Letter from the CSEA President

To the Editor: Charmian Neary owes an apology to each of the 38 CSEA members who lost their jobs December 31st when County Executive Rob Astorino violated the county charter and illegally fired them from their positions with the Westchester County Section 8 office. Her March 16th letter posted on Scarsale10583.com contained statements that are completely untrue, painting an unfair and inaccurate picture of our county workforce.

Yes, CSEA and the 38 workers who were illegally fired are pursuing litigation. While other hardworking CSEA members also lost their jobs in this recent round of budget cuts, Astorino apparently decided in the case of these 38 jobs that he was going to thumb his nose at the county charter and fire these workers even though he lacked any authority to do so. This isn’t about wanting to “obstruct government and stymie fiscal reform.” Illegal is illegal. The rules are the rules. They apply to everyone, believe it or not. We had no choice but to pursue litigation.

CSEA has become accustomed to the Astorino spin machine’s efforts to pit residents against county workers (who, I may point out, are also residents and taxpayers in Westchester County). In an attempt to turn the conversation away from his own wrongdoing in these firings, Astorino issued a missive via his “Taxpayer Watch” e-mail blast system that contained blatant lies about the litigation related to the illegal Section 8 firings. Now Ms. Neary has taken those same talking points and run with them, misleading the readers of this website by restating the same drivel from Astorino’s original e-mail.

Despite what Ms. Neary wrote , county legislators have not joined this lawsuit. Despite what Ms. Neary wrote, Astorino lacked the authority to do what he did. Despite what Ms. Neary wrote, this has nothing to do with "currying political favor." Had Ms. Neary done some fact-checking before submitting her letter, she would see that the Board of Legislators is not a plaintiff. Of course, this inaccurate statement came directly from Astorino’s e-mail, so I’m not surprised to see the same lie resurface.

I realize that Ms. Neary is a political operative, as described in the biographical note at the end of her letter, but it is one thing to have an opinion; spewing inaccurate information in an attempt to turn the public against the victims in this case is another thing altogether.

Billy Riccaldo
CSEA Southern Region President
Beacon, New York