Councilmember Robert Troiano sought to hire a recently terminated town employee as an administrative assistant for his office, but town Republicans blocked the vote saying it was unacceptable.

Troiano proposed hiring Shawn Brown as a new administrative assistant for his office at the town’s March 5 meeting.

Brown previously served as the town’s commissioner of public safety, being appointed to the role in 2017 by former Supervisor Judi Bosworth, but was terminated from the position in January. He first joined the department in 1999 and was acting public safety commissioner the year before his appointment.

The board’s Republican majority all voted against Troiano’s hiring of Brown. The councilmember walked out of the meeting after the vote was taken.

Councilmember Ed Scott told Blank Slate Media in a written statement that he believed Brown had reported false budget information to “unfairly benefit just one council district.” Scott did not specify which district this was and declined to comment further on the topic.

“I take offense to me personally, to my district, that I can’t hire a person I want,” Troiano said at the meeting. “I can’t imagine what objection Mr. Scott has to my hiring of my own person.”

Troiano declined to offer further comment on the matter after the meeting.

“So, it shocked us that Councilman Troiano had the audacity to try to circumvent that vote and foist this candidate onto the taxpayer payroll again,” Scott said in the statement. “My colleagues and I were elected to put an end to these heavy-handed tactics and all the political theater in the world isn’t going to stop us from doing what’s right for our residents.”

Brown’s termination was among a slew of other town employees hired during the Bosworth era who were axed by the newly Republican-dominated town board at its first meeting of the year.

He could not be reached for his reaction to the Council’s vote.

Republicans hold a majority on the town’s board with a 4-3 split.

Councilmember Mariann Dalimonte was the only board member who voted against Brown’s termination, with Liu not present for the vote.

Troiano was seeking to hire Brown as an administrative assistant to his district. Brown would have been paid $2,500 bi-weekly, or $65,000 annually.

“To be clear, the Town Board hired one of Councilman Troiano’s candidates in the past, and we did so unanimously. But this case was markedly different,” Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said in a written statement. “This person’s job performance was unsatisfactory, and it simply doesn’t warrant future employment with the Town of North Hempstead.”

DeSena said that neither she nor “various board member,” could identify a moment when the town re-hired someone who had previously been terminated.

“When you’re trying to build a better, more efficient team, that just makes no sense,” DeSena said.

Town spokesman Umberto Mignardi said the board was unable to comment further on the topic.

“Suffice to say that a vote was taken by the full board and the majority had serious reservations about rehiring this gentleman,” Mignardi said.