Increase in legislative pay is questionable

From NY1:

Governor Andrew Cuomo has made its clear that his appointees to the legislative pay commission can control whether or not state lawmakers receive a pay increase.

"You will need my appointees and judicial appointees to approve it," he said.

The Commission held several meetings this year and is expected to deliver its report in November, safely after state lawmakers stand for re-election.

But Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie says that was never part of the agreement. In a statement, Heastie says, "The idea behind the commission was to determine administrative, legislative and statewide elected salaries devoid of any political considerations or agendas. Unfortunately, counter to the purpose of the Commission, there are some who have tried to politicize this process by suggesting legislators testify or trade legislation for a pay increase."

Heastie went on to say Cuomo's budget director recently wrote a letter to the Commission explaining why an increase is necessary for his commissioners. Heastie says he, too, will write a letter on behalf of his legislators. which holds everyone to the same standard.

People opposed to corruption in poll

From the Daily News:

Nearly nine in 10 New Yorkers say corruption in Albany is a serious problem, and 60% believe lawmakers’ jobs should be full time and any outside income banned.

The Siena College poll, released Monday, also found 55% said legislators should not get a bump from their current $79,500 salary even if outside income is outlawed.

And a whopping 84% say lawmakers who are convicted of crimes related to their service should be stripped of their pensions.

Shelly won't reveal his income

From the Daily News:

Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is already taking the Fifth about disclosing his outside income.

In a financial disclosure statement made public late Thursday afternoon, Silver (D-Manhattan) declined to answer questions about his non-government jobs or outside salary in 2014, citing his looming corruption trial.

“Given pending proceedings in Federal Court it is inappropriate to answer this question,” Silver wrote. “However, this answer will be amended upon completion of the proceedings.”

What a tangled web they tweed

From the NY Post:

The career politicians in the administrative class like to call themselves “public servants” when they’re feeling humble, or “leaders” when a moment of vanity strikes.

They’re really more like imperial overlords. Sometimes they’re elected, sometimes they’re not, but either way what they love most is to spend our money on their own glorification.

Often they’re completely oblivious to how they look as their gilded chariots cruise past us, their vassals tossing rose petals in the air.

Manhattan’s newest little Caesar is Scott Stringer. If you read the papers over recent decades you’ve been vaguely aware of this dough-faced homunculus, who in a life light on accomplishments has nevertheless been happily drawing a taxpayer salary for more than 20 years.

Apparently Stringer mainly uses his Praetorian guard as chauffeurs, both for himself and his wife.

Twenty-odd years inside the palace walls have damaged Stringer’s memories of what life was like for the average plebeian, or even the average millionaire.

Stringer maintains a taxpayer-funded security detail of six, which you probably wouldn’t even know about if he hadn’t gotten peevish, leading four to ask to be reassigned.

Letitia James is the New York City public advocate, another ceremonial position that exists mainly to provide ambitious politicos a platform from which to conduct press conferences that build name recognition before running for mayor. (The previous public advocate was a guy named Bill de Blasio).

Somehow we managed to do without a public advocate before the office was created in 1993, yet James is such an important figure she also has a six-member security detail, as does the speaker of the City Council.

Among her dozens of staffers are two “first assistants” making $240,000 total and two directors of communications who earn a combined $200,000.

Throwing rose petals pays well.

John Liu's questionable filings

"I was looking at John Liu's filings and I noticed something weird with regard to Chuck Apelian. Chuck's occupation is listed as a Sales Executive at Irene Hermann Incorporated/Prestone Printing.

If you notice, the corporation and Chuck have the same address. The biggest question is why is the corporation getting $5K for consulting twice when it's a printing company?

Irene Hermann Incorporated got $5,000 for consulting on July 21st and the address is 145-30 29 Road which is Chuck's address.

On August 11th, "Irene Hermann Incorporated" was reimbursed $420 for buttons and it's Chuck's home address again.

