Updated: Dom Spada, director of maritime services for the Town of Huntington, resigned at the request of Supervisor Chad Lupinacci, Newsday reported Friday.
But the reason for the ouster was not known.
“it became clear to me that he could no longer serve in this administration,” Newsday quoted Lupinacci as saying. “It became clear to me that he could no longer serve in this administration and it was with a heavy heart and deep disappointment that I asked for his resignation.”
Spada, who took over director duties part time after the town fired his predecessor, Edward A.T. Carr in March 2019, and became director in June 2020, has held numerous simultaneous positions in the town and the Village of Huntington Bay, as well as a private job.
After Spada applied for a bay constable’s job, several people in the boating community objected, pointing out that bay constables report to the maritime director, and some questioned his qualifications for the constable position.
In May 2019 HuntingtonNow.com asked the Suffolk County Civil Service department about a letter challenging Spada’s right to take the bay constable exam. Stanley Pelc, the county’s director of examinations, replied, “We investigated the matter and have determined that the Bay Constable candidate did meet the minimum qualifications.”
In his statement about Spada, Lupinacci also said, “This unfortunate situation, which appears to be unrelated to his role as director of maritime services, cannot undo Mr. Spada’s stellar record of making our waterways and shorelines safer than ever before for residents, beachgoers and boaters, taking the cost burden off the taxpayer in the process, returning Federal and State tax dollars back to Huntington through grant-funded emergency response boats, and his complete in-house, under-budget renovations of our marinas and waterfront facilities that were nelgected for 20 years–what Mr. Spada achieved for the town and all of our residents is unparalleled and we thank him for his service.”
Town Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, however, said to Newsday, “It is disingenuous for the to say Spada’s resignation has nothing to do with his role as director of maritime services without offering any basis for that.”
The town website says the Maritime Services Department operates, maintains and manages the Town’s beaches, beach pavilions, waterfront parks, picnic areas, boardwalks, docks, wharfs, bulkheads, piers, boat ramps, dinghy racks and marinas. This includes providing law enforcement in bays and harbors to regulate private water craft, the placement and maintenance of navigation markers, the issuance of mooring permits, assignment of marina slips, and launch services.