Customer service vice president Bruce Germano and trustee X. Cristofer Damianos call it quits after the utility's response to the superstorm.
The
ranks at the Long Island Power Authority continued to thin Tuesday as
customer service vice president Bruce Germano and trustee X. Cristofer
Damianos quit their posts at the utility.
They will
join acting-CEO Michael Hervey
in leaving LIPA at the end of the year, following scathing criticism of
the utility's leadership from the governor down to the locals left in
the dark by
LIPA's communications failures after the devastating hurricane struck the area on Oct. 29.
Follow Long Beach Patch on Facebook. Germano
had worked in the energy industry for 37 years, according to his LIPA
profile, having spent time at companies including KeySpan and the former
Long Island Lighting Company.
"My decision to leave is purely a personal decision," he said in a statement.
Damianos,
a real estate exec, was appointed to the board of trustees in 2007 by
former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. His exit leaves LIPA with only nine trustees,
just one higher than the eight needed to operate as a board.
Be a Follower. Explore and subscribe to Patch groups.In
the month following the storm, pressure has mounted against the utility
for its missteps during the recovery process. While power outages
topping 1 million for LIPA customers was unprecedented, the utility
buckled when it came to communicating with the public about restoration
times. At the same time, both county executives on Long Island bashed
LIPA leadership, with Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone
eventually sidestepping them to work directly with crews working on fixing power outages, many that stretched beyond two weeks.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has since
launched a Moreland Commission
to scrutinize the utilities' response, and has tapped Nassau County
District Attorney Kathleen Rice to lead the investigation into utility
preparations. The governor chose Deputy Suffolk County Executive Regina
Calcaterra to lead the commission.
Last
week, Cuomo said LIPA "has to end," though he said he will wait for the
commission's full report to be delivered in a few weeks before making
recommendations.
This story was written by Henry Powderly. Become a blogger today!
Get started now