2025 Public Servant of the Year: Tim Abrams
A lot of happenings in government are never seen and never celebrated — they take place behind the scenes, and much of the public sees only the final product.
Tim Abrams did a significant amount of that work during his two decades with Southold Town before his retirement on Nov. 1, 2025.
“He was a great public servant,” said Supervisor Al Krupski. “He did some pretty innovative things with us. He was very clever; he was great to work with.”
Mr. Abrams spent his first 15 years with the town as an electrician and spent the last five years as the building maintenance supervisor for the Department of Public Works.
As building maintenance supervisor, Mr. Abrams was responsible for all town buildings, parks, playgrounds, beaches and trails, among other things. Even keeping Town Hall neat and orderly was under his purview.
One project Mr. Abrams worked on that Mr. Krupski fondly remembers is helping replace and upgrade streetlights after the town began installing energy-efficient LED lamps in 2019.
In 2025, he worked on a sand replenishment project at Southold Town Beach. The project brought in nearly 500 cubic yards of sand dredged from Goldsmith Inlet to recharge the beach.
Through his role, he also interfaced with numerous other departments, department heads and workers. Police Chief Steve Grattan began closely working with Mr. Abrams when he became chief about a year and a half ago. The two had a great working relationship that even carried over to outside the office, as they developed a friendship as well.
During work hours, Chief Grattan said, anytime an issue arose, he could call Mr. Abrams, who would respond immediately.
“He’s a great, great guy. He’s very professional and very responsive, and certainly somebody that I was able to rely on in terms of taking care of our facility,” said the chief. “Anytime there was any issue at all, I could call him, he would answer the phone, and either he would come over or send one of his team members over to address the problem.”
Highway Superintendent Dan Goodwin would frequently work with Mr. Abrams, especially during snowfall and similar events. He said being head of DPW is often a thankless job, with the work going unseen, but that Mr. Abrams always looked to work in the best possible interest of the town and its residents.
“His personality, I think, really blended him well to the job,” said Mr. Goodwin, “as far as being an accommodating person and having the heart of the town and the people. [They] were at the top of his priority list, as far as doing the right thing.”
For his work and dedication to the community over two decades, Tim Abrams is The Suffolk Times’ 2025 Public Servant of the Year.
Previous winners:
Previous Winners
2024: Stacey Norklun
2023: Candace Hall
2022: Carolyn Peabody
2021: Charles Sanders
2019: Kevin Webster 2018: Rodney Shelby
2017: William Price
2016: Jim Grathwohl
2015: Jack Martilotta
2014: Ted Webb
2013: Heather Lanza
2012: Ed Romaine
2011: Greenport and Southold Highway Department Crews
2010: Leslie Weisman
2009: Betty Neville
2008: Thomas Crowley
2007: Philip Beltz
2006: Jesse Wilson
2005: Martin Flatley
2004: Mattituck-Cutchogue School Board
2003: Ben Orlowski Jr.
2002: Jack Sherwood
2001: Dave Abatelli
2000: Melissa Spiro
1999: Valerie Scopaz
1998: Jamie Mills
1997: Karen McLaughlin
1996: Lisa Israel
1995: John Costello
1994: Ray Jacobs
1993: Judy Terry
1992: William Pell
1991: Beth Wilson
1990: Antonia Booth
1989: Frank Murphy
1988: Venetia McKeighan
1987: Paul Stoutenburgh
