So,ooooh Ms. Dixon has the qualifications to deal with this legitimate corruption,?
Thank you for this article! Please keep such pieces coming, politicians in New York (State and City) have notoriously bad hearing and lapsing memory when it comes to such wastes of our money on such largess. Every dollar squandered here is no longer available for schools, road repairs, and various other city or state services. I am especially curious to hear what Mr. De Blasio, Cuomo and Ms. Nixon are saying when asked about their plans to clean up this mess. Did you (NYTimes) ask them? Please do! Should make for interesting reading, if nothing else.
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Stephen Cassidy's appointment to a previously non-existent job, his increase in salary (and therefore his pension), and his use of a city car were all gifts by the Fire Commissioner and City Hall. Were they paybacks to a union president for rolling over in settling a labor agreement? You be the judge. I'm no longer naive enough to think not.
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Thank you, Mr. Dwyer, on a much-needed article.
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On a salary of 200k, you won't find many willing string-pullers. I'm not a fan of graft, but 200k an a Prius is not a huge haul. A 4 million dollar home in Bronxville and a BMW M5 would be a big haul. In my part of NYC, 150k-200k is a fairly standard income. My guess is that internet journalists get paid a lot less. So, they think 200k is scandalously high. If a person made 200k (and no bonus) at a hedge fund, that person would be a secretary. In 0211, I gout laughed out a hedge fund job interview for saying my goal was to earn 150k. My interviewer told me I could earn 150k/yr doing anything. I gathered that I was supposed to say I wanted to make 1.5 million a year.
Sorry, but I don't see your point.
Median income in the US is just about $52K. In NYC, it ranges from $45K to $70K, depending on the borough you live in. So, your reference that a salary of $200K is not a huge haul compared to what one can earn at a hedge fund is comparing that salary to the extreme outlier on the median scale. That mindset you seem to be espousing, and which Cassidy seemed to characterize, is that you should be getting paid what you think your worth, irrespective of the actual worth of the job you're performing - or not performing in the case of the disgraced Mr. Cassidy.
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Disgraceful! There are a small fraction of public servants who make specious comparisons of their jobs to what 'they should be making' in the private sector. Since they feel they're 'underpaid' they think that gives them carte blanche to abuse overtime, sick leave and the use of vehicles or other City assets. Stephen Cassidy seems to fall in that category.
Cassidy and other miscreant public servants, including elected officials, need to get over themselves. If they can't hack the scrutiny and sacrifices that come with the honor of serving the taxpayers, they should quit and get a job in private industry. Unfortunately, usually the public sector employees who most abuse the system are also the dumbest and most incompetent who would fail miserably in the private sector.
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I hate to say it, but wasn't your point what Trump meant when he said he'd drain the swamp?
No it wasn't. He is the swamp and he wants all monies drained his way.
Ah, DeBlasio!
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