More code enforcement will be coming to North Hempstead, but the town’s union president voiced concern that the additional officer voted on Tuesday, Aug. 13, is a part-time role.
“We have at least two open positions for full-time code enforcement,” CSEA Unit 7555 President Tom McDonough said. “Why are we hiring part-time? We’ve never hired part-time code enforcement before, ever, since I’ve been here.”
McDonough interpreted the hiring as an attempt to eliminate full-time positions in the town, which Town Supervisor Jennifer Desena said is not the town’s intent.
“It kind of seems that way,” McDonough said.
The part-time code enforcement position was one of four other positions filled with part-time employees. These included one laborer and three public safety officers.
The town board voted unanimously to approve the hirings.
DeSena said the town does hire many part-time positions for seasonal jobs, like lifeguards. None of the part-time positions voted on Tuesday night were seasonal.
“Part-timers don’t care as much as full-timers do,” McDonough said. “What do part-timers do? Part-timers come in with aspirations of trying to become a full-timer, and then when they’re not offered a full-time position, they’re not going to work as hard as the full-timers do. We work hard. We care about this town.”
McDonough referenced a history of more part-time hires than full-time hires.
“That’s a problem,” McDonough said. “We’re eliminating union positions, full-time positions in the town.”
The town’s code enforcement commissioner was not present at the meeting to explain why the position was part-time, but Town Council Member Mariann Dalimonte said she had reached out to him and he told her they had made offers for full-time positions, but they had not been accepted yet.
Council Member Robert Troiano speculated that the difficulty in hiring full-time code enforcers, among other positions town-wide, is due to low pay.
The part-time code enforcement position, as well as the three public safety officer roles, is for $25 an hour. The part-time laborer position is paid $16.50 an hour.
McDonough said code enforcement employees must be trained and certified under the state to serve in the position. McDonough expressed an issue with taking the time and spending the money to train part-time employees.
Deputy Town Supervisor Joseph Scalero said it’s possible that new code enforcement hires have already been certified.
Scalero said that part-time positions are often implemented to supplement the town’s current full-time employees. He said that sometimes, too many full-time positions can lead to “idle time” during the employee’s workday.
Troiano questioned whether a full-time code enforcer would be idle, saying he has enough code violations in his district to keep a full-time employee busy.
“People want more enforcement,” Scalero said. “And I think what the intention here was to start filling some of the coverage gaps.”
Scalero said the part-time code enforcement position, which is an additional role and not replacing a full-time employee, can be changed to full-time in the future.
Calls for additional code enforcement are frequent.
Residents ask for it at nearly every town meeting, and Troiano proposed ramping up code enforcement employment in the budget last year. However, Troiano’s proposal was not adopted.
In other news, the board also voted along party lines to retain Brewer Attorneys and Counselors as special counsel in a federal suit against the state’s law switching all local elections to even years. All three board Democrats voted against the agreement.
The board also approved numerous traffic sign additions, including 13 new stop signs and various “no parking” signs throughout the town. It also renamed a portion of Campus Drive in Port Washington to “Vikings Way,” a nod to the nearby high school.
The board also OK’d the site plan renovation for the Toyota dealership in Westbury, which would establish a 3-story, 173,677 square-foot dealership and basement service center.
