Kaplowitz says it was time to end talk of a pay raise
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- May
- 6
In case you missed it, the Westchester Board of Legislators last night effectively abandoned any effort to raise their pay before the start of the next term in 2010. They also called for future raises to be pegged to cost of living increases.
The effort to put an end to the matter was led by Vice Chairman Mike Kaplowitz, a Somers Democrat, who said that his frustration over how the pay raise issue had been handled by board leaders had been “brewing”for a while.
“Bill (Ryan) has been a good chairman, but he just keeps tripping up over the pay raises,” Kaplowitz said this morning.
After the Compensation Advisory Panel released its report last week, Kaplowitz sensed it was time to bring the matter to a close. So he arrived at the Board of Legislators Monday with a statement declaring, among other things, his belief that no raises should be given this term. He began asking other lawmakers to sign on.
Kaplowitz, though, declined to comment on the initial reaction he received, especially from Ryan.
” These things get a little emotional at times,” was all Kaplowitz would say.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 12:04 pm by Glenn Blain.
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Thanks Glenn for your post on this issue. However, your reporting would have been much more complete on this blog if you also mentioned the efforts of the Republican legislators to stop the pay raise. George Oros, Gordon Burrows and I are the only legislators to oppose the pay/stipend increases since the day they were proposed back in December. While we appreciate Legislator Kaplowitz’s efforts last night to stimulate this debate, we must note that while the Democrats were arguing in their private caucus meeting last evening, the three Republican County Legislators were the first to publicly release the following statement in response to the report of the Compensation Advisory Panel:
“1.We oppose any increase in salary or stipends for legislators, committee chairs or leadership positions.
2.We support the Panel’s recommendation that, “Any and all compensation (base salary and/or stipend) increases approved by the Board of Legislators should be effective January 1, 2010 starting with the legislative session subsequent to the next election.â€
3. We support the Panel’s recommendation that, “Any compensation increases after 2010 should be considered only in odd numbered years.â€
4.We support the Panel’s recommendation that, “All compensation increases should be voted on by the legislators prior to the election and, if approved, should be effective on the subsequent January 1.â€
5.We support the Panel’s finding that, “The structure of the legislative body would benefit from a review with the intent of creating accurate job descriptions and of streamlining for efficiency and effectiveness. For example, the Chief Advisor function needs to be defined.†We further urge the adoption of defined organizational charts and detailed job descriptions for every Board staff position.
6.We support the Panel’s finding that, “Legislators could benefit from using the numerous resources which exist in the community to enhance their oversight duties, such as AICPA assistance with the budget review, or enlisting the pro bono services of the numerous multinational corporations in the County.â€
7.We further support the elimination of stipends being controlled by the Board chairman for committee chairs and/or other positions. We recommend that stipends for committee chairs and leadership positions be set in advance in a similar manner as legislator salaries and remain from year to year as a fixed amount that can only be changed by a vote of the entire Board of Legislators during a change to the salary structure.”
Jim Maisano
County Legislator
The reporting also would have been more complete if it mentioned that I was the first Democrat to come out against the raises and I came out before the Compensation Advisory Panel issued its recommendations.
The Press and the public have taught them a lesson. Lesson: Shuffle back to the shadowy corners and devise alternate ways to grab the money sub rosa.
Congrats to any legislator that opposed these pay hikes. Frankly, the public outcry did much to stop this money grab. It is somewhat surreal that after all this bad press thrown at the Democrats that run the county legislature they appear to only be getting a 3% raise in 2010 and Ryan gets no stipend increase. Who advises them? With all that money they are paying to the growing staff, they could at least hire a decent strategist. One really has to ask: why did they even bother to take on this issue? The Democratic leadership got its butt kicked. I also think the Republicans deserve a lot more credit than they are getting for being opposed to this money grab since it was proposed. Maybe we need so more Republicans on this legislature to add some balance.
Blain should have also mentioned that one speaker at the public hearing stated that Nonna was a new legislator and that others deserved a raise.
The reason Blain didn’t report what the Republicans said was because it doesn’t matter at this time what the three of them say.
Someone should point out that when the Republicans were in control every legislator had a Committte chair and received pay for attending committee meetings ($60 per meeting)
Hey Board Watcher: I hate to have facts invade your argument but when the Republicans controlled the Board of Leg the overall budget was less than 1/2 of what it is now (with the same amount of legislators). Further, while there were fees for attending meetings back then and every member had a committee, the salary for legislators was half of what it is now and no Republican Chairman ever asked to have the chairman’s stipend to triple. Don’t go down this road, you cannot win this argument. The Republicans ran the Board of Leg for 90 years at a fraction of the cost of the current Democratic run Board. The amount of staff for the Board has risen 3 or 4 times what is was prior to 1998 when Republicans ran it. The Democrats are doing what they have always done since the Boss Tweed days – they took over the County Leg and implemented a political patronage machine.
Bob, according to Tom Abinati he made more money under the days you refer to even with a lower base salary. You are correct that everyone had a committee but the $60 was for attending meetings, so all one had to do was sign-in. If there were 16 committees and each had a meeting 2 times a month that adds up pretty quickly.
The Compensation Advisory group actually recommended a raise in base pay for Legislators. Something that was not actually sought by the initial proposal.
Honestly Bob, nothing cost the same as it did in prior years – gas, food or housing. What’s the average price of a house in Westchester now vs then. What was the average salary in Westchester now vs then. Don’t go there Bob, you will lose.
Not going to attempt to justify the jump in the Chairman’s salary, from the Advisory committee report, sounds like he is doing stuff that is important but just not part of the expected job of Chairman.
They’re all overpaid, and they spend money like drunken sailors.
Look, this comes right down to public pressure and pressure from the Journal News. It shows what can happen if issues are pursued vigorously. Good work by all.
Those Republicans and anyone else who opposed this also deserve recognition. Now, start cutting Andy Spano’s crazed bureaucracy. In case you haven’t heard, a hell of a lot of people want to deep-six county govt. entirely.
Board Watcher is not a board watcher at all, but rather is a board advocate, and an advocate of Democrats only. His skewered political observations should be swallowed not with a grain of salt, but rather with the Dead Sea.
ok..jim maisano is correct..there is no check on the
board except for the republican minority…andy spano
presides over an bloated government…bill ryan is
tone deaf…and the only answer is to pass term limits
for the members of the board and for the county executive
these jobs were never intended to be 16 year jobs..
these jobs were never intended to generate public
relations jobs…andy has abused his office…
the democrats got greedy.ryan wanted an 80% raise
which even offended mike kaplowitz..
frankly..it does not affect me..i pay nothing
to the county ..i do not own property any longer
in westchester.but many people do…and they
have to be protected against run away government
against legistlators who want more and more for
what they do in their part time capacities..
term limits would stop all that ..and legislators
would do what was best for their communities
the mayor of yonkers is term limited..the mayor
of new york is term limited….so should the
county executive of westchester
Not only should the County Executive and Legislature be term-limited, so should Albany’s entire Dalton Gang. Or James Gang. Or Barker Gang.