Then 7 days later, Chuck gets reimbursed over a thousand dollars for office supplies at the same address.

On August 21st, Irene Hermann Incorporated got $5,000 for consulting fees.

I am confused who exists at 145-30 29th Road, Chuck or the corporation or both? This is a single family home." - Sad about the state of Queens

(Ha! And the Vice Chair of Queens CB7 running a political campaign isn't a conflict-of-interest or anything.)

But wait, that's not all! Let's see who else Johnny has on his payroll:

Sharon Lee, who agreed to turn state's evidence against Jenny Hou and Oliver Pan in return for immunity.

Chung Seto, who ran his shady campaign - and his office as an unpaid staffer - a conflict of interest.

Mei Hua Ru, a former aide to John, who likes using mafia terms.

But I'm sure John Liu would bring a breath of fresh air to Albany if elected...

Leroy takes a pay cut

From Crains:

When Leroy Comrie announced his state Senate bid against incumbent Malcolm Smith in late April, the Daily News reported that Mr. Comrie pledged to quit his post as Queens Borough President Melinda Katz’s deputy to focus on his campaign. He did so, but is still pulling in a six-figure salary while he runs for the office, payroll records show.

Effective April 24 — days before he declared his bid — Mr. Comrie’s salary was cut to $100,000 from $135,000 as he took a lower-level position in the office in order to fundraise legally.

The tactic has been employed in the past by politically ambitious deputy borough presidents. Karen Koslowitz, who was the No. 2 to then-Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, took a salary cut as she ran successfully for City Council in 2009; Ms. Marshall tapped former Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik to succeed Ms. Koslowitz in 2010. Mr. Grodenchik quit temporarily in an ill-fated bid to succeed Ms. Marshall, but later dropped out and returned to his post.

City workers are raking it in

From the NY Post:

Municipal workers made nearly twice as much as their counterparts in the private sector in former Mayor Michael Bloom­berg’s last years in office — earning a median salary of $65,300 in fiscal year 2012, a new analysis found.

By comparison, median income for a private sector worker was roughly $34,100 that year, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office.

The analysis was based on a little-noticed city report that had been quietly released on Bloomberg’s last day at City Hall.

The IBO found that while median city worker salaries stayed relatively flat over the past 10 years when adjusted for inflation, they climbed by about $6,000 between fiscal years 2005 and 2012.

“That small gain might look pretty good to a large share of the rest of the city,” IBO Chief of Staff Doug Turetsky wrote in a blog post.

That’s because private- sector salaries dropped by $3,000 on average over the same time period.

Despite the relatively steady state of municipal salaries, city payroll costs ballooned from $23.5 billion in fiscal 2003 to $37.2 billion in fiscal 2012, largely due to soaring pension and health-care costs.

Is Flake hiding his income?

From the NY Post:

Did the Rev. Floyd Flake take a vow of poverty, or is he hiding his income?

The head of the Greater Allen Cathedral, one of the nation’s largest churches, reported earning nothing from the Queens house of worship on a recent tax filing.

It was the second year that tax filings from Flake’s nonprofit Empowerment Ministries disclosed no salary for him from the Jamaica church, where he is senior pastor.

His wife, Elaine, co-pastor of the church and vice president of the nonprofit, also showed no church income on the 2012 and 2011 filings.

But in 2010, the church paid Flake $252,719 in salary and benefits and his wife’s compensation came to $250,455, according to Empowerment Ministries’ tax filings for that year.

Flake, a former congressman, is president of Empowerment Ministries.

He signed the 2012 tax return for the group. Elaine did so for 2011.

He and Elaine were each paid $5,000 for their work at the charity in 2012.

Even though it is linked to a church, Empowerment Ministries is obligated to report the Flakes’ salaries, tax experts say.

Michael Chitwood, the group’s accountant, said he was waiting to see the church’s delayed 2012 financial statements and would amend the group’s return if necessary.

