Politics & Government
Union Prez: GPS Devices in Highway Vehicles "A Waste of Taxpayers' Money"
Highway superintendent George "Gio" Woodson said the proposal would modernize the town's fleet of highway vehicles, according to a report in the News-Review
A proposed idea to install GPS devices in highway vehicles drew criticism from a civil service union leader, who called the measure a "waste of taxpayers' money," according to a story in the Riverhead News-Review on Sunday.
Local President of the Civil Service Employees Association Matt Hattorff said the GPS devices would cost the town over $100,000 a year. Highway Superintendent George "Gio" Woodson said in an interview that those figures were inaccurate.
“Matt doesn’t run the highway department, I run the highway department,” Woodson told the News-Review. “All of the towns to the west of us have this already. I’m just modernizing our department the best I can and bringing us up to par. As far as I see it, these are town vehicles and if you’re doing your job, you have nothing to worry about.”
Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Town Supervisor Sean Walter also supports the measure, saying it would be safer for town employees to have GPS devices installed in their vehicles.
Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
