click on the picture to ENLARGE itI don't get Governor Patterson. He acts like he's serious about changing the ways of Albany. He even said that if NYS does not change they way it does business that the State could go bankrupt. He says all the right things, but then he does the exact opposite of what he is preaching, things like buying expensive carpets. Now this. The article below is by Fred Dicker of the New York Post. What is Governor Patterson thinking? Did he think that we wouldn't find out?
ALBANY - Gov. Paterson has secretly granted raises of as much as 46 percent to more than a dozen staffers at a time when he has asked 130,000 state workers to give up 3 percent pay hikes because of the state's fiscal crisis, The Post has learned.
The startling pay hikes, costing about $250,000 annually, were granted after the governor's "emergency" declaration in August of a looming fiscal crisis that required the state to cut spending and impose a "hard" hiring freeze.
One raise was approved as recently as last month - when Paterson claimed the budget deficit had reached an unprecedented $15.5 billion.
The raises, which have stunned the few state workers who know about them, are outlined in data obtained from the office of state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, prepared at The Post's request.
Two of the raises were tied to publicly proclaimed promotions - granted despite the supposed hiring freeze - of some of Paterson's most important appointees, although the announcements didn't include disclosure of the pay hikes.
The remaining 14 raises appear to have gone to individuals who remained in their same positions, despite claims by a spokesman for Paterson that they had been promoted.
"These are not raises for old positions, rather new salaries for new positions," Paterson spokesman Errol Cockfield insisted.
But a DiNapoli spokesman, Dennis Thompkins, said flatly, "These are individuals who stayed in their same position and received a salary increase."
Paterson's top aide, William Cunningham, a one-time law partner of the governor's father, Basil, saw his pay jump 5 percent to $178,500 - just $500 less than Paterson himself - from $170,000 on Nov. 7, after he was promoted from a temporary "acting" secretary to permanent.
Charlotte Hitchcock, one of Cunningham's deputies and a personal friend of the governor's, received an $18,000, or 11.25 percent, raise on Dec. 22. While a press release said she was promoted from deputy secretary to "chief of staff" and "director of financial regulation," it made no mention of a higher salary.
Cassie Prugh, a confidential assistant, was given a 46 percent pay hike in late November, raising her annual salary to $125,000 from $85,721, while Gaurav Vasisht, an assistant counsel, received a 6 percent, $7,427 increase in December, bringing his salary to $130,279.
Brendan Fitzgerald, a special office assistant, received a 21 percent, or $15,737, pay hike only last month, bringing his salary to $90,000, while Michael Deloach, another confidential assistant, saw his pay leap 29 percent, or $18,200, to $80,000 in August.
Lauren Passalacqua, a confidential secretary, saw her salary jump $12,000, or 31.5 percent, to $50,000, while the salary of another confidential aide, Chardee Mendoza, was hiked $10,000, or 28.5 percent, to $45,000.
Disclosure of the secret pay hikes comes as Paterson is under attack for spending well over $20,000 in state funds on a four-day stay for himself and several aides during President Obama's inaugural last month, and for planning a state-funded junket to Davos, Switzerland, which he canceled only after his plans became public.
Paterson, in his budget proposal outlined in December, demanded that state workers who belong to the Civil Service Employees Association and the Public Employee Federation forgo negotiated, 3 percent pay hikes that would kick in April 1 or face massive layoffs.
7 comments:
Business as usual in Albany, do as I say, not as I do.
Mike Hein should be praying every day that CSEA doesn't catch on to his scam.
Gov. Paterson yesterday was blasted by public-employee unions, legislative Republicans and even fellow Democrats for granting sky-high pay hikes to his key staffers at a time when he's asking 130,000 state workers to give up their 3 percent raises.
"This will demoralize our members even further," said Stephen Madarasz, a spokesman for the Civil Service Employees Association, which represents 70,000 state workers.
"Frankly, it doesn't come as a great surprise to us because we've been very disappointed in the way the governor has been handling the fiscal crisis from the start."
As for Paterson's request that state workers give up the 3 percent hikes they're due to receive April 1 or risk massive layoffs, Madarasz declared flatly, "We're not going to do it."
An apparently shocked spokeswoman for the Public Employees Federation, which represents 59,000 state workers said only, "We're not going to comment because the story speaks for itself."
The Post disclosed yesterday that Paterson had secretly granted raises of as much as 46 percent to more than a dozen staffers since August, when he claimed an "emergency" fiscal crisis required a tough hiring freeze and a reduction in state spending.
The pay hikes, costing about $250,000 annually, went to many of Paterson's top staffers, including his chief of staff, William Cunningham, whose annual pay rose $8,500, to $178,500, or 5 percent, and his deputy, Charlotte Hitchcock, who received an $18,000 increase, to $178,000, for an 11.25 percent hike.
Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) said the size and scope of the pay hikes "show the governor just doesn't get it."
"Whether it's raising taxes or secretly raising his staff salaries, the trip to Europe, the luxury hotel stay in Washington . . . he's asking everyone to sacrifice during these difficult times - except for him and his staff," Skelos said.
Meanwhile, a prominent Democrat who has worked with Paterson called the raises "disastrous" and said, "David ought to be leading by example and showing his staff he can do more with less, and not less with more, which, frankly, appears to be the case.
"If he keeps it up, he'll be finished as governor," added the Democrat, who demanded anonymity.
Paterson has been sinking in recent public-opinion polls in the wake of a string of missteps, including the mishandling of the selection of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate replacement; an aborted junket to Davos, Switzerland; a $20,000-plus four-day stay at President Obama's inauguration; politically unpopular plans to tax sodas and Internet downloads; and repeated flip-flops on whether he backs higher taxes for the wealthy.
look at who was behind him before he was moved up to Governor,,
Harlem's Black Mafia, his Father & his corrupt real estate friends are behind this guy & those raises were given to their stooges !
His re-election campaign is in shambles & we will be stuck with another CUOMO,, Heaven Forbid, if we aint careful, here.
This guy is in his own little world. I am glad that he is only a one term governor.
I'd rather he had just spent a couple hundred bucks on some hookers. That's at least forgivable!
no one really cares about this stuff,,
we are local political junkies, ALbany is a world away, even tho it impacts us, we all feel as if we have NO SAY in what happens up there,,,
Screw Governor Pattison,, as he is screwing us with his incompetance & lack of leadership -
8:37, I would say to you that if you feel you have no impact, that perhaps you should speak to your Democratic majority representative from this area Kevin Cahill. If you don't feel represented, then he's not doing his job.
There certainly is something that we can do about it... VOTE
When Paterson is up for re-election, send him packing.
Democrats... primary him!
Republicans put up a good candidate and take him out.
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