Four days after being sentenced Nov. 28 on federal conspiracy charges, a former Nassau County legislator began his new job as the director of human resources at the Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation at a salary of $87,500.
The former legislator, Patrick Williams, a Democrat, resigned his seat in July, just before pleading guilty to inflating the incomes of 11 minority applicants to make them eligible for home loans. At the time, he was a vice president of Chemical Bank and was not yet a member of the Legislature, to which he was elected in 1999.
He was offered the new job by Lawrence Aaronson, the OTB president and former chairman of the Nassau Democratic Party. With Democrats winning control of both the Legislature and the county executive's office in 2001, the party has control over OTB jobs.
''I've known Patrick for five years, and he is a man of integrity and intelligence and he has the capacity to serve in this role,'' Mr. Aaronson said.
But Peter J. Schmitt, the leader of the Republican minority in the County Legislature, called the appointment ''poor judgment, bordering on arrogance.''
''He was convicted of a felony,'' Mr Schmitt said. ''He's a criminal. This is an outrage. He should go away in disgrace.''
No comments:
Post a Comment