Saturday, January 01, 2011

ULSTER COUNTY JANUARY RECESS

Ulster County Legislative Chairman Fred Wadnola has decided to clear all scheduled committee meetings of the Legislature for the month of January.
All of us Legislators will be getting paychecks for the month we are not working. Does this sound odd to you? Considering we just cut employees and slashed programs while governing over a county with 8.3% unemployment.
 
For those of you struggling to pay the bills and raise your kids, this must come as a shock to you, since you pay taxes that pay Legislative salaries. 
 
So far, no-one among the Legislature staff has ever heard of any chairman making a decree such as this. Speculation as to why Fred has made this move with little notice is running rampant. Could this affect his chances of being re-elected to the post of Chairman this Tuesday? He does get $20K per year to fulfill this post. Is there anyone among us who would refrain from wasting taxdollars this way as Chair? I'm just askin.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

How ironic that the picture you ?Chairman? surrounded by the two RRA Board members he appointed. Maybe they are all vacationing in Florida together. Must be nice to collect multiple pensions and not care about the little tax payers trying to pay mortgages while funding his next pension.

Anonymous said...

It seems that you are correct, from the County website, here are the Standing Legislative Committees and their meeting day/time. Below is a link to the calendar that shows all of these meeting, and they are not scheduled until February.

Economic Development and Tourism
Committee
First MONDAY of every month at 4:45 PM

Government Operations and Efficiency
Committee
First WEDNESDAY of every month at 6:00 PM

Governmental Services, Environmental
and Administrative Committee
Third MONDAY of every month at 6:00 PM

Health and Human Services Committee First THURSDAY of every month at 6:30 PM

Law Enforcement and Public Safety
Committee
First TUESDAY of every month at 6:30 PM

Legislative Programs, Education and
Community Services Committee
First TUESDAY of every month at 5:00 PM

Public Works & Capital Projects
Committee
First MONDAY of every month at 7:00 PM

http://www.calendarwiz.com/calendars/calendar.php?crd=uccalendar&op=cal&month=1&year=2011

click on the arrow to look at February 2011, they are all scheduled for then

Anonymous said...

If the legislators take their paychecks for January without doing any official work....you're all a bunch of dirtbags...

Anonymous said...

This is typical of Fred's autocratic thinking. He has demonstrated that he is not fit to be Chairman. He should be removed immediately. How this guy ever got elected over Brian Cahill is beyond my level of comprehension.

Anonymous said...

I missed your press conference where you demanded that this type of situation not be tolereated
Arent you a legislator?
Couldnt you speak up and demand that this type of bs is stopped?
Or are you a rank and file follower?
Its the blind leading the blind in UC all over again.
Small timers with no vision, as long as you get your $8-20k per year and can tell people that you are in charge...

Anonymous said...

Come on Mike. You know this is exactly what you were hoping for when you joined up with the other side to throw him out. A huge blunder that would justify your defection from the Democrats.

Fred is bad, your choice is worse. Wake up.

Anonymous said...

Chairman's salary $19,500
2 Leaders of the Caucuses $24,000
30 Legislators, $300,000

Total bill $343,500

Per month $28,625

Total work done in January = ZERO

Now that is priceless

Anonymous said...

What usually occurs @ the beginning of the year is jockeying for new chairmanships/members of committees. Did that take place already? Fred has been lost in the sauce for some time now and maybe he needs his ceo to make those decisions for him while they bask in the sun during their vacation.

Anonymous said...

Wadnola is a joke and has been from day 1. He is one of the 33 I will be very glad to see go!

Anonymous said...

Mike,

Lead by example and hand back your January paycheck to the chairman. That will teach them.

Anonymous said...

OK, someone talk me off the edge. I heard Fred wants to spend a month in Florida and feels Felicello is incompetent to run the Legislature in his absence. Someone tell me this isn't true. Vacation? Florida? Trust?
Help me here.

Anonymous said...

Maybe some of the UC Leg Leadership should think about stepping down toodu

http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/01/klein-disgusted-by-fellow-dems-but-not-enough-to-jump-ship/

Anonymous said...

Freddie is the epitome of the old school Republicans. Instead of letting democracy run it's course, they rearrange the playing field to prevent people from having their say. This holds true when the reins of power are at stake, the money spigot can be turned off, or the other side might have an advantage. I recall reading on many blogs what a problem Fred would be when he was selected. I guess they were right.

Anonymous said...

Felicello is incompetent. Who else do you put in the chair that is competent? Hansut, bernardo, go thru the list there is no one in the republican caucus. I am a rep but I would vote for Donaldson

Anonymous said...

No work, no pay. No member of the legislature including staff should be paid for January.