Town Drops Suit Against Highway Superintendent Naughton

Editor's Note: HuntingtonPatch is in the process of contacting William Naughton or his attorney, Tom Levin, for comment regarding the lawsuit being dropped. We will update this article as soon as we do. In the meantime, here is a press release on the matter released by Town of Huntington Public Information Officer AJ Carter Thursday in its entirety:

The Town is withdrawing its lawsuit against Highway Superintendent William Naughton, noting that the proceeding is no longer necessary because Superintendent Naughton has dropped his attempt to add eight employees to his department's payroll without Town Board approval.

 "The litigation served its purpose: to remind Superintendent Naughton of longstanding practices requiring that all additions to authorized staffing levels be approved by the Town Board," Supervisor Frank P. Petrone said. "We expect Superintendent Naughton will adhere to these procedures in the future. There is no longer a need to continue the suit."

 The suit, filed February 3, noted that on eight occasions in recent weeks, Superintendent Naughton improperly attempted to add employees to the Highway Department payroll without seeking the necessary authorization from the Town Board. He and the eight individuals were informed that their time slips could not be processed since hiring for those positions had not been approved and the funds were not available. Superintendent Naughton subsequently attempted to process vouchers to pay the individuals as independent contractors. That request was also denied.

On Feb. 5, two days after the suit was filed, Superintendent Naughton's chief deputy, Carl Cavanaugh, notified the eight individuals that their services were not needed. A subsequent letter from Superintendent Naughton to the individuals noted the lack of Town Board approval for the jobs as the reason. There have been no subsequent attempts to increase staffing in the Highway Department.

 Recognizing the factors that have caused Town revenues to decrease, the Town Board in November approved a 2010 budget that cut spending by more than $10.5 million from 2009, froze salaries of elected and appointed officials, eliminated nine full-time positions and provided for delaying the filling of additional vacancies.  As a result of those measures, the 2010 budget held the line on taxes, despite declining income mostly due to a drop in mortgage tax receipts.

 The board also continued the hiring procedure implemented more than a decade ago, placing funding appropriated for positions that become vacant in separate accounts called contingency accounts and releasing the money from those accounts only after Town Board approval. The Town has also been staggering its hiring to cope with the decreased revenues and to ensure that previously-enacted early retirement incentives are effective and result in savings.

The legal action, approved unanimously by the Town Board at a special meeting Feb. 3, additionally sought to prevent Superintendent Naughton from any future attempts to either fill vacancies or hire independent contractors without prior board approval.

 "We made our point, so there is no need to continue the litigation," Councilman Mark Cuthbertson said. "We fully expect Superintendent Naughton to work with us going forward, as do all Town elected and appointed department heads, to make the difficult but necessary fiscal decisions to hold down taxes and best serve our residents."