Southampton Town Board Appoints Wilson As Police Chief

With a standing-room-only audience that spilled out into the hallway at Southampton Town Hall looking on, the Town Board on Monday appointed Southampton Village Police Chief William Wilson Jr. as chief of the Southampton Town Police Department, marking the end of a controversial search for a new leader that spanned weeks.

Chief Wilson was appointed by a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, Councilmen Jim Malone and Chris Nuzzi, and Councilwoman Bridget Fleming all voting in favor of the appointment, which was the sole item on the agenda at Monday’s special meeting. Councilwoman Nancy Graboski opposed the appointment. Chief Wilson’s first day on the job will be Monday, May 16.

Nearly 50 people, mostly village, town and a few New York State Police officers lined the sides of the board’s meeting room, with some standing behind the Town Board as it made the appointment.

Before the board acted, many people spoke about the high profile decision. Some residents were upset that the Town Board voted to appoint Chief Wilson over Town Police Captain Anthony Tenaglia, who was viewed by some as the obvious successor to Chief James P. Overton, who retired in April.

Last month, the board was reportedly poised to hire Capt. Tenaglia after interviewing him, but a majority changed course, calling for Chief Wilson to be interviewed as well, prompting accusations of political deals leading to the appointment. Those accusations were denied by Town Board members, who then announced that they would also interview three Town Police lieutenants: Robert Iberger, Robert Pearce and Lawrence Schurek.

“I am outraged by this resolution tonight you are considering,” said an angry Marietta Seaman, a former town councilwoman and town clerk. “Why? Because Captain Tenaglia is the most qualified.” She went on to challenge the experience of Ms. Throne-Holst, Ms. Fleming and Mr. Malone, all of whom she noted have been in office for less than three years.

“How much time has your interaction been with the police department?” she asked. “You’re still learning your jobs, let alone how to run the police department.”

Ms. Throne-Holst called the captain last Friday afternoon to tell him the board was going to appoint Chief Wilson, Capt. Tenaglia said in an interview on Monday. He said that while he was disappointed, he respected the Town Board’s decision. He plans to stay at the department as captain. He also called Monday night’s appointment political. “Any chief’s job is a political decision,” Capt. Tenaglia said.

It was learned earlier this week, after Chief Wilson’s appointment, that an ethics complaint had been filed within the last two months against Capt. Tenaglia by an unidentified Town Police officer. When asked Wednesday morning about the complaint, Capt. Tenaglia—who said he has not seen a copy of the document—said he believes it is related to union matters and noted that he serves as president of the Southampton Town Superior Officers Association, a group that includes all of the Town Police department’s sergeants and lieutenants.

Capt. Tenaglia also said that the complaint was filed to hurt his chances of becoming chief.

“I know what this was from the very beginning,” Capt. Tenaglia said. “This was a way to try to discredit me and stop me from getting the position of chief of police.”

Ms. Throne-Holst confirmed that a complaint has been filed against Capt. Tenaglia, but declined to divulge any information or identify the officer who filed it. She also said that the complaint did not influence her decision to hire Chief Wilson.

Others who spoke at the podium on Monday evening voiced support for Chief Wilson and lauded his credentials.

The audience burst into applause after Katherine Cantrell, the wife of the late Frederick “Woody” Cantrell, a town officer who died last December, endorsed Chief Wilson’s appointment. She said in his 29 years at the department, her husband was well known.

“He was famous for his smile and his kindness and today he is looking down on all of you and he’s smiling because you picked Billy Wilson,” Ms. Cantrell said.

“I know that these guys and girls at the Town of Southampton Police Department are going to be okay,” said Southampton Village Police Sergeant Sue Hurteau, who endorsed the hiring of Chief Wilson. “I know we’re going to be okay too. Whatever your decision is, you go with your gut because if you go with Chief Wilson, it’s going to be nothing but good.”

Former Southampton Town Police detective and PBA President Charlie McArdle supported the board’s choice to conduct a search outside the department.

