Former Town of Colonie Civil Engineer John Reardon and former Fire Inspector Daniel Torpey accepted jobs as laborers in the town on Thursday, April 28, and were voted into their positions that same evening at a Town Board meeting.
At the meeting, board members voted unanimously to accept Reardon and Torpey as laborers for the town of Colonie, positions that pay significantly less than what they had been making.
The two men lost their jobs after an appellate court decision on March 31 ruled town employees must live within the town. In response, the town passed a resolution on April 7 changing the residency requirements for public officials, including Department of Public Works Commissioner Jack Cunningham and Director of the William K. Sanford Library Richard Naylor, to extend to Albany County, but that change was not enough to save Reardon’s and Torpey’s jobs because both men live outside the county.
They were not fired, said Cunningham of Reardon and Torpey. `They were both offered other jobs within the town.`
According to Supervisor Paula Mahan, the laborer positions start at $50,000 year. Reardon was making $78,000 a year as a civil engineer and Torpey was making $68,000 a year as a fire inspector. Mahan said due to their longevity with the town, the two men would be making slightly more in their new positions.
Town Attorney Mike Magguilli said the town is able to amend New York State Law under the Municipal Home Rule Law, but according to Public Officer Law Section 3, a civil officer must live within the town or the county. Magguilli had earlier said the town could extend the residency requirements out to as far as the entire state, but he was corrected by Assistant Town Attorney Rebekah Kennedy.
`Unfortunately, we can’t help them,` Magguilli said. `We’re prohibited from expanding outside of Albany County. … I made a mistake. I wasn’t aware that for the public officials we’re only allowed to extend to Albany County.`
Magguilli said both men are considered public officials based on court interpretations of the definition, as well as the state’s. It says that if the job expresses any sovereign powers of the municipality, then the position is considered to be that of a public official.
`Any sort of denying permits or accepting permits,` Magguilli said. `If it says that within the job description, they are considered to be a public official.`
Even if Reardon had moved into Albany County, he still would not have been able to get his job back as a civil engineer, according to Magguilli, because Reardon is not a professional engineer, which is part of the original job description. Magguilli said that Reardon’s position required him to be a professional engineer, and he only holds a civil engineering degree.
Colonie Republican Chairman John Graziano said that the town can change any of the residency requirements for positions in the town except for Cunningham’s because the position is set forth in state law requiring Cunningham to be an engineer.
He also called the firing of Reardon and Torpey a `witch hunt.`
`It’s an absolute witch hunt,` he said, pointing a finger at Supervisor Paula Mahan. `Why would she pick those two people to terminate?`
He also questioned why Mahan would not allow the two men to move back into the county. He said that many of the local labor unions have hired attorneys to fight these decisions.
`I do not know these people, and I feel very badly for these people,` he said of both Reardon and Torpey. `They’re being used in a political game to divert attention away from Cunningham.`
Mahan said the town was only responding to a lawsuit that Colonie Republicans had filed. She said both Reardon and Torpey always had the option of moving into the county, but the town wanted to find them jobs quickly, for the time being, so they would be able to keep their insurance benefits.
`If something comes up that doesn’t come under the Public Officer’s law or they move into the county, then they will have more options,` she said.
She dismissed Graziano’s comments as `political nonsense` and said that she has no plans to getting into a political game with him.
`If he wants to spend time on political games, go right on ahead,` she said. `We’ve done everything we could. It’s nothing political. We’re just strictly following findings of the lawsuit. It may be a game to him, but it’s not a game to me.`
The town also held a public hearing Thursday, April 28, changing the residency requirements to extend to Albany County for the medical director of Colonie EMS, Dr. Michael Daly, and Highway Superintendent Bill Neely. The Town Board voted 6-1, passing the resolution, with Councilman Dan Dustin voting against because he said there was still some information he was waiting on.
After the court decision was handed down, Magguilli said the town has been trying to save the jobs that they can. He said it was unfortunate that Torpey and Reardon had to be let go because the town was forced to respond to the lawsuit.
`Yeah, they were affected by that lawsuit,` he said. `They were, unfortunately, adversely affected by that.`
The Spotlight was unable to contact Reardon and Torpey“