Jon Kaiman stepped down as Town of North Hempstead supervisor Monday to join Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Long Island storm recovery task force.
Kaiman, a Democrat from Great Neck who announced his intention to take the Hurriane Sandy recovery job earlier in July, presented the town’s 2014 tentative budget before leaving office.
“I’m joining this extraordinary team of folks that the governor has put together to get us where we need to be in regard to Sandy recovery,” Kaiman said in an interview earlier this month.
The move leaves Deputy Supervisor Chris Senior to serve as Kaiman’s non-voting interim replacement, but the length of his term is up in the air.
The North Hempstead Town Council may appoint a new supervisor, who would have full voting powers on the board, at its Oct. 1 meeting.
Kaiman said earlier this month that if the board decides to put a voting member in place as supervisor, “then the board will make that decision.”
Last week Cuomo also appointed Kaiman the chairperson of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, the state board responsible for overseeing Nassau’s finances.
Kaiman, 51, replaced Ronald Stack as chief of the agency, drawing skepticism from both NIFA director George Marlin and Nassau County7 Legislator Judi Jacobs (D-Woodbury).
Kaiman’s job prospects had been the subject of the political rumor mill for months.
Kaiman had been in the running for the top position at the Long Island Power Authority before Hurricane Sandy placed the future of the utility into doubt.
Kaiman had declined a nomination to run for Nassau district court judge just prior his appointment to the storm relief job. He said he isn’t sure of what his new job will pay, but he said it will be more than his current salary of $133,690, and less than the salary of a district court judge.
While he will be based in Manhattan, he said most of his time will be spent in state offices in Nassau or Suffolk counties.
