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In Nassau, no work, all pay

Joye Brown

February 2, 2006

The Nassau County Legislature has given us a month of nothing.

Nassau University Medical Center, a lifeline for the county's poorest and uninsured residents, is in a shambles. Labor union contracts, including one for correction officers at the Nassau jail - you know, the one where the federal government stepped in after officers beat an inmate to death a few years ago - are in limbo. A living wage bill that lawmakers were fawning over not six weeks ago has yet to be funded.

This year, for the first time ever, lawmakers did zip, zero, nada for the entire month of January. (In past years, they've had two or three working sessions over the same period.) And with confusion reigning, February isn't looking too good, either.

The legislature has no leadership. It has no committee structure. No meeting calendar. The body, which is responsible for riding herd over the county's $2.4-billion budget, hasn't even figured out how to divvy up most of its own $7.7-million budget (which includes the still-working legislative budget review office and the legislative clerk), one-twelfth of which, representing the lost month of January, is $641,666. And because they've had no public sessions, the county's highly taxed residents were denied the opportunity to bring concerns and issues to the entire body's attention. For that reason alone, lawmakers should take up the issue of a refund.

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Yet the legislature has spent months fighting over how important it is, and how strong - how independent - the body should be. Still, we've heard more about me, me, me than about Nassau's taxpayers or pressing public policy matters. Lots of lawmakers have said plenty, but few have uttered words about what the institution is supposed to be doing, and why.

That's not to say individual lawmakers don't want to work. Most do, but they're caught in some of the nastiest, most surreal political machinations I've witnessed in years.

And here's the irony:

One of the key roles of any legislature is knowing when to craft a compromise. It's one thing when a supermajority has the muscle to cram anything down anybody's throat. It's another when one vote separates a majority from a minority; or when one or two members have the power to bring a legislature to its knees.

What is the sound of no legislature working? At this point, I'd wager, not too many residents even care. But residents should care. And they should be angry.

Why not save money and abolish the thing? That sounds tempting during these tax-back-breaking times, but it's not realistic. The legislature really is important; it provides an independent check and balance to proposals from the executive, a function that's even more important as County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who was upstate yesterday, pursues a dream of becoming New York State governor.

Should the legislature remained stalled, life will go on until the Republican county clerk, Maureen O'Connell, steps in to appoint a presiding officer, which - if it has to happen, as a last resort - hopefully comes before absolutely every important piece of business remains undone.

Early on, Legis. David Mejias suggested lawmakers accept no pay until they resolve the issue. Lawmakers pull down $3,292 a month, while the presiding officer pulls in $5,625. That's a total of $68,792 a month for all 19 legislators.

I think Mejias is on to something - especially since taxpayers will be forced to foot the bill for goodness knows how many thousands of dollars to pay the nearly dozen lawyers representing legislators in court fighting over who will be the presiding officer. Taxpayers are paying for the legislature not meeting, and they are paying for the costs of the argument that prevents them from meeting.

Public officials should be experts in finding ways to serve the public. But that's not happening.

One month of nothing should be enough.

E-mail Joye Brown at Joye.Brown@Newsday.com.

Costly impasse

$641,666

Nassau legislature's monthly operating expenses based on annual budget of $7.7 million

$465,800