State pols make a mint

From the Daily News:

State lawmakers draw a $79,500 salary from taxpayers for their part-time legislator jobs — but for most of them, that’s just chump change.

A new study shows that members of the state Assembly and Senate took home between $178,140 and $237,941 in 2012 on average, thanks to outside income from investments and jobs with law firms and other businesses.

“Being a state legislator is considered a part-time job and, clearly, a lot of them treat it as such,” said Bill Mahoney of the New York Public Interest Research Group, which released the study with Common Cause/NY on Tuesday.

Lawmakers on average earned far more than the state’s median household income, which was $56,951 last year.

And some earned stratospheric salaries with 20 legislators recording total assets worth $1 million or more.

The revelations about lawmakers’ wealth are available thanks to new ethics disclosures that for the first time required all elected officials to report details regarding their outside incomes. The lawmakers disclosed income ranges, not specific details.

God bless America!

From the NY Post:

Two City Council members have been in public service for so long, they’re collecting government pay from three sources — salary, pension and Social Security, according to newly released financial-disclosure forms.

Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx) — one of the wealthiest members of the City Council — and Karen Koslowitz (D-Queens) each collected income on top of their $122,500 council salaries.

Koppell took in as much as $60,000 in pension from his longtime gig as a state assemblyman, and between $5,000 and $44,000 in Social Security.

Koslowitz took in between $60,000 and $100,000 in pension payouts last year for working a previous stint on the council and as Queens Deputy Borough President until she rejoined the council in 2010.

Koslowitz also earned between $5,000 and $44,000 in Social Security last year and has between $10,000 and $88,000 in credit card debt.

Lopez' tweeding pal pleads guilty

From the Daily News:

The right-hand woman of disgraced Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez pleaded guilty Thursday to a criminal charge of lying to federal investigators.

But Lopez wasn't in Manhattan federal court to see Christiana Fisher take a fall. 
Instead, Lopez's gal pal, Angela Battaglia, was in the courtroom when a black-clad Fisher admitted fibbing to the feds about the bloated $607,024 salary she was being paid to run the Lopez-founded non-profit, Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Center Council.

"I was aware of forged documents and tax filings that inaccurately stated that the board of directors of the Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council had approved increases to my salary," she said. "I knew it was improper."

Fisher, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of filing false information in response to a subpoena from the Manhattan U.S. attorney, also agreed to forfeit $170,659 in salary she got by cooking the books.

It was the only charge against Fisher, who also was Lopez's campaign manager. She faced a maximum sentence of six months in jail.

Raises for corrupt pols

From the NY Post:

Consider: Since 2000, five Assembly members and four senators (not including Spano) have been convicted of felonies — felonies! — ranging from receiving bribes and embezzlement to outright theft. Another five have been convicted of misdemeanors. Three former senators and one current assemblyman face pending corruption charges.

It’s hard to believe that Silver, speaker since 1994, and his colleagues could be so oblivious to the crime wave surrounding them. The looting of member-item grants funneled to nonprofits has gone on for years and has been reported on extensively.

So here’s a proposition for Silver: If the Assembly and Senate can go five years without having a single member convicted, he gets his raise. Conversely, every time a legislator or ex-legislator is convicted of a crime related to his office, all legislative salaries get cut.

Taxpayers no doubt would save a lot of money under this formula.

Kept on payroll after she left

From the Daily News:

The outgoing boss of Mayor Bloomberg’s Business Integrity Commission gave his private secretary three hefty raises — even as he managed to keep her off the city payroll.

Mike Mansfield, who was in charge of driving the mob out of city businesses, gave secretary Hope Kennedy three raises in just seven months, pumping up her salary nearly 60%, the Daily News has learned. Mansfield, who is leaving the commission for a private-sector job, was able to hide the pay-raise trifecta by making Kennedy his chief of staff — yet keeping her on the payroll of the Queens district attorney.

