Health & Fitness
Piggin' and Riggin'
Property taxes may be "obscene" but more "obscene" is the 'rigged' political system in Clarkstown which prevents those who are being 'pigged' an opportunity to change things.
"Where elections end, there slavery begins" - John Adams.
The Piggin' .........
Across the nation what has become known as the "pension pig" dominates the headlines. Detroit has declared bankruptcy because of the 'pension pig' and here in Rockland pension costs eat up millions per year that are no longer available to fix potholes, maintain parks and meet the needs of the general public. Revitalization projects such as that in New City and the walkway around Congers Lake are therefore financed with debt to be paid for at some future date when today's politicians have escaped the voters' ire and are long gone to comfortable retirements.
Since taking office Mr. Gromack has never made a full pension contribution. Instead he has opted to defer payments over a period of years (normally 10 years) plus interest. Last year that amounted to about $5 Million. He calls it 'amortizing'. Others call it spending on the Town's credit card and not telling anyone. By the close of 2013 Gromack will have 'amortized' up to $15 - $20 Millions of debt just for unfunded pension contributions alone.
According to the Journal News of August 25, 2013 the second-highest pension in the Lower-Hudson Valley region, and Rockland County’s new top pension in 2013, belongs to retired Clarkstown police Sgt. Harry Baumann. He now has the fourth-highest pension among retired Clarkstown cops at $161,412.
When asked for a comment Sgt. Baumann "hung up".
The Journal News article explains why your property taxes are destined to go through your property's roof! Rockland is insolvent and Clarkstown will become insolvent in 2013 for one very simple reason .....
Politicians have let pensions run out of control.
On the August 26, 2013 'Art Aldrich talk-show' broadcast on WRCR, County Legislator John Murphy, who has served in the Legislature for over 40 years, made the following comment about the County's out-of control pension situation:
Legislator Murphy did not tell WRCR's listeners the magnitude of the problem that Rockland County's taxpayers are facing. The unfunded OPED (Other than Pension Post Employment Benefits) alone stands today at $1 Billion dollars (that is a B as in BILLION).
Mayor Mike Spano of Yonkers said pension costs are having “catastrophic effects” on taxpayers. He called pensions “obscene".
I have news for him; Supervisor Gromack of Clarkstown beat him to that line. Gromack called Clarkstown police salaries "obscene" four years ago but did nothing to prevent further increases.
The Journal News continues:
Yes indeed, Mr. Falco, we are quite aware that your new salary is "far below" what police chiefs make in Clarkstown and that therefore your 'pigging' is not as bad as the other 'pigging' with which you draw comparison, but perhaps you might agree that 'pigging' is still 'pigging' no matter how one seeks to justify it.
At a Clarkstown Town Board meeting in late 2012, I asked Supervisor Gromack about the morality of giving pay raises to Town employees that were more than Clarkstown's senior citizens would receive in social security increases saying:
The Board's 'foxy' response was that things were "out of its control" - the standard excuse of 'do nothing' politicians who have neither the political will nor the political courage to 'do anything'.
Shortly, thereafter the Town of Orangetown gave its police force a similar contract saying their "hands were tied" because of Clarkstown! That being the case one wonders why the voters of Orangetown bother to pay for their own Town government and don't simply merge with Clarkstown?
The Town of Clarkstown may have put the police ahead of the senior citizens but when it came to senior citizens or Falco's police patrol's horses I am sure you remember which came first with the Rockland County Legislature?
The County is insolvent and flirting with bankruptcy with a bond rating just above junk status so Vanderhoef proposed eliminating about 70 positions including the Sheriff's Mounted Patrol. The legislators restored all of the cut positions including the Sheriff's horses. Vanderhoef then vetoed practically all of the legislators proposed budget except for the horses.
