Guest Column: You Want Pepperoni With That? By Susan Konig
If I am elected to the Westchester County Legislature, you won’t have to buy me pizza or a trip to Reno to stay in the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino.
According to recent reports of county expenditures, county legislators ate out on the taxpayer’s dime last year to the tune of 12 grand. $20,000 of the taxpayer’s money went to “travel expenses” (including a trip to Reno by board chairman Ken Jenkins and legislator Martin Rogowsky — haven’t they ever heard of Gotomeeting.com?). The Westchester County Board of Legislators meets once a week. In White Plains. If you are driving to White Plains from somewhere else in Westchester once a week, it will cost a couple of bucks in gas. If you are going to White Plains via Reno, Nevada – I suppose that would add a bit to the travel expense.
I worked for two years as an elected official in the Village of Croton-on-Hudson. Never did I get health benefits, a pension, or perks. As Village trustees, we were told we could attend certain conferences and seminars in Albany on the taxpayer’s dime, but I never went because I didn’t run for office to learn how to be a professional politician. I ran to serve. So I stayed in my Village and worked for my neighbors in Croton, lowering the tax rate increase every year, protecting and promoting revenue, and repairing infrastructure.
Chairman Jenkins says that legislators sometimes work 14-16 hour days and they deserve a slice of pizza. Okay. But $2000 worth of pizza? My family of six buys about two pies a week totaling $1400 for the year and we usually use a coupon for $2.50 at least twice a month which cuts $60 bucks off that total. If elected to the board, I promise to share my pizza discount coupons with Chairman Jenkins.
Government perks like meals aren’t unheard of in other counties but no one rivals the spending in Westchester. Rockland spent $107 on meals last year. Putnam spent zero. Westchester legislators spent $12, 636.
Is anyone paying for your pizza? And are there toppings involved?
The county legislature ran up $40,000 in perks last year. Over half was for travel. Travel? Where to?
If I am elected to represent Cortlandt, Croton, Ossining, parts of Briarcliff and Peekskill, I plan to travel between Cortlandt, Croton, Ossining, parts of Briarcliff and Peekskill and the county offices in White Plains. And I will pay for my own gas. Just like you do, just like I do now.
Legislators receive almost $50,000 for the job. The number one question I get when campaigning door-to-door as a candidate for county legislator is: What do county legislators do? Apparently, they eat a lot of pizza and you pay for it.
Susan Konig is a former Croton-on-Hudson trustee and a candidate for county legislator in District 9.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
