Saturday, September 27, 2008

Serf's up(side-down)

As a point of information, Queens has seven Senators. Five are Democrats and two are Republicans. During the time period covered by the data we found, the five Democrats were Shirley Huntley, George Onorato, John Sabini, Malcolm Smith, and Toby Stavisky. The two Republicans were Serf Maltese and Frank Padavan.

Politics Unusual: Save and Spend, Serf; Candidates Speak at Un-Debate

The data shows the tab to staff the offices of the two Republican senators as a hefty $1,809,710 from October 06 - September 07. By the way, that's without the senator's salaries included. Maltese's office cost us a whopping $933,661.64. Comparatively, the total cost to run the offices of the five Queens Democrats also without their salaries included, was $1,532,075.06. Maltese and Padavan cost us over a quarter-of- a-million more than the five Democrats put together.

Delving into a little perspective, running those two Queens Republican Senate offices also cost more than it did to run five of the Queens Assembly offices, all occupied by Democrats, that cover parts of the Maltese Senate District. Added together, minus their salaries, it cost us $1,425,523 to run the offices of Assemblymembers Pheffer, Hevesi, Markey, Nolan, and Seminerio. (Of course we didn’t figure the extra $500,000 Tony Seminerio allegedly picked up all on his own).

We were having so much fun that we just couldn’t stop without telling you that Maltese had 36 staff members during the time period covered by this data. Padavan had 27. That's a total of 63 employees who cost us in total, $1,625.555.93. Between them, the five Dem Senators had 11 more employees, but the tab was about half-a-million less. And those five Assemblymembers you might ask... well they cost us a total of $1,228,387 for the 58 employees they had between them.

The point of this you might be wondering...well let’s just say we think that when Sen. Maltese makes it such a big issue to point out how much money he’s supposedly saving us in tax dollars, it may be sort of relevant if he tells us where all those savings are going. From the looks of the figures above it’s easy for us to put our finger on exactly where all the savings went...to his offices.

Really now – when it comes to our money, who should we be calling reckless?

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

And I might add, Maltese's staff is TOTALLY useless.

Anonymous said...

And I might add, Maltese's staff is TOTALLY useless.

Anonymous said...

I read this article in the Forum this week. I agree that a lot of money is being spent by the 2 Reps from Queens. If the Senate does flip this year and all of the Dem Senators from Queens are in the majority I am willing to bet they will have huge staffs too.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps not. The Assembly majority is Democrat, those mentioned in the article do not appear to have huge staffs. Save the taxpayer money Serf sure is spending a lot and I agree those on his staff I have dealt with are useless.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who knows Maltese's staff members in Glendale know that ANYTHING you give them goes nowhere.

They are a bunch of know-nothing hacks who are so disconnected with the community they serve that it's tragic.

I'm a Republican but I'm voting for Addabo. He can't be worse than what we have now.

Anonymous said...

Dems appear to be spending less on running office and staff. Silver costs us a lot less than Bruno did if you compare their offices.

Anonymous said...

Whatever they are paying Serph's staff is too much!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

you mean whatever WE are paying Serf's staff is too much.

Unknown said...

Well some how my local American Legion Post got money for a new roof.. I got help from the staff for my grant proposal and Forest Park Bandshell got re-done with new benches coming. I guess because Anonymous didn't get what they wanted he sucks... typical.

Anonymous said...

I have dealt with the Albany Staff on numerous occations, and have found them to be very knowledgable and helpful!

Anonymous said...

A lot of souls have been sold, cheap, for their dole outs from Serfie's slush fund.

Anonymous said...

cntrysigns said...
Well some how my local American Legion Post got money for a new roof.. I got help from the staff for my grant proposal and Forest Park Bandshell got re-done with new benches coming. I guess because Anonymous didn't get what they wanted he sucks... typical.

IT'S EASY TO THROW TAXPAYER PORK AROUND TO APPEAR THAT YOU ARE WORKING. SOLVING NEIGHBORHOOD PROBLEMS IS MORE DIFFICULT. YOUR STAFF ACTUALLY HAS TO WORK.

COUNTRY SIGNS GOT HERS SO TO HELL WITH THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY.

CAN'T WAIT FOR MY NEXT BIRTHDAY GREETING IN FEBRUARY. OH WAIT MAYBE IT WON'T BE FROM SERF! GO JOE!

Anonymous said...

I have 2 words for Serf and they are not Happy Birthday. He's been screwing the taxpayers for years by doling out slush to his cronies. Some neighborhoods haven't seen him or any of his slush for years. Voters in every neighborhood should be told the details of grant requests so they have an opportunity to offer their opinions as to whether they really serve a purpose BEFORE they are made. Pols should have to hold public hearings on such requests.

Anonymous said...

I agree, Serf's staff in Albany is competent. Sorry to say I can't say the same for Glendale.

Anonymous said...

There is a handwritten petition at the Glendale Family Dollar check out counter asking for signatures to request a traffic light at 72nd St and Myrtle. This is right near Maltese's office. Does he give a damn about the accidents at that corner? I know several neighbors who have written to the DOT about this with no help. He certainly doesn't shop at the Family Dollar but his constituents do.

Anonymous said...

I agree, Serf Maltese's office has ignored several requests for a light at 72nd Street and Myrtle Avenue. The corner is a nightmare. I never bother calling his office anymore. What a waste of time.

Anonymous said...

On the positive side. I have found Andrew Hevesi's staff responsive, caring, professional, and never say "we wiil get back to you" and then don't. From the beginning I was impressed by the young people he hired. Obviusly, not patronage hirings.

Anonymous said...

One woman on his staff I spoke with - make that tried to speak with- could not comprehend English enough to comprehend what I was asking.

Anonymous said...

Not only is he upside down, he's backward, very backward.

Anonymous said...

"On the positive side. I have found Andrew Hevesi's staff responsive, caring, professional, and never say "we wiil get back to you" and then don't. From the beginning I was impressed by the young people he hired. Obviusly, not patronage hirings."

Is this guy even working? We never see Hevesi.

Anonymous said...

Addabbo is the man. When he wins office this november he should keep the current staff Maltese has and use them for litter removal in the district.

Anonymous said...

I met Serf Maltese when he ran for Congress. He joked that we both had difficult first names; I replied "Pain builds character". He always spoke to me from his heart. I met some of my closest friends then because it was an underdog race. Whenever I met someone who disliked Serf, they were obscure why, but eventually revealed the source of their displeasure were his commitment to principle, friendship or his word. Indeed, Serf's loyalty is both his greatest asset and his greatest liability. Liability in terms of the enemies it gains him. Those who trust Serf, even beyond party lines, are the greatest resource his constitutents can have. I don't believe they would be foolish enough to lose such representation.