In The Center Ring

Many Westchester County residents work in New York City. We get our news from the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times. As a result we're often more aware of the political situation in Washington than here in Westchester where we live. That's understandable but with Westchester now ranked as the highest taxed county in the nation it would benefit us all to start paying attention.

The 2009 county executive election was an indication that some of us, at least, are doing so as 12-year incumbent Andy Spano was voted out of office in favor of Rob Astorino, who ran on a platform of overhauling Westchester's bloated and inefficient system of government.

However only 22% of voters in Westchester bothered to come to the polls. This fall the entire county legislature – 17 men and women – is up for re-election.

If you care about your rising county taxes this is an election you might want to start following and here is why.

Last year, County Executive Rob Astorino canceled the county's contract with the state to administer the Section 8 housing program. Eligible citizens still receive section 8 – the county just does not run the program anymore as it cost us more money than we were reimbursed by the state - over a million a year more. That makes sense, right?

Well, not to the legislators who represent you in White Plains. They voted to restore the program without the contract. That's right. There is no more contract – therefore no reimbursement – but the board restored the program anyway. Astorino vetoed the line naturally, and they then overrode his veto.

This is what they are spending their time and your money doing. Reinstating a program that no longer exists to protect the jobs of 38 CSEA members.

Can you figure out why? Who do you think will get the CSEA checks next election?

Anyway, Astorino then laid off the employees, as is his right, so the CSEA did what unions do and they sued to get the jobs restored - to a program that no longer exists.

If you're still with me - here is where this circus crosses the line to absurdity.

Although the CSEA is suing the County they are really suing you and me, the taxpayers, since we pay for all lawsuits - legitimate or not. So the CSEA is suing us - but your county legislature joined the suit - on the side of the CSEA ! That's right, against us, the tax payers. We are being sued and our county legislature is backing the union that is suing us. Or another way to look at it is - our legislators are suing the taxpayers.

It gets worse, or better , depending on how much humor you find in these things. The board then sued to prevent Rob Astorino from using the county attorney, whom he appointed, to represent us, and again for whom we pay taxes. No, said our board, the county attorney must represent "the County"- which they define as the board of legislators -and join with them and the CSEA in suing us. Astorino,to defend us, must hire his own counsel.

I wish I were oversimplifying this but I'm not. Yes we need to do all we can to retain jobs in Westchester, but not paid for with taxes when they're no longer necessary.

This is what your county legislators are engaged in right now. Theater of the absurd every other Monday in White Plains. And they're getting away with it because we have too much going on in our lives to monitor something as ridiculous as this. Besides we elect our representatives to do that for us and trust that they will do the right thing. But sadly, they don't.

Remember taxes aren't high so poor children get a hot breakfast – taxes are high because the people we elect to represent us are engaged with straight faces in this kind of garbage. All the corruption could stop tomorrow and we'd still be in the hole because they waste our money every day this way.

William Ryan represents Scarsdale and Mary Jane Shimsky represents Greenburgh in the County Legislature. You should ask your legislator why currying favor with the public employee union is a priority over representing you.

The Chairman of the Board of Legislators is a man named Ken Jenkins, known to most of us more as a talking head on News 12 giving us his spin on the political scene. There is talk that he's after Astorino's job but I'm sure that has nothing to do with this effort to obstruct government and stymie fiscal reform.

I'm sure it's because he and his colleagues are convinced things are fine just the way they are now and that we the taxpayers agree.

I've got two words for Mr. Jenkins. Andy Spano.

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