Civil Service Says Acting Chief in Southampton Village Should No Longer Fill Role

As far as Suffolk County Civil Service is concerned, Southampton Village’s acting police chief, having twice failed the chief’s exam, should not be working in that capacity.

Civil Service’s principal personnel analyst told the village administrator this in a November 2022 email and indicated that she had mentioned as much to the village before. The acting chief, then a lieutenant, was promoted to captain a month later — but, according to Civil Service, that hasn’t changed things.

Suzanne Hurteau had led the department since September 2021, taking over the role when Chief Tom Cummings left the village’s employ. She had sat for the chief’s exam in 2021, prior to being named acting chief, when it was offered for an opening in Westhampton Beach. She took it again in 2022. Both times, she did not achieve a passing score. The 2022 exam results were published in August 2022.

The principal personnel analyst for Suffolk County Civil Service, Virginia Kuzemchak, wrote to Southampton Village Administrator Charlene Kagel-Betts in November 2022, “As I have mentioned, Lt. Hurteau cannot be appointed provisionally as she has failed the exam twice per CS Rule 13. #1 and she should not be acting in the capacity of police chief.”

That Civil Service rule states: “Under no circumstances will an individual who has failed two consecutive examinations for the title be given a third provisional appointment in the same title.”

Kagel-Betts said on Tuesday that although Hurteau couldn’t serve as acting chief as a lieutenant, she was promoted to captain in December. “Our police captain is also the executive officer of the police department and can serve as chief in the absence of the chief,” she said.

The village’s labor counsel, Vincent Toomey, had a similar assessment: “In the absence of a chief of police, the authority passes down to the second-in-command, which is almost always a captain,” he said. “… Whether or not you call someone an acting chief of police, the second-in-command steps into the role of the first-in-command.”

But Civil Service did not agree that the promotion to captain resolved the issue.

“Neither a lieutenant nor a captain should be ‘acting’ in the capacity of a police chief,” wrote Philip Cohen, Suffolk County Civil Service’s director of classification, in an email Tuesday, replying to an inquiry from The Press.

Hurteau was promoted to captain unanimously the same day a divided Southampton Village Board voted, 4-1, to offer the police chief job to Anthony Carter, a Suffolk County deputy police commissioner. He was slated to assume the position in March; staying in the position would have hinged on him passing the chief’s exam that will be offered on March 25. He rejected the offer in January, which the village trustees blamed on Mayor Jesse Warren, who cast the sole vote against Carter’s appointment.

After Carter turned down the job, the village found that it would be without a permanent chief for longer than it had anticipated. “Obviously, there was a change in circumstance,” Toomey said. “Everybody thought Carter was going to be the appointee.”

Cohen wrote that the village could have requested that Civil Service authorize a temporary appointment in the title of police chief for Hurteau or anyone else who meets the minimum qualifications for the title, and that, given sufficient justification, the request likely would have been granted.

“Rule 13 of the Suffolk County Rules would preclude a third provisional appointment for someone who had failed two consecutive examinations; the rule does not address temporary appointments,” he wrote.

He noted that Civil Service would evaluate the circumstances surrounding the request, including the availability of a list of eligible candidates, before authorizing a temporary appointment and determining its duration.

Cohen concluded: “We are contacting the village to determine the status of Ms. Hurteau and to determine what actions can be taken pending establishment of a new list.”

The village asked Civil Service to hold two chief’s exams next month to create a new list of eligible candidates — although it typically takes months before the tests are scored and the names of those who passed are published. One is a promotional exam, for members of the Southampton Village Police Department, and the other is open competitive, which is open to anyone with the requisite police experience.

In January, Kagel-Betts told Civil Service that the Board of Trustees had requested that the chief’s exam be limited to internal candidates with the rank of lieutenant and higher. That includes only Hurteau and Lieutenant Chris Wetter.

Kagel-Betts said on Tuesday that the Village Board discussed the matter during an executive session with labor counsel but did not hold a formal vote. Trustee Bill Manger said setting the parameters for the promotional exam were the board’s consensus.

But Warren said on Monday that he had pushed for setting the bar at sergeant or higher — which would have made several more current members of the Village Police Department eligible for the exam.

“I just wanted everyone to feel heard and feel included, and just because you open up a test for more people doesn’t mean you actually have to select those people,” he said. “Those candidates still have to first take the test and pass it, and, of course, score in the top three. So I don’t see anything wrong with including more people. I think including more people is better than including less, and that’s been my mantra from day one.”

Trustee Roy Stevenson said lieutenant and up is the standard range that Civil Service applies. “It’s generally considered the rank that you want to promote from,” he added.

Stevenson said the board promoted Hurteau to captain in December because there was a vacancy and based on her performance. “She’s done an excellent job in her time as acting chief,” he said.

Hurteau is among those who signed up to take March’s chief’s exam, according to Stevenson, and he said the village is also interviewing candidates who don’t have to take the chief’s exam because they have already been police chiefs elsewhere in the state — although chiefs in New York City must still take a village chief’s exam to be eligible under Civil Service rules.