In 2013 senior citizens saw an 18% tax increase in their County Tax bill which completely erased the 1.7% increase they got in their social security. The bottom line in the County's budget process thus became:
Police come before horses and horses come before seniors. Now it seems that repair of the floors in the Palisades Mall comes before repair of the roofs in our schools. The mall will pay for its floors with $20 million dollars taken back from Clarkstown after the Town and the School Board expended over $1 million dollars in legal fees to arrive at a "satisfactory arrangement". Satisfactory to whom? The taxpayers didn't get to vote on that - it was "out of their control".
That was the Piggin' now here is the Riggin' ..........
Question - what is being taken "out of each voter's control" this year? Is it your right to have a vote as to who will be your Town Supervisor after the November elections because of 'rigging'.
How? Here's how!
There are reportedly five different parties in Clarkstown but in reality there is just one.
Huh?
It is the 'Redaletspar' party or RLS for short and few know of its existence. The party's tricolor flag has two horizontal stripes of Burgundy Red, and Emerald Green, with a broad vertical streak of Naples Yellow.
Consider these five points ......
"Wait a minute" you say, "I'm a 'conservative' so all of this Democratic and Republican stuff doesn't affect me because I vote for the candidate who is not a left-winger or a right-winger but one who holds to traditional conservative values".
"Wait a minute" you say, "I'm an 'independent' so all of this Democratic, Republican and Conservative stuff doesn't affect me because I vote for the candidate of the Independence Party".
"Wait a minute" you say, "I come from a working family so all of this Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Independence stuff doesn't affect me because I take pride in my union heritage and dedication to the principles of organized labor and I vote for the solidarity of the workers by voting for the Working Families party".
Voters will certainly have a choice in November of where to mark an 'x' on their ballots but the system has been so successfully rigged that no matter where they place their mark their vote will return the RLS Party's candidate.
George Orwell described this situation precisely in his book 'Animal Farm' when he predicted that the RLS party would arise and declare:
“No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”
Reflect therefore for a brief moment, ye citizens of Clarkstown, upon what both George Orwell and John Adams have said because "your elections have ended" and "your taxation slavery" has now begun.
The Piggin' .........
Across the nation what has become known as the "pension pig" dominates the headlines. Detroit has declared bankruptcy because of the 'pension pig' and here in Rockland pension costs eat up millions per year that are no longer available to fix potholes, maintain parks and meet the needs of the general public. Revitalization projects such as that in New City and the walkway around Congers Lake are therefore financed with debt to be paid for at some future date when today's politicians have escaped the voters' ire and are long gone to comfortable retirements.
Since taking office Mr. Gromack has never made a full pension contribution. Instead he has opted to defer payments over a period of years (normally 10 years) plus interest. Last year that amounted to about $5 Million. He calls it 'amortizing'. Others call it spending on the Town's credit card and not telling anyone. By the close of 2013 Gromack will have 'amortized' up to $15 - $20 Millions of debt just for unfunded pension contributions alone.
According to the Journal News of August 25, 2013 the second-highest pension in the Lower-Hudson Valley region, and Rockland County’s new top pension in 2013, belongs to retired Clarkstown police Sgt. Harry Baumann. He now has the fourth-highest pension among retired Clarkstown cops at $161,412.
When asked for a comment Sgt. Baumann "hung up".
The Journal News article explains why your property taxes are destined to go through your property's roof! Rockland is insolvent and Clarkstown will become insolvent in 2013 for one very simple reason .....
Politicians have let pensions run out of control.
On the August 26, 2013 'Art Aldrich talk-show' broadcast on WRCR, County Legislator John Murphy, who has served in the Legislature for over 40 years, made the following comment about the County's out-of control pension situation:
- We have choking pension payments. Pension plans are largely paid for by the profit from investments and the market was not good to pension plans. I will confess as a ranking member of the Budget and Finance Committee I saw the mandates coming down, I saw the deficits from the nursing home etc and I don't think I acted ferociously enough two or three years ago. But I was one of the many people who said we are headed for a cliff but I don't think I shouted long enough or hard enough.
