Southampton Village Police Chief Thomas Cummings (left) will obtain a payout of $774,193 for 686 unused trip and sick days
An outgoing police chief for a village with a inhabitants of round 3,200 in New York’s Hamptons is about to obtain an almost $775,000 payout for unused sick go away upon his retirement.
The Southampton village board voted 5 to 0 to approve an settlement that ends the contract of Chief Thomas Cummings on Sept. 10, and permits him to gather $774,193 for 686 unused trip and sick days at $1,095 per day in addition to $23,000 in retroactive per diem pay.
Moreover, Cummings will obtain free dental and medical advantages for each himself and his partner and their dependents for the remainder of their lives, until his spouse dies or remarries.
The retirement deal comes on prime of his annual wage, which was $248,342 in 2020, based on SeeThroughNY, a public wage database.
For comparability, Demot Shea, the police chief for New York Metropolis, with a inhabitants of 18.8 million, made $243,171 in 2020.
Particulars of Cumming’s retirement package deal have been made public by way of a Freedom of Data Legislation request by Newsday.
Southampton Mayor Jesse Warren criticized the retirement deal, which was made by a earlier administration when it accredited Cummings’ present contract in 2016.
‘Transferring ahead, our board will work to cut back long-term debt and liabilities as we diligently seek for the subsequent Chief of Police,’ Warren informed the outlet in a press release. ‘I want Chief Cummings nothing however the very best and thank him for his service.’
Southampton Mayor Jesse Warren (pictured) blasted the expensive retirement deal, which he stated was made underneath a earlier administration.
Cummings oversees a division for a village with a inhabitants of three,200 and made extra in his annual wage final yr than the chief of the New York Metropolis Police Division
The vote to finish Cummings’ contract got here after disputes between Warren, who received reelection in June, and native legislation enforcement businesses.
In August, 2020, the Southampton police union held a vote of no confidence calling for Warren’s removing after his public assist for the Black Lives Matter motion final summer time.
‘The PBA respectfully requests Commissioner Warren be instantly changed with somebody that gives management and a willingness to work and talk with the Division and the PBA,’ learn a letter signed by police union president Michael Horstman, Newsday reported.
Cummings’ contract expired on Might 31, however contained language that allowed him to increase it indefinitely until the village board held a proper vote to not renew it.
On April 8, Warren and trustee Gina Arresta tried to terminate Cummings’ contract, however have been unsuccessful after former trustees Mark Parash and Andrew Pilaro voted in opposition to the measure, and trustee Joesph McLouhglin abstained.
Mark Epley, who served as mayor when Cummings’ present contract was negotiated, defended the deal and stated it was being mischaracterized
Parah and Pilaro, who have been backed by the Southhampton PBA misplaced their reelection bids final month, clearing the way in which for the board to finish Cummings’ contract in a vote on June 20, Newsday additionally reported.
Cummings had been with the division since 1987, and have become chief in 2011, based on his Linkedin.
He didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
Mark Epley, who was mayor when Cummings’ contract was accredited criticized the present administration for its discussions round Cummings’ pay deal.
‘The mayor and that board needs to be ashamed of themselves for treating Chief Cummings the way in which they’ve,’ he informed Newsday. ‘For his contract, his profit program to be misrepresented the way in which they’ve completed, it’s a travesty.’
Different current high-dollar retirement payouts for village police chiefs on Lengthy Island embody Michael McGowan, who acquired $646,393 upon his retirement as Hempstead Police chief in 2018, and Daniel Duggan, who bought a greater than $1million payout upon his retirement from the Westbury Police Division in 2015, based on Newsday.
‘The total price of public staff’ pay and advantages is essentially hidden from public view, together with objects akin to unpaid go away,’ Peter Warren, director of analysis for the Empire Middle for Public Coverage, which operates SeeThrough New York, informed Newsday.
He famous that Cummings’ retirement package deal was possible one of many largest within the space. ‘We regularly see massive, mysterious lump-sum funds inside the public worker payroll information we FOIL and submit on our SeeThrough New York web site,’ he stated. ‘A 3-quarter of one million [dollar] payout will surely be among the many largest such lumps we have encountered.’
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