Citing Gas Use, Trustees Call for Mayor's Resignation

Two Patchogue Village trustees demanded the resignation of Mayor Paul Pontieri Monday night after they furnished a letter detailing what they allege is the mayor's illegal use of the Village's gas pump.

The letter, signed by trustees Stephen McGiff and Gerald Crean, claims that Pontieri accessed the gas pump, located at the Department of Public Works on Waverly Avenue, at least 339 times and pumped nearly 5,000 gallons of gas, worth at least $17,000 over a four-year period.

McGiff and Crean say the mayor violated state law by filling up his personal vehicle at the pump.

"These records strongly suggest that you were filling up more than just your own vehicle," the letter (see full letter to the right) reads, citing Village records (also to the right) showing the mayor accessed the pump twice on the same day on at least one occasion and on multiple times over the course of week. "At the very least, it is obvious that the taxpayers are paying for gas that you are using to fuel your privately owned car for your personal use in a clear and blatant violation of the law."

Pontieri told Patch the letter was a political move by McGiff and Crean, and that as mayor he often has to drive across Long Island to meet with people and organizations that have invested money in Patchogue Village.

"Forty-seven million doesn't happen by sitting in Village Hall...it happens by going out and meeting people," Pontieri said.

Pontieri said he drives as part of his role on the Long Island Regional Planning Council, the New York Council of Mayors and Suffolk Community College among other involvements representing Patchogue Village.

Pontieri also said that using the Village pump saves money over alternatively charging the Village 50 cents per mile when he has to drive for business. On Tuesday, for example, the mayor said he put 160 miles on his vehicle: he had to be at Hofstra University for the Long Island Regional Planning Council, then in Mineola for a meeting regarding the state's new two percent propety tax cap, among other commitments, he said. 

"What's better?" Pontieri asked. "Charging the Village $80 dollars on mileage, or putting gas in the car for around $3 a gallon?"

The letter also includes an allegation that four keys to the gas pump have gone missing, and that there are drastic variations in the mileage reported by the mayor, at times working out to .08 miles to the gallon.

Pontieri said that two of the employees who have access to the pump are under a department run by McGiff.

McGiff said that he is not reporting the findings to the police, and is instead deferring to the ongoing state audit.

Pontieri called the allegations "ugly politics."

"It's not about the taxpayer," he said. "It's about the election."

Pontieri and McGiff ran together under the Patchogue First party in 2008, but they are now on opposing sides heading into this March's mayoral/trustee election, running on the and tickets, respectively. Crean is not up for re-election.

It's not the first time McGiff and Crean have publicly accused the mayor of unethical activities. The trustees sent a to residents last summer slamming Pontieri for, among other things, what they said was an unauthorized $150,000 interest-free loan to Artspace.

Pontieri, who stripped McGiff of the deputy mayor title in August, denied any wrongdoing at the time.