Politics on the Hudson

Republicans on the Board of Legislators spoke out against a lawsuit recently filed against County Executive Rob Astorino over his cuts to daycare, saying there must be a better way to resolve differences between the two branches. The board’s majority leader, however, said there should have been no surprises since the board authorized action months ago.

Read today’s story here.

“We voted for it. We anticipated it and the chairman executed it,” said Majority Leader Tom Abinanti of Chairman Ken Jenkins, D-Yonkers, pursuing legal action against Astorino.

Several lawmakers, including Democrats, say that although they don’t agree with the Republican executive on day care, suing wasn’t a prudent way to make peace or save tax dollars. But Jenkins believes the battle over the county executive’s authority to make budget changes without their consent was necessary and is now up to the courts.

Minority Leader Jim Maisano, R-New Rochelle, said it will be costly at a time when the board should be saving money.

“We Republicans are disappointed that the Democrats have decided to make a policy difference into a matter of costly litigation,” Maisano said in a statement. “There are better ways to resolve these issues and we hope we may be able to bring the parties together.”

Legislator Peter Harckham, D-Bedford, had no comment on the suit, but said he hoped “cooler heads on both sides prevailed and that we can work this out at the budget table.”