For Mangano, the Buck Stops Somewhere Else

Lie #2 is a combo. During the campaign, Mangano took a shot at all the "patronage" under CE Suozzi and Mangano pledged to make cuts, "...Ed Mangano is dedicated to shrinking Nassau County’s bloated patronage system."
Mangano decried the high salaries and how these positions are filled "....the current county executive doubled the size of exempt patronage positions. These positions are highly paid, appointed, and unregulated by civil service exams, many receiving over $100,000 a year...
...these politically motivated appointments are a drain on Nassau County’s resources."

So, how exactly does former (read: defeated) Judge Carnell Foskey fit into all this?
Well, he was appointed to be Parks Commissioner.
Does it matter that he has NO experience running a park system?
Of course not, this is a PATRONAGE job with a salary of $136,000.
What makes it odder is that instead of being replaced, former Commissioner Jose Lopez becomes Foskey's Deputy and keeps his salary of $136,00.
So Mangano ADDS an inexperienced political insider for a high salary and keeps the former commissioner on for the same salary.
This looks like the experienced Lopez will be doing the work and Foskey will be getting a pay check.
Exactly how is that "shrinking the patronage system?"

The second half of this lie is Mangano pledging to cut salaries. How was the Foskey hire a cut?
But there is more....
Three years ago, a commission recommended salary increases for the County Executive, Comptroller, County Clerk and District Attorney. The County Executive salary increased to $174,614.
Mangano opposed the raise and voted against it.
But since January of this year, Mangano has been cashing that pay check happily.
If Mangano was opposed to the raise and says he has "....county payroll by $22 million", why isn't he taking it to the next logical step?
Why doesn't Managno put his money where his mouth is and have the legislature pass a bill that would cut the County Executive salary back to pre-2007?
Managno is laughing all the way to the bank.

A Lie Keeps Growing and Growing Until It's As Plain As The Nose On Your Face.

Republican County Executive Ed Mangano sent out a full-color, 4 page mailing (how much did THAT cost taxpayers) patting himself on the back for things he "accomplished" in his first 100 days in office.
Well, things aren't quite like he says.
We'll be going through his lies here on Nassau GOP Watch and making sure that the truth is known.
This post will start with Day #1 and Lie #1. Right out of the gates, Mangano is not quite telling you the truth.

LIE #1: "Repealed the Home Energy Tax." Mangano said in his inaugural address “The document I just signed makes good on my promise and that of my Republican colleagues, and the home energy tax is hereby repealed.”

Well...No, Not Really.

Sure Mangano signed a repeal but that was on January 1st. The "Energy Tax" stayed in effect until June 30th, a full six months later.
And he repeated the refrain of repeal for those six months and unless you didn't pay attention to your bills, you would never have known he was still collecting your money until the end of June.
When the REAL date of the repeal rolled around, the excuse pushed by Mangano and his republican cohorts was that it was the "earliest" they could do it "by law." And of course they don't say that they can get a waiver and have the repeal begin on DAY ONE.
Hey, how about a refund of all the monies collected from DAY ONE of the "repeal" to when it actually took effect?

The Fake Outrage of Peter Schmitt

The King of Bluster, Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt let the outrage fly Monday night at a full meeting of the Legislature. During the debate on a living wage bill, Democratic Lg. Kevan Abrahams commented on how Schmitt runs the Legislature "...like a Nazi camp."
According to Celeste Hadrick at Newsday, Abrahams had immediately apologized after he said it and Schmitt said "I didn't hear it."
After the comments were read back to Schmitt he began his act "You have a hell of a nerve to draw that kind of inference."
Yes, a hell of a nerve.
Abrahams responded "You are dictating to us when we can ask questions....I am not implying you have any affiliation to the Nazi's."
But Schmitt would have none of that and said "You have some nerve. You are way out of bounds to use that language to anybody in this room."

To be honest, making comparisons of any sort to nazi's is always a sticky situation but Abrahams did apologize.

BUT the thing that makes this whole situation a bit of hooey from Schmitt's side is that 4 years ago, Schmitt said of CE Tom Suozzi, "He’s run this county like a stormtrooper for the last few years.”
And for some reason I'm not seeing Schmitt making an allusion to the white-armored Star Wars characters.
What comes to mind is exactly how the word Stormtrooper is defined:
“storm trooper (n. ) A member of the Nazi militia noted for brutality and violence.
One who resembles or behaves like a member of the Nazi militia."

So four years ago, Schmitt calls CE Suozzi a Nazi unapologetically but gets all bent out of shape when it's thrown at him. To use his own words, Schmitt has some nerve.
What a Hypocrite.