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North Hempstead highway superintendent resigns after four months

Jessica Parks
Richard Baker is the town's new highway superintendent. (Photo courtesy of the Town of North Hempstead)
Richard Baker is the town's new highway superintendent. (Photo courtesy of the Town of North Hempstead)

North Hempstead Highway Superintendent Richard Baker resigned from his post in mid-July, just months after he was appointed in February. 

A statement from the Town of North Hempstead confirmed Baker’s resignation and wished him well in the future. 

Prior to Baker, the highway superintendent position had been vacant since 2016 after Thomas Tiernan’s resignation amid a town investigation into the Highway Department’s overtime use.  

Baker’s 30 years of public work experience includes serving as a special project supervisor with the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, fleet consolidation administrative manager with the New York City Department of Sanitation and the Town of Islip’s Department of Public Works commissioner. He also sat on the executive boards of the state Association of Town Highway Superintendents Association and the Suffolk County Highway Superintendents Association, according to a March press release from the town. 

The town highway superintendent oversees the Highway Department, which is responsible for the town’s 300 miles of roadways with duties ranging from street sweeping and snow removal to sign installation. 

Newsday reported that Baker had an annual salary of $140,000 and that Kevin Cronin will again serve as the acting superintendent of the highway department, a role he filled before Baker’s appointment.

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