Big D&C piece on water authority
Joe Spector has another big investigative piece about the water authority over at the D&C. It’s good one.
Monroe County Water Authority board members get the most generous benefits of any public authority in the region.
Each of its seven board members gets at least $7,000 a year in salary, eligibility in the state’s pension system and the option of lifetime health insurance — for them and their families — if they serve at least one five-year term.
And surprise, surprise, all these perks are doled out to Republican cronies of Maggie Minarik:
Democrats in the County Legislature point to the water board’s political makeup: five Republicans and two Conservatives. The GOP-led legislature has argued that local law only requires members of two parties, not necessarily Democrats.
“That’s a factor when you look at the system of checks and balances and whether those can operate most effectively when all the board members are basically being appointed from the same person or same power structure,” said Legislator Travis Heider, D-Brighton, an authority liaison.
There’s a good editorial about it too. And more at Water Buffalo Press as well. I think this comment from NMRetired in the comments section sums things up pretty well:
It’s all smoke and mirrors people. Steve Minarik chooses who will sit on the Board and strong-arms his Republican legislators into voting for them.
The Water Authority serves as Republican Chairman Steve Minarik’s way of “thanking” his contributors. These board members in addition to getting handsomely compensated, are able to score key contracts that aid their company’s business ventures. Trust.
There is little the Monroe County Republican Party does that is ethical and a thorough investigation would find that a good majority of what they do is illegal.
I love my kids, but damn if they don’t stop me from scooping you, Exile. You wrote a better post on this, anyway.
Some decent investigative work by Joe Spector, and an editorial that followed up the same day. An effective 1-2 punch. It’s nice to see that from the D&C.
Paying people to be on the board of a corporation or organization is fine, although the water authority payment looks a bit high for what it is. I think the real issues are oversight of the board, past perks given to Stanwix, and control over appointments to the board.
[...] continued to loom large in the minds of many — the D&C actually did a pretty job of covering this. The county lej also made a great effort to prevent us, and others, from covering their backdoor [...]