The chief will be paid a salary of $166,661 with the town, about $10,000 less than the $176,927 he is paid by the village. The town, though, offers a more attractive retirement plan than the village, allowing the chief to collect a maximum of 70 percent of his final average salary as a pension after retiring with 32 years of service, according to information on the New York State and Local Retirement System website. Meanwhile, the village retirement plan would allow Chief Wilson to collect only a maximum of 50 percent of his final average salary at the age of retirement after 20 years of service. The final average salary is typically the amount collected by an employee during the last three years of his or her tenure, typically the highest amounts paid. Chief Wilson, 46, already has 26 years invested in the retirement system.

The town will not have to pay a lump sum of contribution payments to the state retirement system on behalf of Chief Wilson once he joins its force, according to Town Management Services Administrator Russell Kratoville. He said there are no additional retirement-related costs that must be picked up by the town for hiring Chief Wilson than it would have incurred if it promoted someone else on the same tier as him.

The chief is leaving Southampton Village with a $251,904 payout that is still owed to him, according to Village Administrator Stephen Funsch. That figure is based on 325 days accrued over the course of his employment, including 238 sick days, 83 vacation days and four personal days.

Chief Wilson can opt to collect the money in one shot or over four years, Mr. Funsch explained in an email. “I have not had a conversation with him yet as to when he wants the payout,” Mr. Funsch said.

At the special meeting earlier this week, some members of the audience demanded that the Town Board explain the reason for choosing Chief Wilson, and also requested that the board answer questions during the public portion of the meeting. They also suggested that politics was at work in the decision making. Ms. Throne-Holst replied it wasn’t procedure to entertain a back-and-forth during the public comment session. The supervisor also denied that politics influenced her choice.

When the time came to vote, the board members explained their votes. Mr. Malone said that in his opinion, appointing Chief Wilson only added to the already stellar complement of police officers that includes Capt. Tenaglia and the lieutenants. The interview process highlighted what he termed as “an abundance of excellence.”

“I’m choosing to add,” Mr. Malone said. “I’m choosing to add with a progressive, positive approach, for a man that I have tremendous confidence in, and I know will serve our community well.”

Ms. Throne-Holst stressed that the five candidates were thoroughly vetted and asked probing questions relating to many issues in the department, including steady tours, or shifts, as well as working with local police departments within the town.

“They were all carefully screened, carefully interviewed,” she said. “We spent an equal amount of time with all of them … We were also all furnished with a number of letters of recommendations and personal testimonies. I know for myself I probably spoke to well over 100 people as I deliberated over this decision.”

A vote for Chief Wilson did not mean a vote against the other candidates, Ms. Fleming emphasized. She said that Chief Wilson was born in Southampton, and is no stranger to anyone in town. She said she was impressed with the chief’s responses to questions in the interview, demonstrating a level of intelligence and willingness that she said she couldn’t ignore.

“He’s done some very, very terrific things for the Village of Southampton,” she said

Mr. Nuzzi said that while he was disappointed with how the process evolved, and that he would have liked to appoint from within the Town Police Department, he respected Chief Wilson and was willing to support him.

“I do also understand that regardless of what we feel individually, I take the position that in the end we know there’s a department to run and there’s an individual who’s going to serve at the head of that department,” he said.

But Ms. Graboski disagreed, stating that the appointment should have come from within the ranks of the town department. She also said if board members were basing their decision on the merits of all the candidates, only one person “rises to the top of the list”—Capt. Tenaglia.

“And so I’m greatly disappointed that a majority of my colleagues on the board have decided to bypass Capt. Anthony Tenaglia, the most experienced and well-qualified candidate for the position of town police chief,” Ms. Graboski said.

Chief Wilson said he appreciated the comments made by town residents and thanked the Town Board. “I’m humbled by the faith that the Southampton Town Board put in me, and I will work tirelessly in to the future both to lead and alongside the members of the Southampton Town Police Department,” he said.

He fought back tears as he gave a special thanks to his family for their support. And he sent out special message to law enforcement officials in light of Osama bin Laden being killed by American forces on Sunday.

“God bless us,” he said. “And those like us, there’s damn few left.”

Colleen Reynolds contributed reporting to the story.