Nepotism at work in Town Hall?

Not every decision made in Town Hall is best for Riverhead. We trust that our elected officials are working for us, but we are aware that personal opinions can sometimes influence decision making. 

That may explain how, regardless of any number of qualified applicants, a sitting town councilman’s live-in son-in-law is Riverhead’s new town attorney.

On a national level, it’s against the law to hire a relative of a government official. This is to prevent preferential treatment, to avoid hiring underqualified candidates, and to spare the official from ever needing to defend or excuse incompetency. As it’s human nature to favor relatives, this rule works to keep business, business.

But here in Riverhead, we have no law that would serve to prevent the promotion of Tim Hubbard’s live-in son-in-law Erik Howard to town attorney, in spite of Erik’s poor record during his few years working in that office, including a rental code revision, publicly applauded by his father-in-law, that drove angry residents to town hall, resulting in undue embarrassment for the town.

While Tim ‘recused himself’ from the vote to appoint Erik, it’s likely he weighed in during the screening process and has been vocal following Erik’s appointment. It seems obvious that Tim will continue to support Erik publicly, likely while guiding him privately. The two offices regularly overlap in Town Hall, but how will we know if Erik’s decisions or Tim’s are being decided over the breakfast table? 

This isn’t just about nepotism (i.e., those with power or influence hiring relatives or friends) or about a violation of ethics (i.e., moral principles that govern behavior). It’s about personal opinions resulting in bad choices that can create serious problems for Riverhead. An inexperienced town attorney can be disastrous, triggering costly legal and ethical entanglements that a more experienced candidate might have avoided.  

The position of Riverhead town attorney should be held by someone unquestionably skilled, with extensive experience but without any conflicts of interest that could distract from the ability to focus and deliver unarguable legal expertise.  

Instead, we’re left to wonder, if Erik wasn’t Tim’s live-in son-in-law, would he have ever been hired at all? And if Tim wasn’t his father-in-law, would Erik have been the best of all the applicants for our town attorney? Those are questions that will remain unanswered.

Ellen Hoil
Riverhead

Editor’s note: Ellen Hoil is a member of the Riverhead Town Democratic Committee and was a Democratic candidate for assessor in 2021.

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