Key Lupinacci Staffer Leaving Post

Deputy Supervisor Patricia DelCol’s last day on the job will be Jan. 29.

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

Longtime Deputy Supervisor Patricia DelCol is set to resign her position with the town at the end of the month.

DelCol was first appointed deputy town supervisor in 2010 by then-supervisor Frank Petrone. After seven years serving under Petrone, DelCol said she intended to leave the position when current supervisor Chad Lupinacci was elected in 2017. She agreed to stay on to help Lupinacci “get things up and running.”

“I made a commitment to him that I would do that, and I would do that for a year,” DelCol said in an interview Friday. “I think we have successfully transitioned a lot of the new department heads into their positions.”

The veteran town employee said she would be moving to a position in the private sector with Melville-based architecture and engineering firm H2M.

Lupinacci said DelCol has played an “instrumental role in this past year of transition.”

“We're going to miss Pat, and we are thankful for her dedication to the town,” Lupinacci said. “We wish her the best in her retirement from 24 years in government service.”

Lupinacci has not named any candidates to replace DelCol as deputy supervisor.

DelCol began her career with the town in 1986 as director of environmental control. After a spell in the private sector with Covanta Energy, she was again hired by the town in 2005 as the director of engineering services.

In her tenure as deputy supervisor, DelCol said the town’s “sound financial footing” and capital projects rank among her proudest accomplishments. She said the job of the deputy supervisor is “day-to-day management” of town projects and departments.

“Someone once told me the job of this position is to ‘keep the trains running on time,’ and that is very true,” DelCol said.

She said her time at town hall has been rewarding.

“We really focused on the residents and what their asks were,” DelCol said. “At the end of the day, you leave feeling like you really accomplished something.”

Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, who has served on the town board since 1998, called DelCol a “significant player at town hall” who “is very integral” to the town’s day-to-day operations.

“She understands all the town’s facets – finance, waste management, building department – she has a really acute understanding of all those areas,” Cuthbertson said.

DelCol said her last day at town hall will be Jan. 29.