Legislator Murphy did not tell WRCR's listeners the magnitude of the problem that Rockland County's taxpayers are facing. The unfunded OPED (Other than Pension Post Employment Benefits) alone stands today at $1 Billion dollars (that is a B as in BILLION).
Mayor Mike Spano of Yonkers said pension costs are having “catastrophic effects” on taxpayers. He called pensions “obscene".
I have news for him; Supervisor Gromack of Clarkstown beat him to that line. Gromack called Clarkstown police salaries "obscene" four years ago but did nothing to prevent further increases.
The Journal News continues:
- After Sgt. Baumann the next-highest new Rockland pension went to Sheriff Louis Falco, who retired as chief of patrol in the Sheriff’s Office when he was elected two years ago. His retirement benefit of $136,126 coupled with his salary as sheriff gives him a combined income of $279,000. Elected officials are exempt from limitations on such 'double dipping'. “I worked hard during a long career as a police officer. ... I earned that pension,” Falco said, adding that his new salary is "far below" what other police chiefs make in Rockland.
Yes indeed, Mr. Falco, we are quite aware that your new salary is "far below" what police chiefs make in Clarkstown and that therefore your 'pigging' is not as bad as the other 'pigging' with which you draw comparison, but perhaps you might agree that 'pigging' is still 'pigging' no matter how one seeks to justify it.
At a Clarkstown Town Board meeting in late 2012, I asked Supervisor Gromack about the morality of giving pay raises to Town employees that were more than Clarkstown's senior citizens would receive in social security increases saying:
- The Board gave a 2.5% increase to the police every year for the next five years. We have the highest paid police force in the State if not in the United States and this is the third highest taxed county in the whole of the United States. Four police officers alone take home $1 million in salaries annually according to the Journal News. Social Security will go up 1.7% next year. How do you justify a 6.2% tax increase and a 2.5% salary increase for the police with our senior citizens getting 1.7% next year?
The Board's 'foxy' response was that things were "out of its control" - the standard excuse of 'do nothing' politicians who have neither the political will nor the political courage to 'do anything'.
Shortly, thereafter the Town of Orangetown gave its police force a similar contract saying their "hands were tied" because of Clarkstown! That being the case one wonders why the voters of Orangetown bother to pay for their own Town government and don't simply merge with Clarkstown?
The Town of Clarkstown may have put the police ahead of the senior citizens but when it came to senior citizens or Falco's police patrol's horses I am sure you remember which came first with the Rockland County Legislature?
The County is insolvent and flirting with bankruptcy with a bond rating just above junk status so Vanderhoef proposed eliminating about 70 positions including the Sheriff's Mounted Patrol. The legislators restored all of the cut positions including the Sheriff's horses. Vanderhoef then vetoed practically all of the legislators proposed budget except for the horses.
In 2013 senior citizens saw an 18% tax increase in their County Tax bill which completely erased the 1.7% increase they got in their social security. The bottom line in the County's budget process thus became:
- The horses remain to this day well-fed, well-housed and will receive full veterinarian services. They can expect a stress-free retirement after their time trotting around Rockland on, as Legislaor Schoenberger coined it, "crowd control".
- The seniors, who are threatening to get "out of control" over rising taxation, got an 18% tax increase that completely wiped out the 1.7% increase they got in their social security this year while struggling to pay their medical premiums. They can expect a stress-filled retirement worrying if they will be able to stay in their homes with the trend in School, Town, and County Taxes. Should they wish to protest this matter they would be well advised not to do so outside Schoenberger's office in a "crowd" that requires "control".
Police come before horses and horses come before seniors. Now it seems that repair of the floors in the Palisades Mall comes before repair of the roofs in our schools. The mall will pay for its floors with $20 million dollars taken back from Clarkstown after the Town and the School Board expended over $1 million dollars in legal fees to arrive at a "satisfactory arrangement". Satisfactory to whom? The taxpayers didn't get to vote on that - it was "out of their control".
