Former Town Councilman Stuart Besen is back on the Huntington payroll.

 When the Democrat lost his re-election bid in November, Besen also lost his more than $60,000 annual council salary. 

But the town board voted at its Jan. 12 meeting to bring him back as a part-time special town attorney with a $50,000 per year salary.

Several attendees of the Feb. 9 Town Board meeting categorize this as "government waste" and were not timid about expressing their views.

"It appears that the hiring of Stuart Besen has not been cleared by the town's own ethics office," said town resident Peter Nichols, who unsuccessfully opposed five-term incumbent Supervisor Frank Petrone in the same election that newest Councilman Mark Mayoka defeated Besen.

Nichols ran on the Conservative line against the supervisor, a Democrat, who also ran on the Working Families and Independent party lines. 
"There has been no request for a review by the town's ethics office, which is overseen, ironically, by the town attorney's office. As Councilman Mayoka stated, this was a position created in a time of a town-wide hiring freeze. Seems you can't think of anything more wise to do with the money."

Nichols said in a phone interview Wednesday that he got wind of Besen's new post via local Conservative Party channels.  "I called the town's personnel department and asked if they would be authorizing Stu Besen to work for the town in whatever capacity and they basically said go ahead and 'foil' for it," he said referring to requests made in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act. "I said I was under the impression that you work for me, but I guess that was mistaken."

Nichols said he then contacted Mayoka, who confirmed that Besen was being hired. "I said,  'this can't possibly be true, can it?' and he said that it was, unfortunately. In Huntington politics it's a lot of cronyism,  a lot of patronage, a lot of stuff you think only happens in the Deep South is common here."

Mayoka was the second-place vote getter in a close race that saw incumbent Democratic Councilman Mark Cuthbertson as the top vote getter with 25.41 percent. Mayoka received 25.2 percent of the 58,156 votes cast. Eugene Cook, who ran on the Conservative and Republican party lines with Mayoka, received 24.99 percent and Besen received 24.39 percent.

Nichols asked the board if it planned to go ahead with the appointment, although it had not been "cleared" by the ethics board.  "Will you proceed or will you have the ethics department issue a ruling on this hiring?" he asked. The board members did not answer.

Howard Glickstein currently chairs the Huntington Board of Ethics and Financial Disclosure. The purpose of the board is to carry out the duties assigned to it by chapter 29 of the Huntington Town Code.  The town attorney serves as an ex officio member of the five-member board, without voting privileges.

  The duties of the board include rendering opinions in response to requests and sworn complaints, review of financial disclosure statements, conducting an annual public hearing for the general public to make recommendations for improvements to the Code of Ethics and conducting seminars for all government officials of the Town to provide a means of education and information. 



Resident Emil Ricciardi asked why the part-time position needed to be filled. "It's been vacant for four years. Why fill it now? Especially in this time of financial distress. All of us had something lying around that we think we are going to end up using but after four years, we usually decide we didn't need it after all. We don't need this position."

Ricciardi, who, along with many others in the board room Tuesday night, is a member of Conservative Society for Action and wore a pin that read: "stop government waste," expressed concern about Besen's ability to properly perform the duties of a part-time special town attorney.  "My understanding is that he has a full-time legal practice in Nassau County. Where is he going to get the time to serve the Town of Huntington? Who is going to get short-changed? Not the clients of his own practice. Stop government waste!"

Besen is a partner in the Garden City firm Besen and Trop.

Ricciardi asked how many assistant attorneys the town now employs but did not get an answer. During the public comment portion of board meetings, the supervisor and members of the council are generally available to receive comments, but usually prefer to get back to members of the public with answers to specific questions after they are able to verify answers.

Art DiScala, another CSA member, said that the mission of CSA is very simple. "We are just trying to cut government waste. No more, no less. We're not trying to bully anyone and we're not looking for favors from anyone. I'm here today because something was brought to my attention and the 3,000 members of CSA were not very happy about it."

According to its web site, CSA is a group "united in our dedication to take our country back from the corrupt politicians who trample our liberty. We are freedom fighters in this epic battle for our children's' future."

"Stu Besen is a nice guy, a gentleman," DiScala said. "He ran on a platform of wanting to cut spending, to cut waste. He voted to put a hold on hiring for the town along with [the rest of the council] and I commend you for it. Unfortunately, I believe he was just given a position as a part-time employee in the attorney's office. Whether it's necessary or not, unfortunately my opinion does not count for much alone. But the 3,000 people of my group, their opinions do matter. At the same time, if you take action that is the right thing for Huntington, then we're going to let them know you're doing a wonderful job trying to save our tax dollars."

DiScala noted that the hiring of former council members is not limited to Democrats such as Besen. Former Councilman Mark Capodanno, whom Besen replaced when he was elected in 2005, is also employed by the town's Department of Parks and Recreation. 

"He's being paid $50- to 60,000 for a six-week job, which I was under the impression was previously held by a volunteer. Is it possible to reduce the salary or get a volunteer back in there? " The board did not respond.

Neither Besen nor Town of Huntington Public Information Officer AJ Carter were available for a comment Wednedsday evening.