North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena has called on Democratic Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey to withdraw a resolution to appoint Thomas Tiernan the town’s new highway superintendent six years after he resigned following probes into his overtime compensation.

“It’s extremely clear for anyone to see that Mr. Tiernan was handpicked in a backroom deal by Councilwoman Lurvey as no prior discussion, rationale or explanation was given as to how, when, where, and why, Mr. Tiernan was chosen,” DeSena said in front of Town Hall at a news conference Monday afternoon. 

Tiernan had worked with the town since 1980 and was named highway chief in 2000. In 2016, Tiernan resigned following reports in Newsday that he had amassed over $130,000 in overtime between 2011 and 2016, according to Newsday payroll data, and an internal investigation by the town.

DeSena said that since she took office this year as a Republican, there has been little talk, if any, of appointing a new highway chief. 

Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey, in a statement to Blank Slate Media, strongly denied the supervisor’s claims while saying all seven Town Board members had the chance to discuss Tiernan’s appointment.

“The Highway Department is responsible for the maintenance and repair of 300 miles of town roads, including pavement and drainage, tree planting, street sweeping, and snow removal. Mr. Tiernan did a phenomenal job as town highway superintendent, possessing nearly four decades of experience with the town,” Lurvey said. “He is someone who knows North Hempstead and cares deeply about our residents.”

Harry Weed, the town’s acting highway superintendent, has been in his role since 2021. A resolution to appoint him on a permanent basis was tabled in January to determine whether he lives in the town, as required.

Before joining North Hempstead, Weed was superintendent of public works in the Village of Rockville Centre.

Weed succeeded Richard Baker, who was the first permanent highway chief appointed after Tiernan in 2019. Four months after his appointment, Baker abruptly resigned.

“Supervisor DeSena nominated Mr. Weed without any discussion with her colleagues on the board, and her resolution to hire him has been on the agenda for the last six meetings, Lurvey said. “Conversely, we offered all members of the board the opportunity to discuss Mr. Tiernan’s hiring prior to placing it on the agenda. Instead of communicating with us directly, the supervisor is again playing the victim in the press.” 

At the time of his resignation, Tiernan was the town’s highest-paid employee and was the only highway superintendent on Long Island to collect overtime pay due to both his union contract and the position being made into a civil service job in 2011.

Tiernan was paid $40,000 in overtime in 2015, $30,000 in 2014 and $21,000 in 2013, according to Newsday payroll data.

During the same time period, DeSena said, no other person in his position on Long Island earned overtime compensation, including Hempstead, which the supervisor said is responsible for nearly five times as much roadway. 

DeSena also mentioned that Tiernan was the subject of an internal investigation in 2015 through the town attorney’s office following complaints from a vendor that Tiernan verbally abused a vendor, a claim the supervisor said was backed by “credible evidence.”

He was also accused of manipulating who received town highway contracts. The investigation found that Tiernan did abuse town contractors, DeSena said.

At the time of his resignation, several members of Tiernan’s family were on the town’s payroll.

His sister, Helen McCann, is a former longtime employee of the town.

In 2018, she was sentenced to a conditional discharge for embezzling more than $98,000 from the Solid Waste Management Authority from 2014 to 2016, prosecutors said. She was ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution to the town, $48,330 to an insurance company for a claim made by the town and pleaded guilty to second-degree corrupting the government charges. 

His brother, John, was a 27-year town employee who was a highway construction supervisor. He was asked to resign in 2018 after the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board found he “knowingly made material misrepresentations” to get benefits, according to Newsday.

His wife, Jill Guiney, is a former town deputy commissioner of public works. 

Following Tiernan’s resignation in 2016,  the Town Board under Supervisor Judi Bosworth the next year passed anti-nepotism laws in the town, which included preventing relatives of elected town officials from being employed by the town, prohibiting a town employee from participating in any personnel decision about a relative and banning town employees from supervising a relative, among others. 

DeSena said that while Tiernan’s overtime compensation was not illegal, it raised many ethical concerns while she also questioned why Democrats did not publicly advertise for the position, similar to the town soliciting resumes in 2018 for the role.

“I’m at a loss for words as to why there was no competitive job search,” DeSena said.

Upon taking office, DeSena said the town had vacancies for both comptroller and chief deputy comptroller. She said a bipartisan search committee was set up as well as advertising for the openings.

“No public job search took place here,” DeSena said. “No search committee was established for a new highway superintendent.”

DeSena said Town Board Democrats are only working to preserve political power and neglecting the best interests of residents.

“Appointing Tom Tiernan as highway superintendent again a mere six years after scandals involving him and his family engulfed this town is a very clear sign to our residents that the majority councilmembers are willing to abandon their ethical standards to hire the most politically connected candidate, not the most qualified one,” DeSena said.

The next Town Board meeting will be held Thursday, May 19.