The County Legislature recently passed the budget. The Republicans have cut the Democrats funding for the minority, despite the fact that the Democrats picked up two seats. It would make sense to cut the Republican funds for staffing, but hey, it's Rensselaer County.
Mirch had this to say:
Majority Leader Robert Mirch said the Democrats' request for more money to run the office flies in the face its campaign promises to cut spending.
"It's absolutely hypocritical," Mirch said. "During the campaign, the minority said they wanted to cut spending and are looking for more money for political patronage."
Sad, really, when the 'shame' gene skips a generation.
Sources close to the Troy Polloi have revealed that the pay raise issue is not dead. It may still go down and it's not pretty.
Essentially, the Republicans will restore the cuts to the Democrats if the Democrats vote for the pay raise at the Special Meeting to adopt the tax levy. This would take place just before Christmas and it would be a very nice Christmas for Kelleher and Mirch.
The breakdown would be:
-$7,200 for Kelleher, Mirch and the Minority leader;
-$5,000 for the remaining members of the legislature.
That places Kelleher's Legislative salary at $32,000 and Mirch's at $27,000 (making Mirch the highest paid Man-Whore in the country).
We'll have to see if this comes to fruition. It would be pathetic if the Democrats went along with this. Not as pathetic as pay raises for a legislature that consistently raises taxes, but pathetic if they cave to blackmail.
No comments:
Post a Comment