Clavin has to stay on the public payroll until he is sworn in as judge

John Ferretti    

 

Don Clavin

 Just a quick hit:

 It occurs to political old-timers that   perhaps people new to the quirks of   Nassau County politics may not know   how the system works. 

 For example, there seems to be   amazement and consternation among   Democrats that former Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin, a Garden City Republican, has stayed on the public payroll in some fashion since he resigned as supervisor....to make way for Nassau Legislator John Ferretti, a Levittown Republican,  to be appointed supervisor by the Republican-controlled town board so he can run as an incumbent in the November elections.

Democrats are making a big fuss over the Ferretti appointment. But that's the way it has always worked in Republican-controlled Hempstead Town. The Republican town board appoints the new supervisor to run as an incumbent while the former supervisor takes another, often a less prominent job on the public payroll.

The process of never actually resigning but stepping down to a lesser job is intended to prevent a disruption in the political appointee's platinum-plated  state sponsored Empire Plan health benefits.

Once the Empire Plan benefits are disrupted, they can never be fully restored except by a court. In comparison, pension disruptions can always be covered by an increased salary during later years.

Of course, there was a bit of a disruption when Republican Anthony Santino was supervisor and then- Hempstead Town Council member Bruce Blakeman, now Nassau's Republican county executive,  endorsed Democrat Laura Gillen for town supervisor.

But there was alot of animosity between Blakeman and Santino; in fact there was alot of animosity between most Republican committee members and Santino, who lost to Gillen in a historic election that saw a Democrat elected supervisor for the first time in 100 years in the home of the Nassau Republican party.

But the Ferretti appointment is the way things have worked in Nassau and Hempstead for decades.

Clavin, who been cross-endorsed for county court, has to stay on the public payroll in some fashion until he is sworn in as as a judge January or he would lose his Empire State plan health benefits. Any interruption in service would results in some loss of those benefits.

And because Clavin has been in the system for decades -- he was elected town receiver in 2001 -- he  probably doesn't have to pay anything for family coverage in the Empire plan system. Political appointees did not have to contribute to their health care until Tom Suozzi, now a Congressman, was elected county executive and enacted reforms, followed by Hempstead Town.Even then,  people already in the system did not have to pay.

People forget what a boondoggle public benefits were more than a decade ago. (Many people think they still are) Health benefits, vacation days, and to a lesser extent pension benefits were way higher than those given in the private sector.

Only the CSEA seemed not to understand that public employees should never give up those Empire plan health benefits no matter what kind of cash stipend is offered. 

(FYI. A medical incident disrupted this blog for a while.)