East Hampton Building Inspector Moving to Sag Harbor

Tom Preiato is leaving his post as East Hampton Town's chief building inspector for a position in the Village of Sag Harbor.

The village board held a special meeting Tuesday morning to approve several resolutions, including one to hire Mr. Preiato, who lives in Sag Harbor, as the senior building inspector. He will receive an annual salary of $75,000, the same as his salary in East Hampton. He will start Nov. 7.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said Tuesday morning that Mr. Preiato told him last week that he was considering the position, and that Mayor Brian Gilbride visited him on Monday to inform him of the village's decision to hire him. "My understanding is Tom will stay on for about two weeks, which will help in the transition. We have to follow Civil Service regulations, so it might take a bit to fill that position," Mr. Cantwell said. "My concern right now is to continue having an effective, operating Building Department that does its work in a timely basis."

There was already one vacancy in the department and another inspector, Robert Fisher, had been suspended for 30 days without pay last month. On Tuesday, the town board passed a resolution appointing Fred Lang Jr. as a part-time building inspector at an hourly rate of $30 an hour. If Mr. Fisher is not back on the job when Mr. Preiato leaves at the end of the month, the only other inspector left in the field will be Dan Casey.

"My primary objective is getting that department fully staffed," Mr. Cantwell said. "It's a very busy office, and any building department on the East End, at this point, is busy. There's a lot of activity. Chief building inspectors are always in a position to make tough decisions," the supervisor said.

Mr. Preiato became the town's chief building inspector on a provisional basis last October, but he had been acting as the lead inspector since the death of Don Sharkey, who had held that position, four years earlier. Mr. Preiato was appointed provisionally because there was no Civil Service list for that position at the time, according to Mr. Cantwell. The exam was offered since then and a list was generated recently. Mr. Preiato said he scored the second highest in the county on the Civil Service test in June.

The town was in the midst of following the Civil Service procedure and interviewing for the position, as well as the other vacancy. He said Mr. Preiato was being considered, but the board was not in a position yet to make a decision.

In the 2013 campaign, Mr. Cantwell and his Democratic running mates made reorganization of the Building Department a part of their platform and promised to "appoint a chief building inspector who holds that civil service title."

Mr. Preiato said Tuesday that he would not have taken the Sag Harbor position if the town board had already decided to make him the permanent chief building inspector.

In Sag Harbor, the village had a backlog of cases building up and the village board was looking to bring more experience to its Building Department. In June, the board hired Jose L. Escalante as the building inspector to replace Timothy Platt, who resigned, for a probationary period that is to expire in December. Mr. Escalante was given a salary of $42,500. Mayor Gilbride said the board was aware that Mr. Escalante did not have a lot of on-the-job experience.

The number of ongoing building projects, including large-scale projects like the condominiums at the old Bulova watchcase factory, proved to be too much, the board said. Sandra Schroeder, a village board member, said the previous inspector had been working on these projects since their inception. "This poor kid is closer to the end of the game. It's too overwhelming, some of these things," she said.

"Tom's experience -- 15 years or better -- and the job he's been doing over in East Hampton, it will be less of a baptism by fire. It's not a criticism of Jose, it's just that he hasn't had that field experience, that day-to-day experience," Mayor Gilbride said. "Hopefully, working under Tom a little bit will help."

Mayor Gilbride would not comment on whether the department would continue to operate with two inspectors. "If there's a need to keep two people working that's going to be a board decision we'll work through," he said.

Mr. Preiato had been one of three finalists for the Sag Harbor position in June, but said Tuesday that he had backed out because of a disparity in salary. The village board pursued him since then. "A good opportunity presented itself," he said. "I don't have anything bad to say about East Hampton; I'm leaving on very good terms."

A graduate of the University of Southern Florida, he first went into construction before taking the Civil Service test in 2000 to become a building inspector. In 2009, he passed the test that allowed him to take on the title of senior building inspector. When he first joined the town's building department, there were three office workers and four inspectors. "We scaled back," he said. Now, there are two office workers and three inspector positions, but, again, one of them is vacant.

"East Hampton needs to find a qualified replacement, and build a team of inspectors," Mr. Preiato said about the pending opening at the top of the department.

He had high praise for the department's office staff, Evelyn Calderon, a bilingual clerk, and Ann Glennon, the administrative assistant. "I would be nothing without my staff. They are so dedicated."

In a decision released last week on an application by the town for a preliminary injunction against the owners of Cyril's Fish House, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Farneti wrote that Mr. Preiato "impressed the court as both professional and conscientious in the discharge of his official duties." It is a compliment Mr. Preiato said he takes great pride in. "I strive for consistency, not to be all over the board with decisions."

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This article has been updated since it originally appeared online on Oct. 21.