Town of North Hempstead Councilman Thomas Dwyer resigned his seat on the council last Friday saying he was preparing to take a consulting job that would leave him too little time for his town board duties.

“The move out of the council position is my inability to do all the work that I have to do,” he said earlier this week. “My decision was just based on having too much of a workload.”

Dwyer, 49, a Roslyn Heights Democrat, had bee re-elected four times and was in the middle of his four-year term. He was originally appointed to fill a vacancy in 2002. 

Dwyer said he would be a senior strategist with a government and consulting firm in Manhattan, but declined to identify the firm. He said he wasn’t sure whether the new job would have represented a conflict of interest with his position as town councilman.

Dwyer, who recently remarried, said he has plans to move out of North Hempstead soon to Dix Hills with his wife. But, he said, the workload he anticipates – not the relocation – prompted his resignation.

“There’s not enough time in the day already,” he said. “I’m just working out the details of this new job. I’ll probably get started in a couple weeks.”

In addition to the consulting job, he said he plans to continue in his current position as chief operating officer of American Land Services, a title insurance firm with offices in Syosset. 

The 2nd District that Dwyer represented includes East Williston, Williston Park, Mineola, Albertson and Roslyn Heights.

Dwyer said he’s aware of several prospective candidates to take his place on the council.

“There are some people who have expressed interest,” he said. “I imagine over the next week or two we’ll talk about who that replacement will be.”

Town of North Hempstead Supervisor-elect Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) voiced support for Dwyer, saying “I wish him well.”

North Hempstead Democratic Chairman Gerard Terry declined to comment on candidates to replace Dwyer on the board.

Whoever replaces Dwyer will almost certainly be a Democrat, given Dwyer’s party affiliation and the Democrats’ 5-2 majority on the town board.

Town board members can choose a replacement who would then have to run for election in 2014 in a special election, according to town spokesman Justin Meyers. A subsequent election for the seat would occur in 2015, when Dwyer’s term ends.

Dwyer said there are some things he will miss about working on the town council.

“We’ve done some great things,” Dwyer said. “I’ll miss working with the people, being productive and responding to people’s needs.”

He said he was particularly proud of being part of the administration of former town Supervisor Jon Kaiman that introduced Project Independence and the 311 call center.

Dwyer had also been a passionate proponent of Levitt Park in Roslyn Heights – also known as the Roslyn Country Club – during his last year in office.

“It was probably the project I worked hardest on and worked most on,” he said. “I think we’re at a point now that we could potentially have one of the best parks on Long Island.”

Dwyer was raised in a family steeped in Democratic politics. His father, Thomas W. Dwyer, served as a county district court judge for 14 years. Dwyer said when his father won his seat on the bench in 1986, he was the sole Democrat elected. Dwyer’s mother, Mary Ita Dwyer, served as head of the town Democratic Party.

Interim Town Supervisor John Riordan, who took the reins of the town following Kaiman’s departure, had a long relationship with Dwyer’s father, also named Thomas. 

Riordan helped campaign for the elder Dwyer when his friend successfully ran for county district court judge and in 1993, the elder Dwyer suggested Riordan also run for district court judge on the Democratic ticket. He followed his friend’s advice and won.

Riordan will be succeeded by Bosworth, who defeated Republican Town Councilwoman Dina DeGiorgio in November.

Despite his departure from the town council and his imminent relocation, Dwyer said he intends to remain involved in the Town of North Hempstead. 

“My heart’s in North Hempstead. So I’m sure I’ll always be involved here,” he said.