Kennedy’s salary climbed from $68,000 to $108,000 during seven months, records show. The raises were hidden because Kennedy continued to be paid as an employee of the Queens DA’s office even after she left her job there, in an arrangement that appears to be unique in the city. By doing this, Kennedy also was able to dodge residency rules that require all Business Integrity Commission employees to live in the city.

Instead, unlike everyone else in the BIC office who lived in the city, Kennedy’s home is on Long Island.

Justifying their salaries

From the Daily News:

Congress is on vacation, but with some lawmakers it's hard to tell the difference.

Twenty-year Brooklyn incumbent Rep. Nydia Velazquez has not sponsored one bill, amendment or resolution this year.

Between her $174,000 salary and a staff that earned $898,211 last year, that's a stiff price for inactivity, congressional watchers said.

"In the words of another famous New Yorker, 'They got some 'splaining to do,'" said Norman Ornstein, a resident with the American Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit research center.

A Daily News survey found that Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan) ranks first among New York's 28 representatives for activity with 36 proposed bills, resolutions and amendments.

Maloney and Rep. Jerrold Nadler co-wrote last year's 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Nadler (D-Manhattan) tied for third in the entire delegation with 21 proposals.

Public authorities dishing out ridiculous salaries

From the Daily News:

It's nice work if you can get it.

Nearly 5,500 employees spanning more than three dozen state public authorities raked in six-figure salaries last year, the Daily News has learned.

That amounts to 6% of the 90,237 state authority employees on the payroll, according to a recent review by the Authorities Budget Office.

Overall, the budget office found that the average total compensation package for a state authority worker is $70,600.

Long considered a "shadow government," public authorities serve as patronage mills that operate in secret and ring up hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, critics charge.

Former Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who pushed for the creation of a body to oversee public authorities, said the new numbers shed light on the previously "secretive, Soviet-style bureaucracies."

"To finally have a light on the salary practices will require people to justify salaries which strike the average citizens as strange - and unusually high," Brodsky said.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority topped the charts by employing the most staffers pulling in six figures.

That's some salary!

From the NY Post:

A top aide scrutinized in the federal pay-to-play probe that snared his boss, state Sen. Carl Kruger, is raking in a $162,442-a-year salary -- the highest of any staffer in the state Legislature, The Post has learned.

Jason Koppel, 34, the embattled Brooklyn Democrat's chief of staff and campaign manager, saw his salary rise 40 percent -- or $47,128 -- over the 16-month period ending January 2010.

The pay hikes came as the feds stepped up an investigation into Kruger that also looked at Koppel, according to sources and court documents.

Kruger even backdated the last raise three months, in essence giving Koppel a $6,700-plus bonus, records show.

That put his 2010 earnings at $169,228 -- more than double Kruger's $79,500 legislative salary.

Koppel has never been charged.

Walmart bad, Target good?

From Wall Street Journal:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. remains a pariah to U.S. labor unions and urban activists who continue to hold the world's largest retailer to a different standard than rival Target Corp. as they block its plans to expand into the nation's biggest cities.

Hoping to improve its reputation, Wal-Mart in recent years has boosted employee health benefits, launched programs to reduce its environmental impacts, and paid hundreds of millions to settle lawsuits alleging that its workers were denied lunch and bathroom breaks.

Yet the Bentonville, Ark., retailer continues to serve as the archenemy of labor unions and urban foes, who believe that if they can make Wal-Mart change its practices, smaller retailers will more readily follow suit.

Wal-Mart executives maintain they are making headway against what they regard as outdated and inaccurate perceptions by arguing that the company can generate new construction and retail jobs at a time when cities desperately need the economic boost.

Target by contrast opened in Harlem in July with a red carpet gala attended by Jerry Seinfeld and New York politicians—and little hand-wringing about the consequences for shopkeepers or union cashiers.

