Holiday Antics

It appears Town of Rotterdam officials are not immune from working on holidays after all. After a full year of turning a blind eye to holiday wood-clearing shenanigans in Masullo Estates, the Town Board is adopting the strategy itself. They’ve decided to hold a public hearing regarding their controversial pay raise…on New Year’s Day. Of course, the public hearing is only a result of not adhering to the law when they awarded themselves a raise by amendment a few weeks ago. Happy New Year…at least if you’re a councilmember.

A public hearing for this matter is totally appropriate. Holding it New Year’s Day, on the other hand, is totally ridiculous.

Let’s keep the record straight anyway. Supervisor Tommasone didn’t include council raises in the proposed budget and voted against the amendment. Outgoing board member Mr. Godlewski also voted against it. Congratulations to both of them.

Mr. Mertz, Mr. Signore, and the outgoing Ms. Marco voted for the raise.

What I’d like to see at this point is for the 2 new council members, Mr. Della Villa and Mr. Silva, to have to cast a vote on the raise now. Remember, they ran for office and were elected to that office on the expectation of the previous $10,000 salary. If nothing else, I’d like to see them have to vote. I don’t want either to be able to accept the higher salary but blame someone else for getting it. These 2 guys ought to be against any raise and vote accordingly. Do the math and the vote swings 3-2 against an increase.

The argument will be made that somehow they deserve the raise because it’s been so long since they received one. Sorry, but from where I come from, raises are merit-based. Public service was never intended to be rewarded monetarily. These are difficult times for residents as they struggle to absorb ever mounting financial burdens beyond their control. We should all be tightening our belt together. $20,000 may not seem like a lot of money as a percentage of the budget but it’s still real money – better applied to almost any other need.

If Mr. Mertz and Mr. Signore don’t like their present $10,000 compensation – good news – they’re up for re-election next. The big dogs are beginning to look a little smaller.