The TIMES of Smithtown
Volume 28, No. 34
Serving Smithtown • St. JameS • neSconSet • commack • hauppauge • kingS park • Fort Salonga October 22, 2015
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Lifestyle Magazine FOCUS ON HeaLTH ISSUe avaILabLe NOw
Highway head resigns File photo
smithtown highway superintendent Glenn Jorgensen is stepping down from his position after pleading guilty to falsifying public documents charges. By Victoria Espinoza
Commack teens cuffed Cops accusing high school students of breaching district’s database
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Smithtown Highway Superintendent Glenn Jorgensen (R) has resigned and pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges in a scheme to alter road-repaving records from last year. Jorgensen, 63, pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court in Riverhead on Thurs-
day, Oct. 15, to a felony charge of offering a false instrument for filing and a misdemeanor charge of official misconduct as part of a plea deal with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. He will be sentenced on Dec. 11 to four months of jail but will serve an alternative sentence in lieu of jail of 570 hours of community service, and will receive
three years probation, according to Robert Clifford, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office. “This disposition compels the defendant to resign from his elected position and his admission of guilt before the court confirms the facts uncovered during the investigation,” Clifford said in a statement. “As the
Superintendent of Highways Mr. Jorgensen knowingly had false information about the paving of town roads filed as an official town record, and he knowingly directed that inaccurate information be filed to make it appear as though the roadwork met state mandatory specifications.” Vecchio’s office confirmed JORgeNSeN continued on page a12
Town Hall renaming ceremony set for Nov. 1 By phil corso
Town Hall is getting a new name. Smithtown officials will gather alongside the Smithtown 350 Foundation on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m., to officially dedicate the town hall building to Supervisor Pat Vecchio (R) — the longest serving supervisor in the history of the state. The dedication has been months in the making since the Town Board voted unanimously in March to dedicate the building in Vecchio’s honor after his nearly four decades of
public service to the township. As part of the town’s 350th birthday this year, Smithtown has been buzzing with activity since the beginning of 2015 with various events celebrating the town’s storied past. The town’s official 350th birthday was March 3, the same day the Town Board caught Vecchio off guard by voting to dedicate the building to him. The resolution that council members voted upon was signed and placed in a time capsule that will be buried near Town Hall this year. Vecchio has served as supervisor since 1978 and also served
in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, before an honorable discharge in 1954, when he joined the New York Police Department, where he remained for 20 years, the resolution said. His NYPD roles included detective sergeant, chief of security for former Mayor John Lindsay and a member of a special unit responsible for the protection of visiting dignitaries, including former presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. A reception will also immediately follow the event inside Town Hall.
Photo by Phil Corso
supervisor pat Vecchio