The following letter to the Gazette is re-printed with permission of the author, Joann Minett. Links to additional letters on the subject of the "full-time" mayor's taxpayer funded medical benefits follow.
An open letter to Leo and the residents of Croton-on-Hudson:
You have a beautiful house, your wife is an architect with some big shot firm, you own two businesses, and YOU and your wife ARE GOING TO MAKE ME PAY FOR YOUR HEALTHCARE INSURANCE? You’re not starving. I am…And you are making me pay for your health insurance?
I have to pay for my own family’s insurance, I have to feed three teenagers and pay a mortgage, in addition to putting three kids through college. You have some nerve. That is disgusting, despicable, selfish, inconsiderate, bullish, and low. I can only think of one animal on a farm that this fits to a T, every last one of those adjectives.
For you to declare, out of thin air, that you are a full time employee of the village, and reinstate yourself as a full time Mayor, is quite frankly, a bunch of HOGwash. In a just world, this would be dealt with in a court of law.
Village residents did not elect you to be a full time Mayor. We did not vote to change you to a full time Mayor, and we should not be paying for some fudged up hours declaring your position full time. When you were voted in as mayor, you knew it was a part-time job and you would be paid $5,000. No matter how many meetings you went to or how much time you spoke on the phone….you Sir, signed up for PART TIME!
But getting back to that farm animal, knowing you, this does not surprise me at all. Making the residents pay for your insurance goes beyond the pale….
Ya know Leo, everybody goes through hard times. But everyone else cuts something out to make ends meet…Did you and your wife, go to the Under the Stars at $100 a head? If you did, you should not have. Maybe you should cut things like going out for or ordering in dinner, the landscapers, going away on vacation, hired housekeeping, or just not buying yourself that something you want but don’t need.
No, God forbid! You will just abuse your elected post and ask all your neighbors to pay for your health insurance…That’s really low.
I urge any resident who has the legal savvy to knock Abe and Leo over on this one, to do so if possible.
Joann Minett
YOU MAY ALSO HAVE AN INTEREST IN
THE BOB ANDERSON LETTER http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/06/full-text-of-bob-andersen-gazette.html
THE REIBEL'S LETTER http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-reibels-619-gazette-letter-on-mayor.html
The 4/24 Gazette article with additional links: "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", JOEL GINGOLD http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-gazette-42414-croton-budget-flak.html
SHAME ON YOU MAYOR WIEGMAN, The Brian Powers Gazette letters:
1) 5/8/14 letter http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/05/shame-on-you-mayor-wiegman-letter-from.html
2) The 5/29/14 letters detailing a disturbing series of email comments from the mayor http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-529-brian-powers-letter-disturbing.html
MAY '14 LETTER FROM VIRGINIA CALCUTTI http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/05/more-on-full-time-mayor-wiegmans.html
HOW THE MAYOR BECAME FULL TIME IN HIS OWN WORDS http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/05/gazette-letter-how-mayor-became-full.html
JOEL GINGOLD'S 5/22 LETTER http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-gouveia-gift-croton-pt-ave-project.html
TRUSTEE GALLELLI'S "RECORD OF ACTIVITIES" OBTAINED PURSUANT TO A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/06/did-you-know-that.html
Tough and truthful, thanks JM, Linda
ReplyDeleteI only disagree on one point: Pigs are smart and clean.
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for your letters. I could not agree more and to those officials who condone this by your silence, I'll never vote for you either.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have said it any better ! thank you
ReplyDeleteSome people might think this letter is harsh but I don't think so. My husband will never work in a corporation again in his chosen profession. To make up this income, he now works two jobs, one of them as a clerk in a Lowe's, for which he must travel all the way to the Poughkeepsie area two days a week. I have been forced to work a part time job. We don't eat out any more not even pizza. We don't turn on the air conditioning unless we absolutely have to. Every last light is shut off, appliances unplugged, and we will be doing all the back to school shopping at Walmart and Costco. Last year's winter coats need to last another year and even my oldest son is tutoring and babysitting now to help fill the refrigerator. We thankfully still have health insurance but it's still expensive, not as expensive as what we would get under Obamacare,and we're not eligible even at this reduced income for subsidies. (You have to BE REALLY POOR to get that.)
ReplyDeleteSo it pisses me off big time that the mayor has done this. I'm pissed off about tax breaks for friends and Croton Point Ave. too.
So I say thank you Joanne and everyone else. I wish I had your courage.
Lisa, Tom and Ben
So I've heard that thanks to Croton United and letter writers and enormous pushback, the mayor is now paying his own health insurance. He must be up for re-election. Oh that's right.
ReplyDeleteHe is.
Lisa, Tom and Ben