Hempstead Town officials ‘secretly’ plotted to appoint new supervisor, flouting the law, judge rules

Elected officials on Long Island were just dinged by a state judge for “secretly” plotting to appoint a new supervisor without notifying the public.

Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Gary Carlton found that the Hempstead Town Board violated New York’s Open Meetings Law by failing to give residents a 24-hour notice that it was installing John Ferretti as supervisor.

“The court finds that it is readily apparent that plans had been made in advance of the August 5, 2025 town meeting for Mr. Clavin to step down and Mr. Ferretti to be appointed Supervisor,” Carlton wrote in his ruling last Wednesday.

Video evidence presented in court showed Ferretti at a local event just hours after he was appointed, sporting an embroidered shirt with his name on it identifying him as supervisor. His name had also already been painted on a mobile town stage — proof, the judge said, that the promotion had been planned quietly. 

Town officials “communicated secretly” to arrange for Ferretti’s appointment, Carlton wrote in the decision.

The judge said the town’s actions undermined the very purpose of the Open Meetings Law — which exists to stop government officials from “debating and deciding in private matters what they are required to debate and decide in public,” the ruling reads. 

But the judge stopped short of voiding Ferretti’s appointment. That decision could still be made at a later date — and both sides were unclear Friday what would happen next.

Carlton’s ruling came after an unusual hearing where none of the defendants — including Ferretti, Council members Laura Ryder and Thomas Muscarella and Town Clerk Kate Murray — showed up to testify despite being subpoenaed. The judge said he was also considering whether to call a separate hearing to possibly hold the Hempstead leaders in contempt.

Ferretti, a Republican and former Nassau legislator, was appointed by the GOP-controlled board to the town’s top position just moments after the abrupt resignation of Don Clavin on August 5.

“The Town is pleased that the Judge’s decision does not nullify the appointment of Supervisor Ferretti,” town spokesman Brian Devine said, adding that the town was exploring a possible appeal but that the case seemed settled after the ruling.

Democrat Joe Scianablo, who is running against Ferretti on Nov. 4 and sued the town over his appointment last month, called the ruling a “wake-up call” for his opponent, accusing him of “treating town government like his private club.”

Scianablo said he remained confident that the judge would eventually overturn Ferretti’s appointment.

“John Ferretti and the town board willfully and knowingly broke the law,” he told reporters Thursday.