"I know they are going to hurt me," said Anthony Ciarletta, owner of the 85-year-old Leto-Ascione Pharmacy two blocks away from the Harlem Target. Mr. Ciarletta said no politicians had bothered to check if he was worried about Target.

The disparate treatment has even begun to rankle a few labor organizers, who note that Target's wages and benefits mirror Wal-Mart's.

By most objective standards, Wal-Mart's compensation is quite similar to its publicly traded retail competitors, and sometimes better. It now offers a more generous health care plan than the retail average; nearly 80% of Wal-Mart's U.S. workers are eligible for health coverage, compared to just 58% for the retail sector as a whole according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Target declines to disclose its pay, but workers in Chicago said wages for entry level jobs, such as cashiers and inventory stockers, start at the state's minimum of $8.25 an hour. That is lower than the $8.75 hourly wage that Wal-Mart has pledged to pay to start in the city, according to local politicians.

Well, he sounds qualified...

From the Sunnyside Post:

Sunnyside Shines, a local business improvement district (BID), has hired 23-year-old James Bray as its new executive director.

Bray, who has just completed his studies at Rutgers University, will head the Sunnyside BID that has an annual budget of approximately $300,000 per year. The Jersey City resident will be the only full-time executive working for the public/private group.

The BID’s role is to promote business in Sunnyside. Its function is particularly important right now as a slew of businesses are struggling to survive. In recent months many businesses have closed, from Sugar & Joe, Flynn’s Pub, Sleepys, Nourish and Curves.

Bray, who said he knew “nothing about Queens” before joining the BID, was hired as a part-time worker in November to help Sunnyside Shines with is computer and network problems.

He was able to get the part-time job through his father Thomas Bray, who reports to John Vogt, the regional director at White Castle. Vogt is the chairman of Sunnyside Shines.

Thomas Bray and Vogt have worked together at White Castle for years. “They hang out all day at 34th Ave [White Castle],” James Bray said. “I used to see him at our BBQs.”

Vogt, a Lindenhurst resident, is also the chairman of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce and a board member on Woodside on the Move.

This will be Bray’s first executive role. He has worked as a Hillsborough Township Volunteer Firefighter in his hometown of Hillsborough, NJ, and has helped provide before- and after-school child care to working families for Catholic Charities. He also worked at Lowes Home Improvement, where he sold grills and other outdoor products.

Bray, who is being paid $41,600 (without healthcare), said that he brings a “fresh perspective to the job.” Many people in Sunnyside’s local organizations have been here a long time, he said.

The New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) is the lead agency responsible for BID creation and oversight.

Not an efficient use of taxpayer money

From the NY Post:

This is how not to get a bang for your buck.

Salaries and staff at the MTA division charged with overseeing the transit agency's $15 billion in megaprojects have ballooned for five straight years -- even though many of its high-profile construction jobs fell behind schedule and ran over budget during that time.

MTA Capital Construction staffing skyrocketed from 39 employees in 2004 to 151 in 2009, increasing total payroll by $10.6 million, according to records obtained by The Post.

The division's ranks were filled with construction experts and engineers whose job it is to make sure contractors hit deadlines and don't overspend, and to manage the $21 billion budget that includes the Second Avenue Subway and scores of station rehabs.

Total payroll in 2004 -- a year after the division was created -- was $4.1 million. By 2009, it had grown to $14.7 million.

Council staffers receive pay raise

CITY COUNCIL GIVES STAFF 8 PERCENT RAISES
By SALLY GOLDENBERG, NY Post

The City Council followed in lockstep with Mayor Bloomberg yesterday, announcing an 8 percent raise for all staff members this year.

The raises match those the mayor gave to his non-union staff following a contract with the city's largest municipal union, District Council 37.

They will go into effect immediately. One will be a 4-percent raise retroactive to March 2008 and the other 4-percent increase will date back to March of this year.

The Council could not immediately say how much the raises would cost.