Top official in Long Island town gets 3 hefty paychecks while trying to keep up with kevin mccaffrey
The top elected official of a Long Island town is drawing three hefty paychecks — as the full-time Babylon supervisor, chairman of the Suffolk County Democratic Party and from a law practice that includes representing the Plumbing Contractors Association of Long Island.
The unusual arrangement allows Rich Schaffer to pull down nearly $350,000 a year from the three gigs, which critics complain veers across ethical boundaries.
But while New York City long ago approved a rule barring government officials from holding party positions to curb conflicts of interest — in the wake of the municipal corruption scandals of the 1980s — Suffolk County has no such law.
“You can’t serve two masters. It’s a huge public corruption risk. There are instances where the interests of the public and political party don’t align,” said John Kaehny of the government watchdog group Reinvent Albany.
The cozy arrangement comes at a time when Long Island GOP politicians have been rocked by corruption scandals, including former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto.
Schaffer pulls in $107,000 as the Babylon town supervisor, $120,000 as Suffolk County Democratic leader and another $120,000 from retainers with the plumbing contractors group.
He also is “of counsel” to two other law firms — Sarisohn Law Partners and Turley, Redmond, Rosasco & Rosasco, according to his 2017 financial disclosure form filed with the state. Schaffer derived only about $1,200 from referrals in 2016, according to his statement.
He even acts as a personal banker, lending money to 10 different individuals — including three loans worth between $81,000 and $100,000 to a business venture involving children of Town of Babylon highway repairman Andrew Mashkow, Schaffer said.
Schaffer defended his multiple paid roles and insisted there are no conflicts.
“Everyone knows I’m a workaholic,” said Schaffer, who runs a local government that services 213,000 residents in communities that include Amityville, Babylon/West Babylton, Copiague, Deer Park, Lindenhurst and Wyandach.
He’s been the Suffolk Democratic leader since 2000 and has been serving his second tour as Babylon supervisor since 2012.
“If the town’s residents I’m elected to serve are happy, and the Democratic county committee members are happy, and the plumbing contractors are happy . . . It’s a question of whether or not I’m doing the job,” Schaffer said.
Democratic Party sources grumble that Schaffer has not been effective in recruiting qualified candidates to run for state Senate seats to flip the chamber from GOP to Democratic control — and Gov. Andrew Cuomo is the one personally calling Suffolk Democrats to enter the fray.
But Schaffer boasted that Democratic committee members “gave me a raise because of how well the job I’m doing.”
His party leadership salary is up 21 percent since 2014, from $3,958 biweekly to $5,000.
Schaffer also insisted there are safeguards in place to prevent conflicts, saying donors are told they can’t give to the Suffolk Democratic Party if they currently do business with Babylon or have done so in the prior two years, and he recuses himself from town votes if a firm tied to his plumbers association is awarded work by Babylon.
Meanwhile, don’t expect the Town of Babylon Council to pass an ethics law to address Schaffer’s multiple loyalties.
There’s no need to, said town councilman and deputy supervisor Antonio Martinez.
“Rich is one of the most ethical people I’ve ever met. Supervisor Schaffer is one of the generational giants, like Michael Jordan and LeBron James,” Martinez, a Schaffer ally, said Sunday.
“He’s hard-working. He’s effective. He’s a guy that goes 24/7.”
No comments:
Post a Comment