Months after questions were raised regarding whether Richard Normoyle Jr., East Hampton Town's chief building inspector, was properly certified by New York State for the role, an answer is in, via a statement from Patrick Derenze, the town's public information officer.
It turns out Mr. Normoyle wasn't properly certified, but now he is.
"We recognize that our earlier understanding was incorrect," Mr. Derenze wrote in the statement. "Once we learned that additional requirements remained outstanding, we acted to address the issue and ensure compliance with state requirements."
Also, because of something called the "de facto officer doctrine," the town believes past determinations Mr. Normoyle made are valid because "the acts of one who carries out the functions of public office under color of authority are generally valid . . . notwithstanding irregularities in which the officer was appointed."
The doctrine has its limitations, however. Perhaps the most important is that it doesn't make an invalid appointment legal.
Tiffany Scarlato, a local land use attorney, recently submitted an appeal to the town's zoning board of appeals questioning whether Mr. Normoyle's certification status should affect a determination he made in January about one of her clients, Hampton Raquet at Green Hollow.
She posed eight questions to the board regarding his determination, including: "Whether the administrative record establishes that the official who issued the determination possessed the qualifications and authority required for the office."
Ms. Scarlato could not be reached Monday afternoon, but it's possible her argument could be copied by other lawyers now seeking to void determinations with which they disagree.
"We want to be transparent about what we have learned," wrote Mr. Derenze, who didn't answer follow-up questions about when the town found out that Mr. Normoyle wasn't properly certified, or when he passed his certification exam.
"After questions were raised about his certification earlier this summer, the town sought clarification from the Department of State," his statement said. "Through that process, we learned that Mr. Normoyle's prior certification had become inactive during his years outside municipal service and that additional requirements should have been completed when he returned to municipal code enforcement."
Mr. Normoyle first completed the New York State Basic Code Enforcement Training Program in 2002 but spent late 2008 until late 2021 outside of government.
The Department of State failed to respond to multiple queries from The Star seeking to clarify Mr. Normoyle's status.
"When he returned to municipal code work, Mr. Normoyle was advised by his manager that New York State had told them that his existing credentials satisfied the applicable requirements and that he did not need to complete additional classes/examinations to reactivate his NYS certification," Mr. Derenze wrote. "He continued his required in-service training and worked under the understanding that his certification was active. That was also the Town of East Hampton's understanding when he joined our Building Department in 2025."
According to the Suffolk County Civil Service qualifications for chief building inspector, a "necessary special requirement" is the "basic training program entitled Minimum Standards for Code Enforcement Personnel established by the New York Fire Fighting and Code Enforcement Personnel Standards and Education Commission."
Mr. Normoyle's résumé, retrieved with a Freedom of Information Law request to the town, does not list the New York State code certification in question.
