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.
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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.
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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.
Two More Exit LIPA After Sandy Failures
Customer service vice president Bruce Germano and trustee X. Cristofer Damianos call it quits after the utility's response to the superstorm.
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AEA President June 18, 2013 at 04:46 pm
yes - by sheer coincidence, their employees work more overtime than ever before in their last 3…Read More years of employment before retirement (as it so happens, their pension is based in part on their last 3 years of employment).
Jack Kett June 18, 2013 at 07:41 pm
Bottom line re: LIRR is that people in suburbs who ride LIRR and Metro North are paying to subsidize…Read More the bankrupt NYC Subways and subsidize minority riders in the outer boros. Its the price we pay to not live in NYC. The subways charges a cheap fixed fare to subsidize low income NYC residents. Its a form of socialism.
Joe June 18, 2013 at 08:19 pm
Jack, racist much? Why don't you go have a tea party with the rest of the little Republican girls?
Eddie June 18, 2013 at 02:55 pm
Great photos, Richard. With joists like those, you could drive a firetruck up that thing!
Eugene Torres June 17, 2013 at 07:57 am
Heron St is like a bombed out war zone. Many of the residents
drive the wrong way to avoid the…Read More potholes at the beginning of the street.
Charlie Cheswick June 18, 2013 at 03:13 pm
"Working" storm drains like the one between Regent & Greenway on Lido Blvd?
Susie Pennachio June 15, 2013 at 09:13 am
yeeeepppp i always see people trying to get thru it or go around it to get onto the beach
Jaime Sumersille (Editor) June 15, 2013 at 12:44 pm
Thanks for the notice, Ally! I posted this on Facebook to make people aware! - Jaime Sumersille,…Read More Regional Editor, Nassau County
RackEmUp Gomez June 14, 2013 at 03:55 pm
Those murderers from Boston were students, right?
How about importing some kids from Brooklyn that…Read More need help?
Lets stop being patsys.
Me June 13, 2013 at 08:49 pm
What would be the basis for that demand? The govt only has to turn over exculpatory evidence or…Read More evidence it intends to use against a defendant and as far as I know in a civil matter (especially divorce) the govt is generally not a party to the action so how would they be compelled to do so?
oceanview June 14, 2013 at 10:43 am
Did Grace Industries have the contract for the firehouse in the west end?
RackEmUp Gomez June 17, 2013 at 11:36 pm
How about the THOUSANDS of illegal apartments being rebuilt with FEDERAL money?
Who gives a rats…Read More ass about the boardwalk?
Lets get the multi-millions in untaxed cash from these thieving landlords.
RackEmUp Gomez June 14, 2013 at 05:55 pm
I dont agree with all or even most of Harveys politics but there is NO doubt that he is one the…Read More greatest benefactors to Long Beach in its history.......maybe THE greatest.
When he is gone the Tea Party scumbags that want to kill the sandy Bill in 2014 and also send your flood insurance off the charts will have one less voice speaking out against it.
LI Resistance June 16, 2013 at 09:17 pm
When Harvey is gone we will have less wasted money from the tax payers. Harvey is our benefactor…Read More using our own tax money you idiots.
anonymous June 17, 2013 at 01:54 am
You guys still don't get it...yes...Harvey brings back "our" money. But why are he and the…Read More rest of the politicians taking it in the first place? These politicians have you so bamboozled that as they bleed us dry you thank them for the privilege of doing it. All they have to do is say "it's for the children" and you take leave of your brains. Unbelievable...
RackEmUp Gomez June 14, 2013 at 09:16 pm
If one of the 17 was your son you may not be so flippant , you moron.
oceanview June 13, 2013 at 11:26 am
Who let these people run the shelter. They looked like con artists right from the start.
andy napolitano June 13, 2013 at 01:16 pm
@BSM if you read the post you would see it tells you to go to a Facebook site called Rescue Ink =…Read More The Facts. On this site there is a copy of Rescue Inks's 2011 tax form which is public information. It shows right on that tax form how they only paid 6% of their income for the animals. Also it is in the contract (also public information) with the City Of Long Beach, that Rescue Ink is just "running" the shelter. The building is owned & maintained by the City which also pays all utilities & vet bills. You should do a little research yourself before you question us. We could never put up these "facts" unless they were true.
Beat LIPA up all you want...Look at National Greed for the past and present screw ups ..Not that the workers aren't up for the task, it's that in their hurry to cut costs Nat Geed had a severe brain drain in the line supervisors who really know how to handle these kinds of problems. Through out New York and New England they cut 12,000 jobs through attrition and excessing..They have Back Office Supervision without any field experience running outside operations...... PSEG has a much better track record..
Mike Hervey... Oh, yeah, not so much. A whole 39 seconds of planning for the storm.
On the gas side of the business not a hell of alot is done out East to improve the availability of Natural gas to it's customers either. National Grid will sell off it's interests in the US and take its cash back to the UK rebuild it's infructuture there.. They don't want to spend a shilling here to upgrade anything.... Think about the economic boost to an all out attempt to make natrural gas available to Long Island customers..Issue Bonds, offer low interest loans for the equipment, get unemployed bank people to work originating and processing the loans..Plumbers hiring and working to install the equipment...equipment and material sales to give manufacturing a boost.. contractors digging and running main...and on and on..everyone says it's private industry that will get us out of the recession heres a perfect opportunity to get so many areas of the workforce back to work and without a goverment {taxpayer} handout...
--- LIPA chairman resigns in wake of Sandy criticism Associated Press MINEOLA, N.Y. — Long Island Power Authority chairman Howard Steinberg has resigned from the board of directors. His exit Friday is the latest in a string of departures following criticism of LIPA's (LY'-puhz) performance in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Newsday reports that Steinberg resigned in a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He said his work as a private-sector attorney precludes him from devoting the time to address challenges facing LIPA. Steinberg's resignation follows those of LIPA chief operating officer Michael Hervey, trustee X. Christofer Damianos and vice president of customer service Bruce Germano. Steinberg was appointed by Gov. George Pataki in 1999. The utility is being investigated for its performance after Sandy. More than a million customers lost power, and some remained in the dark for more than two weeks.