Stewart Chooses Orangetown Finance Director

Charlie Richardson left last month after nearly 12 years as Orangetown's Director of Finance. 

Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart announced during Tuesday's town workshop meeting that he chose Jeff Bencik of Haverstraw as Orangetown's new director of finance.

In Orangetown, the town supervisor appoints the director of finance, though the town board would likely pass a resolution on the matter.

"We reviewed this very thoroughly with people the director needs to work most closely with," Stewart said. "I have absolute confidence in this appointment." 

Councilman Denis Troy said that while he was impressed by Vencik's resume, he thought Stewart should have kept the other members of the council more in the loop on the process. He said he did not even see Vencik's resume until Tuesday and question the way the hiring was handled, especially given how involved town board members had been in other choices. 

"I think we should have seen the finalists," Troy said to Stewart. "It's your choice, but we should have seen something.

"This is an important position. The person is coming in at a tough time. The ironic thing is, in terms of the person you hired, I really like the resume."

"You make a fair criticism there," Stewart said. "It's not a perfectly managed process. I think we did a thorough job. The top six were a good pool."

Orangetown is in the middle of planning its 2013 budget. Stewart submitted his tentative budget last week and the town council hopes to have a draft they put together as a group by Oct. 23. 

Bencik will be taking the place of Richardson, who had held the job under multiple supervisors, including Democrats Thom Kleiner and Stewart and Republican Paul Whalen. 

Check back with Patch for more on the budget and other issues from Tuesday's meeting.