THE GAZETTE 4/24/14: CROTON BUDGET FLAK, MAYOR LEO WIEGMAN'S NEW FULL TIME BENEFITS

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON. 

The new Gazette is out; below are some highlights. Please make the time to read the article in its entirety. Please note that the article is on page 11 (you might miss it otherwise) and is continued on page 12. BTW, the meeting was not re-broadcast last night on Channel 78. The mayor was also not present at this meeting. (4/21)

ALSO see a link to the mayor's "time records" below--and highlighted in red--in which he alleges that he is now "full time"; please note that the mayor counts his driving time "within the village" of 50 hours, etc. in order to be eligible for the tax-payer funded Obamacare medical/dental benefits; the article also goes into great detail on the tax levy, fee increases etc. For that info and more, you can buy the Gazette on sale just about everywhere--it's very thorough in this regard.

CROTON OKAYS BUDGET, MAYOR GETS FLAK OVER HEALTH INSURANCE (MAYOR WAS NOT PRESENT AT THE MEETING, VOTE 3-1, SLIPPEN VOTED AGAINST BUDGET)

--At the board's public hearing on the budget two weeks earlier, several audience members were critical of Mayor Wiegman's having signed up as of February 1 for family health and dental coverage through the village. The premium is $22,100 a year...the mayor has reportedly been paying 4.5% of the premium. (You the taxpayer are paying the rest 95.5%.) Next year his share will increase to 7.5 percent or $1,542.77.

--Audience members said the mayor is"part time" and should not be receiving this perk.  (From a previous meeting--"The mayor disagreed and steadfastly maintained he would not give up the coverage".)

--Former Trustee Don Daubney told the board: "such a costly benefit goes against the grain of one serving his or her community in the spirit of public service".

--The mayor said that under the ACA (Obamacare) the village was obliged to offer the insurance "if he provided a minimum of 30 hours a week of service in his capacity as mayor". Editor's note: See Mayor's Record of  Alleged "Full-Time" Mayor Hours obtained through a freedom of information request http://www.everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/04/mayor-wiegmans-record-allegedly.html

--Wiegman who is a self-employed consultant in the energy conservation field, said he compared the village's insurance coverage to what he held privately and determined the village's benefits were "somewhat better" so he signed up. (Editor's note: since the Croton taxpayer is paying the lion's share of the mayor's premium, we can understand why he "signed up" and why these taypayer funded benefits are "somewhat better". See the mayor's linked in/professional status here AND HIS STATEMENT THAT THE JOB IS PART TIME http://www.linkedin.com/in/etothefourth)

--As reported earlier, Trustee Davis said: If it were me personally I wouldn't do it; the three other board members (again, the 'full-time' mayor wasn't there) refused to make a "judgment call". (BTW Davis will not be seeking re-election.)

--Trustee Gallelli, Deputy Mayor in charge of the meeting in Wiegman's absence said "It's not our position to judge other people's decisions" 

--Resident Joel Gingold said that even if eligible, the mayor should have declined the coverage, nor "is it appropriate that he essentially verifies that he puts in the required number of hours to be eligible in the first place" Again, see
http://www.everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/04/mayor-wiegmans-record-allegedly.html

--Mr. Gingold said to the trustees: In the village's 116-year history, this is the first time someone has used his place on the Village Board for personal financial gain"

UPDATED: LETTER, BRIAN POWERS http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/05/shame-on-you-mayor-wiegman-letter-from.html