Northport Village Trustee Joseph Sabia loses deputy mayor title; Dolan appointed in his place

Northport Village Mayor Donna Koch announced at last night’s board of trustees meeting that Trustee Joseph Sabia would be removed from his position as deputy mayor and that Trustee Meghan Dolan would take his place. 

The decision came after what Mayor Koch described as a loss of trust with Sabia, who she said violated the open meeting law when he discussed Village business with Trustee Ernest Pucillo and Trustee Dave Weber in Cow Harbor Park. 

On October 23, 2023, Trustee Pucillo contacted the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) regarding the results of a November 2022 boring test in Cow Harbor Park, which noted an odor of petrochemicals during the boring process. According to Koch, Sabia claimed that she and Assistant to the Mayor Don Tesoriero had been sitting on information regarding safety concerns in the park.

“I have decided to remove Trustee Sabia as deputy mayor,” Koch announced at the meeting. “This decision has been made due to his recent open meeting law violation in Cow Harbor Park and serious public accusations of wrongdoing by Village officials and employees.”

“It is imperative that all members of our Village administration adhere to the highest standards of conduct and performance,” the mayor continued. “Regrettably, Trustee Sabia’s actions have fallen short of those expectations. Therefore, effective immediately, I am appointing Trustee Meghan Dolan as deputy mayor.” 

Trustee Sabia said that the three board members did not plan to meet at the park. Pucillo was photographing the area of the park in question when Sabia, who noticed an unusual green buildup in the harbor, called Trustee Weber for his professional opinion on the cause of the plume. “I got nervous that something was happening with our sewer plant,” Sabia said. The trustee first called Village engineer Roland Buzard but when he didn’t answer the phone, he asked Weber to come to the park, Sabia recounted. 

Weber determined the “sludgy thing” was algae. 

None of the three trustees – Pucillo, Sabia or Weber – considered their meeting in the park a violation of open meeting laws because they did not plan on convening there. Koch, however, alleged that they discussed Village business at that time. 

“I don’t care about being deputy mayor or not,” Sabia said after being stripped of the title. Mayor Koch often kicks him out of meetings, he said, and also disallowed Sabia’s attendance at weekly construction meetings after the trustee allegedly shared information with a resident, although Sabia denied doing so. He called Koch a dictator who never wanted his input and didn’t let him act as deputy mayor. 

“I need a deputy mayor that’s going to look out for the welfare of the entire Village and not a select few. I need a deputy mayor that you can speak to and can look at all sides of something. I need a deputy mayor that I can trust and I am sorry to say that my trust in Trustee Sabia has diminished,” Koch said. 

After the announcement, Trustee Weber questioned the legality of rescinding the board-approved resolution to appoint Sabia as deputy mayor in April 2022. The action, however, was approved by an attorney for the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM), said Village Clerk Georgina Cavagnaro, and follows Village law, which states that the mayor has the responsibility to “appoint one of the trustees as deputy mayor at the annual meeting, who, during the absence or inability of the mayor, is vested with all the powers and may perform all the duties of the mayor.”

In hindsight, Koch said, the original deputy mayor appointment did not need to be passed with a board resolution because it’s a decision made at the sole discretion of the mayor. 

In response to her new title, Trustee Dolan reiterated why she became involved in Village government: to serve the community. “I have worked very hard to maintain open communication with everybody on this board,” she said. “We want more open communication here, and more updates on what things are going on and what projects are happening. I do want to say that I will continue to work hard and my allegiance is to the Village, it is not to any particular person, it’s to the projects we are working on. I will do as I’m asked and I am happy to continue working for the Village to ensure that it is functioning in a professional, timely, open way.” 

The decision to remove Sabia as deputy mayor comes five months after the trustee was investigated following a formal complaint of workplace harassment made against him. According to a report obtained by the Journal, Northport Village Highway Mechanic Joseph Cavagnaro made several specific complaints about Sabia, including subverting the Village’s chain of command by inserting himself into various Highway Department affairs, falsely attributing statements to Village officials, and questioning the necessity of Cavagnaro’s role as a Village employee. 

Attorney Steven Stern, who conducted the investigation, concluded in the report that although some of Sabia’s conduct could be described as inappropriate and disruptive to Village employees, it did not rise to the level of workplace harassment. Stern did criticize Sabia, stating that the trustee “seems oblivious to the manner in which his assistance is received,” and that most of the people interviewed during the investigation view Sabia’s involvement in Highway Department affairs as “a nuisance that interferes with their workdays and the operations of the Department.” Stern suggested Sabia stay within the bounds of his role as Village trustee and, instead of directing a Village employee’s work, bring his suggestions to the board of trustees or Village administrator.