Wright Places Highway Oversight in Fiery Meeting

WRIGHT - The town hall was alight with betrayed trust last Monday when the Wright Town Board confronted Highway Superintendent Keith Kearny about several topics.

Last month, it was found that Highway Superintendent Kearny was knowingly not keeping his fleet of trucks up to proper maintenance, resulting in zero usable vehicles for the upcoming winter season.

Each truck faced a different compounding issue, whether it was a pinion leak, tires, or detaching brake pedals, and the Town Board was racing to attempt to fix them before the snow becomes a more significant issue.

Discussions on Monday began there, where Supervisor Alex Luniewski asked for a motion to partially repair the Volvo for $7000 with Dirt Road Antics LLC in Duanesburg.

When it passed, it was followed by another to partially repair the Kentworth W2 for $9700 with Kentworth Northeast Group in Albany, which was found to be the closest and most efficient dealer to take the vehicle to.

“When all of this is said and done, how much are all of the total repairs going to add up to,” asked member Jim Goblet, though there was no concrete answer.

“I don’t have that information in front of me without pulling up all of my emails,” replied Highway Superintendent Kearny.

When both motions passed, Supervisor Luniewski went further, bringing to light what he described as unprofessional behavior Highway Superintendent Kearny exhibited.

He began with the annual highway inventory check, noting “There used to be seventeen pages of inventory. Since we’ve had you as our highway superintendent, it’s gone down to nine.”

Supervisor Luniewski explained where some of the inventory may have gone, citing a time when Highway Superintendent Kearny listed a chainsaw as missing when it was stowed away underneath his desk. 

Supervisor Luniewski put him on the hook for the other unexplained disappearances, however, requesting that he go back through each year’s data to file it in an online, easily accessible spreadsheet.

“At this point, you’re responsible for anything missing,” he said.

Continuing, Supervisor Luniewski highlighted his work computer usage, as he asked for the county to check his activity when his computer went in for maintenance in January.

The county got back to the supervisor, noting that Highway Superintendent Kearny allegedly spends most of his time watching comedy videos or music on YouTube.

“That is not there for your entertainment,” Supervisor Luniewski said.

“The county put the app on there,” Highway Superintendent Kearny replied. “Yes, I sometimes listen to it while I’m working, but I don’t just sit there, I’m doing other things.”

Finally, Supervisor Luniewski closed by noting that when one of their trucks rolled over on the job and they had to send it in for repairs, Highway Superintendent Kearny never disclosed to the Board that there was an increase in their estimate from Western Star.

Instead, he received information that the estimate doubled and quietly forwarded the email to the Town’s insurance for financing. However, without Board approval, the estimate was never paid, and the truck sat dormant for 210 days.

Supervisor Luniewski explained that he was only made aware of the situation when he received an angry phone call from Western Star about the outstanding bill, thereby suffering the consequences for Highway Superintendent Kearny’s actions.

“I have never been talked down to by an individual like that, and it is because you were so rude with him to begin with,” Supervisor Luniewski said.

When Highway Superintendent Kearny attempted to say that he wasn’t aware of the price increase, Supervisor Luniewski showed proof that he forwarded the email.

“I have no respect for people who sit there and blatantly lie,” he said. “We need good communication with our highway department and we need trust. I think we’re lacking in that right now.”

When discussions concluded, the Board made several motions to place oversight on their highway crew, including organized folders for every single truck’s repair history, mileage, comments and concerns that are to be signed by the Board monthly, and avoiding going to Palmer’s Garage for future repairs and inspections.

“We are not being blindsided again,” finished Supervisor Luniewski.