Help wanted: Babylon retirements of Clerk Gerry Compitello, Comptroller Victoria Marotta lead to changes

Two key positions in the Town of Babylon are about to become vacant due to retirements, leading the town to change its requirements for one of the jobs in order to attract more applicants.

Geraldine “Gerry” Compitello, the town’s clerk, and Victoria Marotta, the town’s comptroller, are getting ready to retire, town officials said. Compitello will stay on until the middle of next month, she told Newsday, while Marotta said she will be around at least through the fall.

In the hopes of having a wider pool of potential replacements for Marotta, the town board earlier this month voted to enact a law that supersedes state and town law residency requirements for comptroller. Now, a person serving in that position need only live on Long Island rather than in the town.

The town’s deputy clerk, Janina Martinez, who was appointed to that position last month, will become acting town clerk, Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer said. In November, there will be an election to fill out the remainder of the term, he said.

Compitello elected clerk in 2017

Compitello began working for the town as an assistant to then-Supervisor Steve Bellone before becoming Schaffer’s assistant in 2013. She was elected clerk in 2017 and reelected in 2021 and 2025.

“It’s a big hit for us,” Schaffer said of her retirement. “Throughout the town, everyone knows her and knows she’s the go-to person.”

Schaffer credits Compitello with handling hundreds of cases of those trying to recover from Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Compitello coordinated with groups such as United Way to connect with residents, he said.

“She was definitely beyond a typical assistant,” he said.

Compitello, who as Schaffer's assistant spearheaded efforts to help create the first “respite park” for dementia patients and their caregivers in Town Hall Park in 2017, as clerk helped get grant funding to add walkway lighting to the park, he said. She also brought memory screenings to the town’s senior centers.

That work, done in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, has led her to her next venture: She will be the nonprofit’s manager of public affairs and community engagement.

“I really want to fill this unmet need for taking care of our elderly,” said Compitello, 63.

Compitello, who has a salary of $113,504, according to town officials, said she is proud of her work, pointing to an extension of office hours and having the clerk’s office connect people with needs outside of town services.

“I turned the clerk’s office into almost a resource center,” she said, such as helping residents get benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or get information from the Babylon Breast Cancer Coalition.

Former State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., who is president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, credits Compitello with helping create awareness of its programs.

“Her life is dedicated to public service and community enrichment,” he said.

Marotta: 'I just can't not work'

Marotta said she, too, will likely continue to work part time after her retirement, “because I just can’t not work.”

Wanting to move closer to her son, who lives in Massachusetts, Marotta, 61, called the retirement bittersweet. “I really love the Town of Babylon and I love what I do,” she said. “But at a certain point in time family becomes more important.”

Schaffer praised her work with the town.

“She literally knows where every penny is at any given time,” he said. “She’s extremely valuable to us, almost irreplaceable.”

Schaffer credits Marotta with helping the town for the first time in 2017 receive the highest bond rating available from Moody’s, Aaa.

“She put together the road map and game plan” to get there, he said.

Marotta was hired in 1998, when Babylon had the lowest bond rating on Long Island — Baa3, one step above junk bond status — and was on the brink of filing for bankruptcy. She became the town’s comptroller in 2004.

“I couldn’t have done the things I’ve done, and that includes the Aaa, without the people I work with,” she said, citing support staff and the town board. “If I didn’t have that, I’d be pedaling in the wind, so to speak.”

The town is now on the hunt for a replacement by October, Schaffer said, and changed the residency requirement “so we’re not limiting ourselves.”

Marotta, who has a salary of $186,579, according to town officials, said she will stay on through the budget season and help bring her replacement up to speed.

“I don’t want to turn my back on Babylon,” she said. “I will stay until I’m not needed.”