Financial troubles in Nassau County
Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano on the job in December. Credit: Alejandra Villa
Maybe it's me, but I just don't get Nassau politics. In Newsday's article ["Mangano: Layoffs to start in July," News, March 17], Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano says that hundreds of employees will be laid off to satisfy a state watchdog agency, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority.
Doesn't he mean that employees will be laid off due to fiscal irresponsibility spanning numerous administrations? Or is it that Nassau has long supported bloated, politically connected bureaucracies such as off-track betting?
Maybe it's the new math of counting borrowed money as county revenue. Whatever the reason, it is time to follow in the footsteps of Wisconsin and eliminate the collective bargaining of the county workers with respect to certain restrictive clauses preventing the county from operating in a fiscally responsible manner.
The fact that county unions have no-layoff clauses is unconscionable. Public worker employment guidelines must become more in line with private sector jobs. We taxpayers can no longer afford to pay for defined-benefit plans, low or noncontributory health plans or guaranteed employment via no-layoff clauses. Everyone needs to be accountable for his or her own well-being.
I read in Newsday that NIFA believes, "borrowing to plug a shortfall does not balance a budget."
Hey, after they're finished here, can we send NIFA to Capitol Hill?
Dennis Intravia
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