Grains of Salt (v28): Two (More) Scoops, Please

I happened to be reading last week's local papers  over the weekend and stumbled upon on of my least favorite articles - a double-dipping politician.

I've talked about my distaste for this in the past, because, sadly, we've had a number of folks who have done this. State Senator John DeFrancisco said he wouldn't take both his pension and his salary, but he did it anyway. Onondaga County Sheriff Gene Conway said he wouldn't, and did it anyway. His predecessor, Sheriff Kevin Walsh, did it and blamed us for not asking him if he was going to do it. And now, our District Attorney for Life William Fitzpatrick, has let it be known that he's going to do it too.

It seems Fitz officially retired at the end of December but he never left his job and may have no intention of doing so any time soon. He's working on a trial right now. He's in his seventh term, having first been sworn in way back in 1992, but he's been in the DA's office for much longer.  As a result, he doesn't have to get a waiver to take his full pension - there's a special rule for elected officials who've been in office since before July of 1995.

His salary as DA is over $180,000 a year; his pension could also be in the six figures, depending on which tier he falls on in the NYS pension system.

All of this is perfectly legal, and like other locals mentioned above, he takes the pension for the best of reasons.

The term double-dipping is inciteful, but I"m actually protecting my family. If I died today my wife wouldn't get my pension. 

There are a few problems here. First, the law provides special protection to elected officials who have been around since Methuselah was a child; second, the lack of term limits for elected officials, which allows them Methuselah-like years in office, building up the power of incumbency to the point that many run woefully under-opposed, if not totally unopposed, term after term.

And, of course, there's the part that makes the elected officials believe that we need them  - not that they need us, mind you.  Not that they need us, but that we need them. So much so, that we'll accept them getting paid for working at a job while getting paid their pension for the same job. I'm not sure we need them that much or for that long. 

To be honest, I'd rather they really retired, took their pension, and rode off into the private sector sunset. Or the RV retirement sunset. Or any other kind of retirement sunset, for that matter. Because one scoop really is plenty.

The Update Desk: Double Dipping

Earlier this week, in my Grains of Salt (v3) post, I talked about the chief law enforcement officer of Onondaga County who, it appeared, had broken a campaign promise to not take both his taxpayer-paid pension and his taxpayer-paid salary.

Gene Conway, the double-dipper, was the Town of Dewitt police chief before being elected Onondaga County sheriff in 2014; before that, he worked in the sheriff's department for over 20 years, which is where he earned the pension that is the subject of the double-dip.

As police chief in Dewitt, he legally collected his pension in addition to his salary. When he ran for sheriff, he told us that he wanted to set an example, and that he would not take take his pension if elected.

As I noted the other day, reporters for the Syracuse Media Group (which includes the Post-Standard and Syracuse.com) discovered that Conway did collect a pension this year, from January to April, and that he received additional pension payments covering April through October after the reporters investigated with the state.

Conway wrote a letter to the Post-Standard in response to the earlier article, trying to explain how he had in fact kept his campaign promise not to take his pension. In the letter he stated

(That) is why I see it as vital to add several major corrections to the stories published on Syracuse.com regarding the allegation that I broke my promise to forgo my pension while sheriff.

Here's one his those "major corrections" from Conway

As a member of the New York State Employees Retirement System, I am guided by the regulations of the Retirement and Social Security Law.  After taking office earlier this year, I notified the system of my intention to suspend my pension benefits, based on my campaign pledge. This was verified by a copy of that correspondence contained in the story.

It is true that he asked for his pension to be suspended, but it had nothing to do with the campaign pledge. His letter stated in part

On or about April 10, 2015 I will reach the limit of $30,000 in earnings. Therefore I am requesting that my pension be suspended at the time it reflects my earned income limit.  

He doesn't point out in the letter to the newspaper his intention to resume his pension again next year, but he did include it in the letter to the retirement system.

I understand and request that my earned benefit will again resume as of January 1, 2016.

