Politics on the Hudson

I’ll have a story coming out in the next few days about the raises handed out at the Westchester County Board of Legislators in the past year. But as I raise the topic of board staffing and compensation, it’s also worth noting the leadership is discussing the possibility of shifting how the staff is configured in 2007.

A proposal being bandied about by Majority Leader Martin Rogowsky and Minority Leader George Oros would give individual lawmakers a budget to hire “personal staff.” The figure in a draft of the proposal is $50,000 each; the majority leader would get another $100,000 for his caucus and the minority leader would get an extra $50,000 for his caucus. Lawmakers could pool the money and share staff, or hire a series of part-time people. Money would also be allocated for centralized staff that would report to the board or handle individual committee assignments.

Among the notable lines in the draft is this: “Personal staff need not work on site at the board, nor are they required to work 9 to 5 hours. However, they must keep an accounting of their hours and their work activities on a standardized Board Hours/Activities Form, which they will submit to their legislator every two weeks.”

Board Chairman William Ryan, D-White Plains, said he had yet to see a final version of the idea, but warned that, to prevail, it would have to be able to be accomplished within money he has already budgeted for staffing for next year.