More on dual office holders - which name plate do they use?
Exile, with help from a well written letter, had a great post yesterday.
Perhaps these pictures can explain things. Ray Diraddio is County Legislator from Greece and will be until Juanuary 2008. He currently is the Greece Town Attorney and I’m guessing will be for the forseeable future.
How do you fit or separate both jobs? Town Attorney and Monroe County Legislator? Probably a better question is can you draw the line. Which name plate do they use?
Sorry - one person should not occupy both chairs.
From a GOP perspective - there is not another qualified person other than the existing town lawyer to be a legislator? Way too much concentration of power here.
diraddo-ld
nameplate
I wonder whether Ray won’t end up with another county job or work from another GOP supporter. Someone could throw a lot of legal work his way.
That’s how the patronage system works.
Could be. I’m sure “this rag of a website” will be among the first to know.
I realize that you and Ray DiRaddo have a mutual admiration society, but I really do not quite understand why you view the positions of Town Attorney and County Legislator as obviously incompatible.
The rules regarding prohibited conflicts of interest, deal with positions that are inherently incompatible. This occurs when the duties in one position would include some kind of supervision or control over the duties of the other, or where performance of the duties of one position interfere with the performance of the other job’s duties. There is no such inherent incompatibility between the positions of Town Attorney and County Legislator. Remember, too, that as Town Attorney, DiRaddo has no independent authority; he acts only at the behest of his “client”, the Greece Town Board.
Finally, I’m surprised at the anti-democratic nature of your position. You generally extol the virtues of letting the voters have their way (at least, school budget voters). Diraddo was Town Attorney when he was elected to the Legislature. Why should you have a problem with that, when the people of the district who elected him didn’t? Alternatively, maybe his dual role played a factor in his defeat. In either event, why not trust the voters?
Ah the days of agreement. Well we will always have agreement on our respective police departments.
Unfortunately - the only pictures that came out that could be used to illustrate the point was Dirrado as town counsel.
Still the point about extended and systemic GOP reach and control via the same small circle of people operating in official capacity as two separate levels of government still stands and can’t be defended.
Let the voters decide? Maybe they didn’t know last time - or the voters were not energized - who knows. Sure - in they end - they did and in this case Diraddo is gone as of January.
We need to look at the systemic issue not an individual issue of power concentration.
Now your comment about me being anti-democratic. Well - sorry nice try, bring your “A” game next time.
Diraddo ,in this case, occupies 2 posts. Why not have 2 people occupy these posts? GOP, Dem, doesn’t matter whoever Greece decides - that way you are involving more people which is what Democracy is all about. Citizen involvement.
John:
Stop trying to defend the indefensible.
By the way Doesn’t Greg Hart work for the county too. That’s what I heard. is it true? Elaine Tette and Frank Alkoffer are recent retirees form couty posts aren’t they? gates is not so clean either. It funny how republican crony hands end up in politically useful positions.
Even if what you said was true, and diraddo sneaks by on a technicality its part of a system of patronage in which our board members and legislators are tied into a system of political rewards. Political offices and rewards are distributed among a few folks instead of being open to all. The whole patronage crony system is undemocratic. .
No one elected Diraddo town attorney. He could have resigned his position once he became county leg. There is no democracy there.
personally I wouldn’t take Mr. Di Caro’s interpretation of these issues as the gospel truth.
Why don’t you guys quit pussyfooting around and just make the claim that’s just underneath all the fluff. You’d really like to say that the appointed jobs are some sort of sordid payoff for some political favor performed by the appointee. I suppose there might be a little more validity to your concerns with “dual office holding” if people who were already elected officials got appointed to other government jobs, but in all of the cases mentioned here, the person involved was elected after their appointment.
In the case of the Gates officials reelgreaser mentioned, those persons campaigned in part on the fact that they had experience in government.
Is it really a revelation that elected officials appoint people that they know and trust to work with them? Ask Mary Ellen Heyman why Mitch Rowe works for her.
This is such a non-issue, I just don’t get it.
Yep - that’s it - anyone who is a member of the GOP is a died in the wool crony and all Democrats as shining examples of all that is right with the world. See John you are getting it now. /snark.
The issues was power concentration. The same folks spanning multiple levels of government all rolling up to the same machine that runs Monroe County.
Frankly I don’t think voters or otherwise really understand the impact or are even truly aware. They should know in the interest of full disclosure. This is bigger than Diraddo. He is but one example and I don’t think any one writing for this blog called Mr Diraddo a hack or said he got appointed simply because of a political favor.
This is still about expanding the pool of participation in government not shutting it off or limiting it to a few folks.
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Sure John - it’s a non-issue til you decide to make it an issue, than it’s a “real” issue, until you confuse the voters, get your slugs elected, then contend that it’s a non-issue all over again.
Do you think we don’t keep track of the score? Shame on you John. I thought you were more intelligent than that.
Think of the good side - now Diraddo can give up that apartment, and move back home with the Mrs. A marriage has been saved! Hooray!
So John - are you saying that people don’t get positions in Monroe County based on patronage? That the positions people receive after they’ve worked on campaigns or run for office and lost are based on merit? Are you saying there was a full and open process in which others could apply for jobs within the county, and that these folks happened to be the best qualified? Just askin….
Seth:
My quote was:
“Is it really a revelation that elected officials appoint people that they know and trust to work with them?”
I think its clear that I am aware of the existence of patronage jobs.
I just don’t get the point about focusing on Monroe County GOP officials. Is there a government in the US without patronage jobs? Did Governor Spitzer hire a lot of Republicans (other than GOP State Senators so he could flip the Senate)? Do Ms. Frankel and Ms. Heyman have a lot of Republicans working for them?
Is there a story, here?
John You didn’t answer my question did you?
Actually John all pot shots aside it is a really big issue. Most of the national good government groups have been on these issues for years. They cut to the heart of democratic and accountable politics. How many voters in the area get to participate in any of the processes though which these fine candidates were selected? My observation of gates leaders and I mean mostly Ralph Esposito here is that they have only the most minimal conception of democratic accountability. It’s basically elect me and let me do what I want. We don’t have –though some might like to think so –elected dictatorships.
That ’s not democracy or accountability and the machine politics we have here doesn’t allow for much accountability at all.
it’s more of the old boss game. And you seem to be knee deep in the big muddy.
You must not be a very careful observer.
Ralph has run for re-election 9 times since first getting elected in 1989. Every two years he has faced the voters and he keeps getting their support.
Over 20 years, Ralph has made thousands of decisions as Supervisor. Obviously, not everyone agrees with every decision. Ralph has an open-door policy; he meets with anyone who stops by his office and he hears them out. He does not pander, like so many contemporary politicians. He takes steps based on what’s best for the Town as a whole. So, he’s made a few enemies over the years.
Politicians in Gates are not accountable? Tell that to Greg Hart or Tom Roche, who were not supported by Town voters despite decades of experience and service.
Face it, reelgreaser, your views are either those of an unmitigated partisan or, perhaps, you are one of those Gates’ residents with a personal axe to grind about Ralph. Either way, your contention regarding a lack of “democracy or accountability” in Gates is just plain wrong.
“Ralph has run for re-election 9 times since first getting elected in 1989. Every two years he has faced the voters and he keeps getting their support.”
Interpretation: Ralph has run for office so long that his war chest and “deals” are so strong that he’s entrenched. Control and nepotism are the word of the day. Glory be to the electorate!
“Over 20 years, Ralph has made thousands of decisions as Supervisor”
Interpretation: Over 20 years, Ralph has made thousands in dollars as Supervisor. Power corrupts. Term limits are about 10 years overdue for him. Complain and it’s always personal.