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Political party lines are once again creating a great divide between Southampton Town Board members, who stalled in choosing a new comptroller on Monday afternoon, despite a special Town Board meeting that was called specifically for that purpose.
Although the meeting was slated for noon on Monday, board members did not file into the Town Hall meeting room until approximately 1 p.m., when they went immediately into a closed-door executive session to discuss the matter.
“There is no consensus,” Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst said after the meeting.
Board members seemed to be divided along party lines.
At issue is a replacement for former Comptroller Tamara Wright, who resigned to take a position with Brookhaven Town; she began her new position as Brookhaven commissioner of finance on Thursday, March 1.
The supervisor added that there was no agreement on who to hire between the top two candidates interviewed—one preferred by Ms. Throne-Holst, and one preferred by the Republican-Conservative majority.
She asked the other board members—Councilwoman Bridget Fleming was absent—that both finalists be invited back for an additional interview.
The majority board members agreed to bring back their preferred candidate, former Smithtown Comptroller John Morris, who was interviewed Friday during an executive session that Ms. Throne-Holst was unable to attend, but refused to bring back her contender, C. Omarr Evans, a deputy commissioner of administration for the Broome County Department of Social Services in Binghamton, who was interviewed in open session a week earlier.
Until this week, board members had said that Mr. Evans and Martha Herrera Wong, a former budget director for Nassau County, were the top two candidates. They were both interviewed publicly on February 24.
“While I recognize that I have the authority to ask both of them back, I had hoped for the courtesy of an agreement to let both of them come back,” Ms. Throne-Holst said of Mr. Morris and Mr. Evans.
According to Ms. Throne-Holst, Mr. Morris is slated to be interviewed this Friday in open session. “This is to give the public the opportunity to view the candidates in an open session and understand the decision-making,” she said.
Mr. Morris, 53, began his work in Smithtown in 2010, according to a Newsday report, but was not reappointed this year after his two-year term expired because Town Board members were reportedly unhappy with him after the way he handled the 2012 budget process, with some members accusing him of ignoring and failing to adequately address their questions about the budget.
Ms. Throne-Holst said she was unable to comment on the reasons why Mr. Morris was not asked back to his post in Smithtown because she was not familiar with the specific details. Councilmen Chris Nuzzi and Jim Malone did not comment.
Councilwoman Christine Scalera declined to discuss the appointment rift after the meeting on Monday and said she felt the personnel matter was best left to a private executive session meetings. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss,” she said. “I appreciate the interests of all those who have asked to be considered and am hopeful that this process can be concluded and a decision rendered as soon as possible.”
The supervisor said that she believes there was a “discrepancy” in the process of how potential comptroller candidates were interviewed so far. “My feeling is that they should all be given equal consideration,” she said. “There was no justification for two being interviewed in public and one behind closed doors. In the end, the taxpayers are footing the bill for this—and it’s the number-one most important position in the town, from a fiscal management standpoint. The comptroller is minding the taxpayers’ money, and we have a duty to be entirely transparent in the process.”
The supervisor came out of Monday’s meeting at one point and said that the board members could not agree on who to appoint. The board deliberated for a number of hours on Monday afternoon but couldn’t agree on a candidate. According to Janice Wilson, executive assistant to Ms. Throne-Holst, no resolution to appoint a comptroller had been prepared in advance of Monday’s meeting.
Deputy Town Comptroller Kathy Scott also resigned last Friday—it was unclear who would be tapped to replace her. Ms. Scott, whose last day will be March 15, said she has no plans to follow Ms. Wright to Brookhaven Town, and said she wants to spend more time with her family.
In late 2010, the GOP-Conservative majority of the Town Board drew criticism after they appointed Russell Kratoville, a former GOP committee member in Riverhead, to the position of town general services administrator, a post formerly held by Richard Blowes. The resolution to appoint Mr. Kratoville was sponsored by Mr. Nuzzi, a Republican, and approved by Mr. Malone, a Conservative Party member, and former Republican Councilwoman Nancy Graboski.
Mr. Kratoville, who served as deputy comptroller for the Suffolk Off Track Betting Corporation, was one of the GOP hopefuls in the mix for the job of OTB vice president when Marietta Seaman, another GOP member, retired.
The public blasted the GOP-Conservative majority for the appointment, which came just two weeks after they revised and restructured Ms. Throne-Holst’s 2011 budget and introduced a series of last-minute resolutions that supported a number of the majority’s proposals, including restoration of the town General Services Department.
At the time, Ms. Throne-Holst and Ms. Fleming protested that Mr. Kratoville was unknown to them and that they had not had an opportunity to interview him before the majority voted him into the position.
