County Gifts Day Off to Select Group of Employees

ABG has previously posted about this waste of County resources. What it amounts to is nothing more than a paid day off for County employees. It was started under former County Executive Andrew Spano and perpetuated by current County Executive Robert Astorino. Astorino touts himself as a reformer when its convenient but apparently is more interested in paying back the unions with this day off for the workers who participate.

Billed as the Westchester Educational Safety Training for police, emergency services and public works employees. It billed as running between 8:30AM until 2:00PM. This ensures an entire paid day off for anyone chosen to participate AND be billed as the requisite safety training employees must receive. Most public employees start at 8AM and finish at 4PM. This gives them plenty of time to “punch in”, hop in a County owned truck or vehicle and hightail it over to the County Center. Once the event shuts down, and they get back to their respective offices, it’s just in time to “punch out”.

Here’s two copies of the flyers being circulating through the entire County system. Note that they have different topics but the same basic format and information. ABG wonders how many more of these exist that we haven’t seen?

 

When these supposed forums began years ago, it was known as the County Fleet Day. The very few “old timers” still on the job for the County still refer to it as such. Back then, the special workers chosen for this payoff simply drove their rigs to the County Center, pulled them inside and had breakfast and lunch on the County’s dime. That still happens and we pay for it all as an event under the guise of “training”. It’s not training. Not only has Astorino and everyone in his administration has turned a blind eye toward this blatant ripoff of the taxpayers dollars, but the longer they let this travesty continue and the longer he and his administration condone it, the more of our valuable tax dollars is wasted.

ABG supports legitimate safety training. Having eight uniform vendors participate in this “trade show-like” environment is nothing more than the County administrators trying to substantiate and even validate this waste of time and dollars. It must end! If Astorino has finished padding his administration with Republican faithfuls and foot soldiers, it’s time for him to really start trimming waste, spending and the highest taxes in the nation. Playing the game of proposing the elimination of jobs compared to such waste such as this is where we can start saving the battered taxpayers real dollars. ABG implores County Executive Astorino to stop playing games with the public’s money. We can only hope.