LIPA's New CFO to Address Nassau Village Leaders Tuesday

Story by Rich Jacques

Village leaders from Nassau County have the chance to get up close and personal this week with a new top executive of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA).

At a meeting of the Nassau County Village Officials Association Tuesday, Michael Taunton, LIPA's Chief Financial Officer and vice president of finance, will address the Nassau County Village Officials Association in Williston Park.

Garden City mayor Don Brudie is expected to attend the meeting.

Following heavy criticism from residents and elected officials regarding LIPA's handling of power outages caused by Superstorm Sandy, Michael Hervey, the company's chief operating officer, resigned in December.

Approved as CFO on Jan. 26 by the board of trustees, Taunton will speak about the LIPA transition at a monthly NCVOA meeting which starts at 7 p.m. at LaMarmite in Williston Park.

Prior to joining LIPA, Taunton was vice president and treasurer for Arrow Electronics, a multi-billion dollar distributor of electronic components and enterprise computing solution.

Taunton replaces Herb Hogue, who served as LIPA CFO from 2009-11 before resigning to pursue other opportunities.

Founded in 1929, NCVOA serves as an advocate for municipal governments and residents on local, state and national levels representing Nassau's 64 incorporated villages and their 435,000 residents.