One Thousand and One Michaelian Fights

It appears the Chairman of our Westchester County Board of Legislators, Ken Jenkins (D Yonkers) has begun his 2013 race for County Executive. He’s beefed up his campaign staff, courtesy of the taxpayers of course, with no opponent in sight this November. Many of the press releases coming from his office can only be described as political in nature. For example, in May out of about two dozen releases, at least eight were written about what a terrible person County Executive Rob Astorino is. Jenkins tends to end the press release expressing hope that all involved can get past the attacks and the distractions and get back to governing. The irony of Jenkins himself being the one creating the distractions, and issuing the attacks and, most important, doing anything in his power to prevent Astorino from governing, is lost on Jenkins.

With Jenkins preoccupied with doing his thing the board -- lacking leadership-- has done one dumb thing after another -- and then they issue press releases praising themselves -- for doing dumb things. By dumb I mean does it make sense to vote against an extension of the county sales tax only weeks after you voted to request an extension of the county sales tax in Albany? Especially since the revenue from the sales tax you just voted against is necessary for that historic tax cut about which you keep bragging? Things like that. But mostly it’s Jenkins in full bore campaign mode who has made a spectacle of himself publicly and repeatedly.

Not since the Three Amigos staged their coup in Albany have I witnessed such a rash of bizarre developments in quick succession. Unlike the budget charade or the CSEA debacle, which lingered for a while in the media, each day it seemed the Board of Legislators feigned a new injury accompanied by a press release expressing outrage! . It’s hard to skewer a moving target – and as much as I enjoy trying - my efforts to write about the Boards’ various stunts were stymied by the sheer number of press releases flying out of the 8th floor like buckshot.

One week in particular was for the record books. Jenkins first accused Astorino of:

deceiving the public and keeping a secret security detail. The lack of truth behind this charge did not prevent his Budget Chairman Jose Alvarado from calling Astorino disingenuous. Board watchers will know that the likelihood of Alvarado being able to spell the word, let alone use it in a sentence, is slim. The man is not known for his eloquence, and I’m being kind here. Nonetheless, given Andy Spano’s predilection for armed guards this is standard glass houses rhetoric. But it didn’t end there.

Jenkins followed with:

a silly accusation of sex harassment, which may seem almost quaint in the post Anthony Weiner world in which we live, but at the time was written as if Clarence Thomas was working on the 9th floor. The over the top response from Jenkins, coupled with a near hysterical series of press releases from the newly hired PR guy, (for whom we pay, naturally) backfired however, making the accused, George Oros, a sympathetic figure to most observers-- even cranky feminists like me who don’t like sex harassment trivialized to score cheap political points.

So I’m on that issue and working up a good rant about crying wolf etc when bam! Jenkins:

has an Astorino staffer removed by the police from a Board of Legislators meeting for disorderly conduct and vandalism. The scoundrel apparently clapped without Jenkins’s permission and then quell horreur attempted to turn a portrait of Chairman Jenkins upside down while being escorted out.

The portrait fell down – that’s the vandalism part – and the bad actor immediately picked it back up and re hung it. And he never said Mother may I.

Disingenuousness and deception! sexual harassment! disorderly conduct! vandalism! And, finally,

stalking, I guess – why else were the police assigned the following Monday to a meeting George Oros ( the previously accused ) was scheduled to attend – it must have been to protect the women folk from harm. Yes, you read that right. Jenkins had police officers stationed outside a public meeting of the County Board to prevent a member of the County Executive’s staff from entering. Do you know the hourly rate for a cop? Jenkins doesn’t care. You’re paying for it.

Every one of these crackpot accusations-- accompanied by a sensational screaming press release--was written on public time. They all appeared magically on Jenkins’ campaign web site as well.

Now you might wonder how Jenkins can possibly think that, despite the fact that Astorino was elected with something like 58% of the vote, he has a mandate to make sure the County Executive can’t get anything done and his term in office is not a productive one. The answer is he doesn’t, but he doesn’t care either. He wants to be County Executive himself. If the county goes to hell in the meantime that’s better for him.

Here’s another question: How does this benefit the citizens of Westchester who rely on our elected officials to run our government?

How does this balkanized state over in White Plains benefit the tax payers who pay close to 60K a piece for these fools to work 1 day a week?

Finally what does this say about the contempt Jenkins holds for the voters who elected Astorino? Does he think that we didn’t know what we were doing so he has to ride around non stop in his clown car to protect us from our own poor judgment and prevent Astorino from screwing things up until his term ends?

Astorino could say it’s warm outside and we’d get a press release from Jenkins calling Astorino dishonest because it was warmer the last year of the Spano administration.

Astorino could do a PSA for prostate exams and Jenkins would say its one more example of Astorino’s disregard for women and children since the program callously excluded them.

Astorino could even trip and fall on camera and we’d get another press release about the County Executive attempting to distract attention from the Board of Legislators’ historic 2.2% tax decrease.

And we’re paying for all this nonsense - in an election year.

Jenkins’ arrogance, coupled with his members’ obeisance, has turned even the normally liberal Journal News against them recently. Both columnist Phil Reisman and investigative reporter Jerry McKinstry have written repeatedly on their comical if it weren’t so expensive behavior.

Far from being chastened the thinned skinned Jenkins has turned around and called them both out for dishonesty and, in the case of McKinstry, for being a tool of the Republicans. McKinstry is widely regarded as an impartial journalist, but Jenkins is not one to be influenced by facts, let alone public opinion.

The Journal News is in bed with the GOP. Ken Jenkins said so.

The fact that Reisman also has taken almost as many shots at Astorino matters little to Jenkins who, possessed of an emotional glass jaw, becomes absolutely unhinged at the least criticism.

He’s actually gotten off easily in the press, because the truth is 9 times out of 10 the garbage is flowing in one direction only, and that’s out of Jenkins overstaffed press office, which evidently has no real work to do.

About that press office -- the board has a “communications” staff of 5 for 12 democrats. The GOP minority has 1 part timer as far as I can tell. With some of our legislators I can understand a staff to camper ratio rivaling Purchase Day Camp (Did I mention Jose Alvarado?) but does it bother anyone other than me that 12 part time people need 5 full time people to help them communicate?

Another question, can you, off the top of your head, think of something important communicated to you recently by the County Board? I mean other than the hold the presses news that they’d decided on a whim to eliminate the entrance fee to Playland after the season already started? The same entrance fee which they included as revenue to achieve that historic 2.2 percent tax cut, by the way.

No, can’t think of anything? I can’t either. Now that’s a problem.

Charmian Neary is a bored housewife and former Democratic political operative from Rye New York who is much better at politics than homemaking.