Statement by Vincent Bettina, Town of Wappinger Highway Superintendent

The problems that presently exist at the Town Highway Department are two-fold.

First, when I took office in May of 20 15, there was a Deputy Highway Superintendent in
place. He had worked in the Highway Department for almost 40 years and he served under three
prior Highway Superintendents.

He worked until January of this year when he retired. I relied

on him quite a bit because of his years of experience in that department.

Soon after I became Highway Superintendent, it became obvious to me that the

employees had a certain work ethic or work culture that was disappointing to me. My business
experience in building roads and houses in Dutchess County was that I expected that people who
worked should perform an honest day's work and give their best at all times.

As I started to implement some of my own programs and procedures on how the men
should perform, I was met with a lot of resistance.
I implemented safety courses that apparently had been lacking. I implemented the use of

forms for complaints to provide better service.

From what I learned and observed, there was a lot oflaxity in the enforcement of work
hours and lunch hours. Rules that should be followed weren't being followed. There was even
beer in the refrigerator in the highway garage which I had removed.
I implemented the use of a time clock so that we could keep track of hours being worked.
Before I became the Town Highway Superintendent, I served on the Town Board as a
Town Councilman for twenty years and during some of those years I was also Deputy Supervisor

for the Town. I am very cognizant of taxpayer's dollars and the use of taxpayers' dollars since I
worked on budgets for twenty years.

I took that approach with me when I became the Highway

Superintendent.

There is a union contract in existence and I have always followed it and will continue to
do so. However, I do not see the necessity of making needless appointments simply based on
seniority when there are more qualified individuals working here to do the same work.

The men have balked at my enforcement of rules, procedures, and work hours. This is
one of the reasons why I believe we have this situation in the Highway Department as it
presently exists.

I know for a fact that Mr. Bernstein interviewed the former Deputy Highway
Superintendent who had worked in the Department for forty years. That person confirmed to
Mr. Bernstein that the former Highway Superintendent was lax in enforcing rules and the men
took advantage of that. He also told Mr. Bernstein that the men were resentful and angry that I
made them do things they didn't want to do.
I am not sure why Mr. Bernstein did not include those comments in his report, but I have
not seen Mr. Bernstein's report.

I am going to continue to work to try to see if the men will realize that we are working for
the taxpayers of this Town and we have to recognize that the taxpayers deserve a whole day's
work from everybody, including myself, for their tax dollars.
The second problem that exists is political in nature.

I firmly believe that the men are

being instigated by one of the Town Board members, John Fenton. It is my belief and I have a

reason to believe that Mr. Fenton is instigating many of the problems with the men because he
wants my job as Highway Superintendent.

He himself has told me that. He has told other Town

Board members that he wants my job.

In addition, Mr. Fenton has told someone that he is "after me".

On one occasion, Mr. Fenton said to me that he is going to micromanage my ass and
throw a saddle on my back, and he is going to make me feel the squeeze.
Mr. Fenton is the Chairman of the Conservative Party in the Town of Wappinger. I am a
Republican party member and have been for more than twenty years. Mr. Fenton has been
soliciting Town highway employees to join his Conservative party. He is using his position as
Conservative Party Chairman along with those Highway employees to undermine me. Two of
those employees are related to the person who ran against me in the last election. They are
assisting Mr. Fenton in his efforts to become the Town Highway Superintendent, be it now or in
the future.
I had appointed an African American to be my deputy and apparently that did not sit well
with some ofthe employees. Mr. Fenton said at that time that if the position of Deputy Highway
Superintendent was eliminated, the problems in the Highway Department would go away.
Unfortunately and against my advice, that person was ultimately terminated from employment
by the Town Board.
Mr. Fenton's conduct amounts to harassment and workplace violence against me.

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A troubling issue in this whole thing is that by union contract, all grievances are to be
confidential. By Town of Wappinger code and Town law, workplace violence reports are also to
be treated confidentially.

It seems that someone is purposely leaking confidential matters to the news media.
Perhaps it is the Chairman of the Wappinger Conservative Party and his Vice Chairman
who we know positively has filed various FOIL requests on behalf of the Conservative Party
seeking to get these confidential reports.

I would like nothing more than to create a peaceful and productive work environment for
the Highway Department employees and for myself as their Superintendent.

However, I will

always be sure that the Town taxpayers are getting their monies worth every day that we are on
the job. That is the oath of office I took.

Respectfully submitted,
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Vincent Bettina
Town of Highway Superintendent