2014 Was A Debacle for the Town of Smithtown – Vecchioville is Not What the People Voted For
Below is a link to the Town of Smithtown’s Ethics Code. A code Councilman McCarthy, also the Deputy Supervisor, was guilty of breaching when he voted for his own $30K a year raise for the Stipend to be Deputy Supervisor. Now I have a twelfth grade Catholic education and I don’t find anything ambiguous about it. However, the Ethic Board thinks perhaps language needs to be clarified.
Thank you dear Ethics Board for your tireless efforts on this behalf.
Now a special shout out must go out to former Councilwoman and Newspaper Editor Pat Biancaniello for her words and actions, for becoming vocal and writing about said vote. She said it seemed unethical from day one, actually everyone you spoke to said it seemed unethical. Biancaniello’s reporting was of the finest regard, she should win an award for her work. Her writing led to LI’s daily covering the piece as well, although they were a little late to the game.
It’s November and there is upset and scandal once again at Town Hall. Maybe scandal is too harsh a work for an ethics ‘mishap’ but not harsh enough for the $30 raise that remains in the 2015 Proposed Town Budget. It’s like The Mooreland Commission, it stinks bad but no one is moving on it yet.
The Year in Town Hall started with a bang when several elected and some appointeds failed to sign their Oaths of Office. The wrong guy ended up being the ‘fall guy’ but sometimes good bosses take a hit for the team. Supervisor Vecchio and Councilwoman Nowick owed the people apology for failing to do their duty and the public never got one. Not only did the public not receive an apology, arrogance was the flavor of the day for Vecchio.
Of course there is always great talk that some town council people are often missing from office…..allegedly often missing from the state. Of course Council People can’t be expected to be in Town Hall five days a week but shouldn’t Town Council people have to log their hours? Well because Tom McCarthy gets a pension through this job he has to log his duties but he only had to do it for the first three years according to state law. So the remaining years, we are trusting that McCarthy is still doing exactly what he was doing the first three years in office when those forms were required. Hmmmm….state legislation is lenient regarding the keeping of hours for pensioned elected officials. Maybe that needs to change. After all it is the taxpayers money that will be funding Mr. McCarthy’s retirement one day, maybe one day soon if he continues with many critics are calling shenanigans.
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Last election season was a vigorous one, McCarthy won his seat back with Lynne Nowick at his side, ousting Councilman Kevin Molloy. There were many viable candidates running, with two challenging the long-standing Supervisor. Legislator Lynne Nowick termed out as a Legislator and hoped to hold the very seat on the Town Board her own beloved father did. She did indeed win that seat. I had the good fortune of interviewing her. Always a consummate lady and a savvy politician she said the following: (Maureen to Lynne Nowick) What skill set can you bring to the position?
Having working on the County Budget I understand the complex project of crafting a budget, keeping down taxes while maintaining services. Along with my colleagues on the Legislature we oversaw a $2.9 billion dollar budget. The Presiding Officer appointed me to the Ethics Committee to revamp the entire Suffolk County Ethics Code. Most importantly, in the unfortunate day of partisan politicians, I have proved I can work effectively in a bipartisan manner with 17 other legislators.
Hmm, she revamped the County Ethics Code but didn’t whisper in McCarthy’s ear about his voting for his own enormous raise? She also oversaw an colossal county budget. This is a skill set few Council people come to the table with. It is one that should have been tapped into. However, the Supervisor never even discussed personnel changes (between town departments) that found their way in the Proposed budget. Essentially the Supervisor is the CEO of the Town, he’s the money guy. However, departmental changes, personnel matters, departmental matters fall under the guise of Council people. I spoke with Creighton, Wehrheim and Nowick, none of them were apprised of the budgetary matters by their boss, you know the one the town elected.
It seems like Vecchio has been in office so long, he forgets that the work of running the town needs to be shared by the people who the taxpayers elected. Our Council people were elected to make decisions for the people of Smithtown about the running of the Town. The Supervisor is robbing those public servants of their duties and the voters of their choices when he chooses to treat the Town like Vechioville.
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(Maureen to Lynne Nowick) What’s ahead for Smithtown?
Optimistically Smart Growth is on the horizon as we redevelop our downtowns; however we need infrastructure to support it, which means sewers. We need a concrete plan for down Smithtown, this is imperative to the future of Smithtown. Sewers will only be built with the help of the County State and Federal governments. The town must first develop a plan for exactly where the sewers will provide service – I can then help with this interaction between the Legislature and the County Executive.
In addition I would like to see the Town Council and various departments address the permit application process to make it more expedient and efficient. We must help the small businessman and woman achieve their dreams of setting up shop in our town. This creates jobs and jobs mean employees who will shop and perhaps live locally. I am optimistic for the future of Smithtown.
I’m glad Legislative Nowick was optimistic about the future of Smithtown last election season, I can only wonder how she feels now. I know I am less than enamored with Vecchioville.
Click to View The Town of Smithtown’s Code of Ethics