We now know that Conway can't have his pension suspended; that opportunity is not available to an elected official (something his opponent, Toby Shelley, seemed to know). But it's not his lack of knowledge on the pension laws that the issue here -- it's his contention that suspending his pension is what he promised during the campaign.

In a live chat facilitated by Syracuse.com back in 2014, the following exchange occurred. In reference to the double dipping Conway was doing at the time, a person asked

If it's wrong then why is it not wrong now and why don't you stop now? 

Conway responded

I currently receive a waiver to collect my pension. That waiver is legal and is actually applied for by the employer, which is the Town. It allows them not to have to pay 25% of my salary to the pension system. I have stated that I will not seek a pension as sheriff for two reasons - because I will be trying to set an example and there would be no savings to the county as I was previously employed there.

This was not the only time Conway vowed that he would not collect both his pension and his salary if elected.  Here's an excerpt from an interview published in the Eagle News Online, in which he was given the opportunity to tell voters about his plans regarding double dipping:

I presently collect a salary from the town of Dewitt as their police chief  I also collect my pension. I would not collect both as sheriff. 

And there's also this article, again from the Syracuse Media Groups outlets, specifically addressing the pension and salary issue:

Conway said he has already decided he would stop taking his pension if elected sheriff because he did not want it to become a political issue in the campaign. 

He also noted in another conversation with local reporters

I do not want it to be a factor for people in the community. I don't want it to be an issue in the campaign. This job is that important to me. 

And here's one last reference, from an interview with Dan Cummings on Newsmakers, where he was asked (just before the 14-minute mark) whether he would continue to draw the pension or do something else with it:

I've already stated publicly and consistently from the beginning that I will not seek that pension. Dan, straight out I won't take that pension. No double-dipping.

Nowhere do I see -- except in the letter to the editor -- any comment about suspending the pension. All of his statements are about not taking the pension.

Straight out Gene, I don't believe that saying you broke your promise is "misleading, unfair and incorrect" nor do I believe that your statement today "brings clarity to the matter at hand."

Clarity will come when you take yourself out of the retirement system until you fully retire, when you apologize to the Onondaga County community for breaking your repeated, consistent promises to not double-dip.

Two Scoops, Please!

It's a wrong thing to do with a cracker or veggie and some dip.

And it's the wrong thing for John DeFrancisco, Tom Libous and the rest of  the dozen or so of our illustrious State Legislators who filed papers to do.

And they all know it. How do we know that?

Because they ran for re-election and never mentioned it to us during the campaign. See, that's how this works.  Run for reelection (in many cases unopposed or under-opposed) and never mention your intent to collect both your pension and your salary, which (without lulus), is $20,000 or so above the median income in New York.  Throw in the lulus, and the per diem, and all of the campaign cash that these folks spend so freely, and the self-promoting mail we pay for, and all the rest, and it's a nice little deal these folks have, isn't it?

It was the wrong thing for outgoing Onondaga County Sheriff/St Patrick impersonator Kevin Walsh to do, too -- but, as Walsh explained it was our fault that we didn't know his intentions, because we never asked him. Duh.

As with much of what our politicians do, it's perfectly legal and perfectly abusive and tone-deaf.

And perfectly justified, even for folks like DeFrancisco who has, as recently as 2013, said he wouldn't do this, but now maintains that he's not simply retiring and collecting just his pension because we need him:

Granted, I could simply retire and not serve any longer, However, now that Republicans have regained control of the State Senate, Central New York would be better served by my returning to my Senate seat, as a majority member and Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee (emphasis added).

Libous is also not simply retiring, even while facing cancer and a federal indictment, but is going to stick around, take a couple of token pension payments and then freeze them, so that his wife will be eligible for any 'popup' benefits. Others are not simply retiring because they've been married for decades to wonderful women who would be forced to accept a 'modest' lump sum payment should their husbands die while in office. Apparently for them, having a wonderful wife is fine for the money, but not more important than serving us.

Selfless bastards, all of them. What would we do without them?