ISLIP, NY – The Town of Islip's public works commissioner said he resigned Mar. 31 for misusing his town-issued vehicle, making regular trips on summer and fall afternoons to a Port Washington golf course, reported Newsday.
Islip officials now are investigating other managers in the department and announced Tuesday that they will change the way commissioners' GPS records are monitored.
Commissioner Stephen W. Lapham reportedly submitted his letter of resignation after Newsday submitted Freedom of Information requests for GPS records on his vehicle, and the town's former GPS manager blew the whistle on his former boss two days after resigning himself.
The GPS manager, Steve Hicks, resigned Mar. 27 because he said he felt managers in the department chafed against his doing his job.
He told Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan about the golf trips on Sunday. Hicks, who was responsible for monitoring data from the GPS devices installed in town cars and trucks, said he did not alert the supervisor earlier because he feared retribution.
Interviewed by Newsday,Lapham said he had played golf on town time, on weekday afternoons on his way home from work.
"Unfortunately I made a mistake, and I had to pay for that mistake," he said. "I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. I come from the private sector, so I'm sure I had lessons to learn in the public sector."
Lapham, who was on call 24 hours a day for snowstorms, flooding and other emergencies, said he always put in at least 35 hours per week.
The town is also investigating the GPS records of deputy commissioner Joseph Boccio. Records show Boccio used his town vehicle to go golfing with Lapham on Aug. 25 and three days later drove it to the funeral of Phil Dejana, a former colleague of Boccio, Lapham, and Nolan at Dejana Industries, a municipal services contractor.
Boccio said he went golfing that day at the invitation of his boss and attended the funeral on behalf of the town. Nolan said he had not authorized Boccio to use his town car for that, adding that he had attended Dejana's wake using his personal car.
Newsday's investigation also found that Lapham and other public works managers had removable magnetic Islip Town seals on their cars, rather than the permanent ones mandated by the town board last April. Town officials replaced those seals Tuesday with permanent ones.
Lapham, Boccio, and fleet service manager Tom Martin said the removable seals had been used to observe workers and contractors without being recognized.
Because of Hicks' reticence to report his superiors, the supervisor's office will now monitor the GPS records of commissioners and other officials, Nolan said.
Nolan, who appointed Lapham in November 2007, called him a "hard worker" with 25 years' experience.
"It's a huge loss," he said.
