Town of North Hempstead officials accepted the resignations of three top officials at their first meeting of the year on Tuesday night, including a senior policy adviser, comptroller and deputy town attorney, as they go to new positions in the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County.
Robert Troiano, a senior policy adviser and former director of operations for Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth since 2014, joined County Executive Laura Curran’s administration as the acting commissioner for traffic and parking violations.
Curran spokesman Michael Martino said his annual salary will be $155,000 and that Troiano “will be running one of the county’s most critical operations.”
“Robert Troiano has been a central member of my team since I took office,” Bosworth said. “Robert has a long and distinguished history in public service and has always served his constituents with passion, first as a council member here in North Hempstead and then as a legislator in Nassau County.”
“I have valued his counsel and wisdom,” Bosworth added. “I wish him only the best in his new endeavor.”
The Town Board also accepted the resignation of Averil Smith, the Town of North Hempstead’s comptroller since 2015, who will become the director of finance for new Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen.
Smith, a certified public accountant for more than 20 years, oversaw multimillion-dollar budgets and performed audits in that role.
“Averil Smith led the town comptroller’s office with the utmost integrity and skill,” Bosworth said. “She has been an integral part of our finance team that has worked to get the town on firm fiscal footing through conservative budgeting and fiscal practices.”
Mitchell Pitnick, the chief deputy town attorney for North Hempstead, had worked for the town for more than a decade. Following the acceptance of his resignation on Tuesday, he is now serving as counsel for Gillen.
“His superlative work ethic and extensive knowledge of government policy and the law has been an important part of the North Hempstead team,” Bosworth said.
With the vote to accept the resignations, Town Board members Anna Kaplan, Viviana Russell, Lee Seeman and Peter Zuckerman echoed their appreciation for their service.
“We wish them the best in all their future endeavors and I really appreciate all their contributions over many years to the Town of North Hempstead,” Zuckerman said.
Kaplan also highlighted and thanked retiring traffic technician Diane O’Donnell, who was with the town for more than 30 years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“[She has] really helped us to navigate a lot of different difficulties and different streets and find out the best options for our residents,” Kaplan said.
Carole Trottere, a spokeswoman for the Town of North Hempstead, said the town is “carefully evaluating all vacancies” and that “the Town Comptroller opening is currently being advertised.”