That was the Piggin' now here is the Riggin' ..........
Question - what is being taken "out of each voter's control" this year? Is it your right to have a vote as to who will be your Town Supervisor after the November elections because of 'rigging'.
How? Here's how!
There are reportedly five different parties in Clarkstown but in reality there is just one.
Huh?
It is the 'Redaletspar' party or RLS for short and few know of its existence. The party's tricolor flag has two horizontal stripes of Burgundy Red, and Emerald Green, with a broad vertical streak of Naples Yellow.
Consider these five points ......
- Supervisor Gromack is running on the Democratic Party line.
- The Republicans under Reda, who is a defendant in a defamation lawsuit, did "not have the time" to put Republican candidate, Brian Moran, on the Republican Party line. The Republican Party's leadership in this age of cell phones, facebook, and twitter "could not be reached". Last time around in 2011 Reda offered Republican candidate Ralph Sabatini a patronage job in the County not to run against Gromack - the offer was declined. Sabatini was then given no support by Reda and, according to Sabatini, Sparaco metaphorically stabbed him in the back by actively supporting Gromack in the week leading up to the election.
Since Reda is a member of the RedaLetSpar party is it any surprise therefore that in 2013 the Republican line will be be BLANK?
"Wait a minute" you say, "I'm a 'conservative' so all of this Democratic and Republican stuff doesn't affect me because I vote for the candidate who is not a left-winger or a right-winger but one who holds to traditional conservative values".
- I am sorry to tell you that Town employee, Ed Lettre, controls the Conservative Party in Clarkstown. He is so powerful that on his command alone he can order the whole of the Town Board, including the Town Attorney, to attend his party's meeting. Lettre, who has a $170,000+ job in Clarkstown, is the King of Clarkstown's Diamonds and its Emeralds.
Since Lettre is a member of the RedaLetSpar party is it any surprise therefore that in 2013 the Conservative Line was given to Gromack?
"Wait a minute" you say, "I'm an 'independent' so all of this Democratic, Republican and Conservative stuff doesn't affect me because I vote for the candidate of the Independence Party".
- I'm sorry to tell all 'independent' voters that the Independence Party has been declared a "legal racket" that trades its party line for patronage jobs. In Clarkstown the Independence Party is controlled by County Legislator, Frank Sparaco, who is also the defendant in the same defamation lawsuit as Reda. Sparaco, with Supervisor Gromack's vote approving his position, was given a 25 hour patronage job for $75,000 by Highways Superintendent, Wayne Ballard, who is also a Defamation Defendant.
Since Sparaco is a member of the RedaLetSpar party is it any surprise therefore that in 2013 the Independence line was given to Gromack?
"Wait a minute" you say, "I come from a working family so all of this Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Independence stuff doesn't affect me because I take pride in my union heritage and dedication to the principles of organized labor and I vote for the solidarity of the workers by voting for the Working Families party".
- I am sorry to tell you that since the Working Families Party had such a critical deficit of leadership it has been infiltrated by members of the Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Independence parties under the leadership of the Redaletspar party.
Is it any surprise therefore that in 2013 the Working Families Line was given to Gromack?
Voters will certainly have a choice in November of where to mark an 'x' on their ballots but the system has been so successfully rigged that no matter where they place their mark their vote will return the RLS Party's candidate.
George Orwell described this situation precisely in his book 'Animal Farm' when he predicted that the RLS party would arise and declare:
“No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”
Reflect therefore for a brief moment, ye citizens of Clarkstown, upon what both George Orwell and John Adams have said because "your elections have ended" and "your taxation slavery" has now begun.
Michael N. Hull is a retired senior citizen who writes opinion pieces on local political issues. He is a Director of Clarkstown Residents Opposing Patronage with Tom Nimick and Ralph Sabatini. Hull contributes periodically to the Facebook page Clarkstown: What They Don't Want You To Know.
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