-for-profit National Insurance Crime Bureau. “I have a pretty robust network” to draw on as town officials seek “to get more involved with stakeholders in state and county government,” he said in an interview.

The position of town council member in Smithtown is part-time and pays $75,000 per year. Lohmann will be the second town council member to be paid an additional stipend. Deputy Supervisor Thomas McCarthy, the council's liaison to planning, building and environment and waterways departments, is paid an additional $35,000. All of Smithtown's town council members are Republican.

Hiring one high-level full-time aide to do the work that McCarthy and Lohmann will do would likely cost at least $100,000 a year, Wehrheim said.

At least four Long Island towns including East Hampton, Huntington, Brookhaven and Oyster Bay also employ an executive assistant, but the position in those towns is not held by elected officials. 

Maria LaMalfa of St. James, who is a town Democratic committee member but said she spoke as a resident, said at the Jan. 8 meeting she worried that the Smithtown appointment could affect Lohmann’s autonomy as a councilman. Each council member is in theory an independent vote on council resolutions, though the council almost always votes unanimously. “As the Bible says, no one can serve two masters,” LaMalfa said. “There’s concern there.”

Peter Salins, university professor of political science at Stony Brook University, said that Smithtown was large enough that it could be well-served by professional management. But, he said, "I don't like the idea of a politically connected councilman being put in that position, and if it really is a necessary position, it should be full-time."

Lohmann said concerns about his independence were misplaced. “I will make my decisions, my vote, based on what I believe to be the best thing, not because I was appointed executive assistant,” he said. “I will do what I’ve always done: gather the facts and information and make my determination based solely on that.”

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.