If you find yourself asking “What just happened”, after Tuesday’s Town Board meeting you are not alone. With a unanimous 5-0 vote the Town Board transferred Maureen Sussillo, Deputy Town Clerk I / Deputy Registrar out of the Town Clerk’s office into the Planning Department. The transfer was stunning because of the rapidity with which the Town Board moved.
According to Supervisor Vecchio, he received a letter from a Smithtown Administrator’s Guild (SAG) attorney alleging unacceptable working conditions and the harassment of Ms. Sussillo in the Town Clerk’s office. Copies of the letter were distributed to Board members.
Town Clerk Vincent Puleo, in a telephone conversation Wednesday, said that he did not receive a copy of the letter. Puleo said he learned about the letter and the complaint about his office on Monday, May 5th at a golf outing when Councilman Wehrheim, also attending the outing, mentioned it to him.
The attorney’s letter was discussed in executive session on Tuesday morning. In his office after the Town Board meeting Councilman McCarthy explained that during the executive session it was decided that the risk of legal action was significant and an immediate transfer of Ms. Sussillo was warranted. At Tuesday’s 2 PM Town Board meeting a resolution was a read-on (not part of the scheduled agenda) leading to the immediate transfer of Maureen Sussillo as well as the transfer of funds from the Town Clerk’s office to the Planning Department.
In his discussion about the transfer, Supervisor Vecchio noted that there has been “turmoil over the past year”. It is this turmoil that apparently led to Ms. Sussillo’s current inability to do her job which council-members McCarthy, Wehrheim and Creighton agreed she did well.
The type of harassment that took place in the Town Clerk’s office has not been made public. Town Clerk Puleo said he couldn’t comment on it, but he was unaware that any harassment took place. As of Wednesday afternoon, Puleo said he had not seen the SAG attorney’s letter, had not had a conversation with the Town Attorney, and had not spoken with Ms. Sussillo. ” I am in the dark about all of it. There was no memo, no discussion. I found out about the transfer on Tuesday at 1:20pm.” Puleo said he has requested from the Town Attorney a copy of the alleged letter and the allegations.
What happens now that the Town’s Deputy Clerk I position is vacant? Puleo said “We’ll get things done. We are working at reorganizing. It may be slow but we’ll get it done.” According to Puleo, the Clerk’s office is short-staffed. He hopes to move the 2nd Deputy Town Clerk Susan DeHaven into the Deputy Town Clerk I position and will be requesting funding to hire to fill vacant positions.
Councilman Wehrheim, in a phone conversation Wednesday said he will be speaking with the Town Clerk about his staffing needs. Wehrheim was effusive with his praise of the work Ms. Suscillo has done in the Town Clerk’s office. He also praised Puleo for his modernization of the office, the use of technology and increased transparency. Wehrheim said the clerk’s office is extremely busy and he will support restructuring and hiring.
Ms. Sussillo has been employed by the Town of Smithtown since 1989 and has worked in the Town Clerk’s office since 1992. According to Planning Director Frank DeRubeis, Maureen Sussillo has skills that make her a perfect fit for his department. Calling her an expert in record management he delineated a long list of tasks that have been on the back burner that will become Ms. Sussillo’s responsibility.
Maureen Sussillo declined to comment for this article.