CSEA Local 830 has been featured in many articles in local newspapers, and publications. Check out some of the articles below

Nassau sees millions saved by disability transfer

BY SID CASSESE
sid.cassese@newsday.com
April 7, 2008- Newsday

Nassau County officials are predicting tens of millions of dollars in savings from a proposal to unload about $100 million in projected disability payments, and at least five firms have expressed an interest in taking over the claims, according to county officials.

Under the plan, the county would borrow approximately $55 million for a one-time payment to a private insurer to take over about 1,000 claim cases that last year cost Nassau $10 million.

The payments are for partial disability claims to former Nassau employees - a form of workers' compensation for the self-insured municipality.

"After focusing on the big ticket items for the past five years, we're reaching down to smaller areas before we can even think about possibly raising taxes," said County Executive Thomas Suozzi, citing the proposal as part of his ongoing effort to avoid raising taxes.

Some municipalities, such as Suffolk County, already offer lump sum settlements to claimants as a way to save money. While Nassau never has, if the deal goes through it would be New York's first municipality to shift its claims to a private firm.

As in television commercials for opportunities to get "your money now," the insurance company would profit by convincing the claimant to take a lump sum settlement that would be far smaller than a 20- or 30-year payout.

Jerry Scott, chief operating officer of Safety National Casualty in St. Louis, with $2 billion in assets, said his firm is interested.

In addition to making money off recipients taking lump-sum settlements, "We also see an opportunity for us to get additional assets to invest," Scott said. "We have the funds to settle the injured worker's claim without the annual budget constraints a municipality faces. We find that a settlement benefits the injured worker, allowing them to get on with their lives."

The other interested firms are Berkshire Hathaway, Zurich, Ace, and American International Group, said John Brooks, Nassau's director of risk management.

Brooks said officials at the State Workers' Compensation Board, which must OK the deal, vowed to get back to him shortly with proposed new legislation to cover it.

County and state officials said they want to be sure claimants stay protected.

"Everybody wants to make sure the guarantees are in place," said John Brooks, Nassau's director of risk management. "For instance, if the insurance company goes out of business before its obligations are met, people must still be paid. We want to make it clear that the state-mandated insurance fund would cover that scenario."

"We expect the county to live up to its responsibility and make sure there are no problems for our people," said Jerry Larichiutta, president of the 10,000-member Civil Service Employees Association in Nassau.

Brian Keegan, a spokesman for the state Workers' Compensation Board in Albany, said last week that the agency is working on a legislative proposal to cover such situations.

Brooks said that until the legislation comes through, the county would explore the possibility of making lump-sum settlements on its own.

Robert Gray, a Farmingdale lawyer who represents many Nassau claimants, said he generally supports Nassau's plan.

"If our clients are not going back to work and need regular medical care, we tell them they should not settle their cases," said Gray. "But those who don't need constant medical care and want to settle should do so. I have many clients who would want to settle."

Brooks would not confirm the projected payments for the county's more than 1,000 claimants, but he used a figure of $100 million to illustrate the expected savings for the county.

"Let's say we have projected a payout of $100 million over the next 20 years but can sell it right away with $55 million," Brooks said. "We'd have to borrow the $55 million. But we'd save over the long and short runs because annual bond payments would be about half our yearly claim payments."

The county legislature must approve the bonding.

"The Legislature will be closely scrutinizing every aspect of this possible action," said Presiding Officer Diane Yatauro (D-Glen Cove).

Minority Leader Peter Schmitt of Massapequa, whose caucus would have to deliver at least three members to pass a bond vote, said: "It will have to be proved that there is a dramatic savings to the county by selling off these debts."

New York Law Journal

By Vesselin Mitev
December 4, 2007

Inmates in Nassau County's Correction Center will continue to be supervised by civilian employees while working in the kitchens, a Nassau County judge has ruled, in denying a motion for a preliminary injunction halting the practice brought by the Nassau County Sheriff Officers union.

In Sheriff Officers Association v. County of Nassau, 012520/07, Justice Daniel Martin found that nothing in the job description of a correction officer says that one must "continuously and directly supervise the prisoners" working in the kitchens.

The decision will be published Friday.

The union contends, however, that the kitchen is the place where armed officers are needed most as access to lethal weapons is unfettered.

"This is a health and safety issue and we want to continue to have a correction officer in the kitchen," John Duer, a corrections sergeant and president of the officers' union, said in an interview. "The inmates have knives and cans with sharp lids - they basically have the weapons in their possession."

To illustrate his point, Mr. Duer cited an April 2, 2006 incident at the Erie County Correctional Facility, where an inmate escaped from the kitchen area while supervised by civilians. The escaped convict killed a police officer and injured two others. Mr. Duer said trained guards overseeing inmates could prevent the same thing from happening in Nassau.

"We are trained in physical force, deadly physical force if necessary and the civilians are not," he said. "In a matter of seconds, we can have 50 guys there."

The civilian employees are, however, prepared to supervise inmates one-on-one, said Jerry Laricchiuta, who was hired in 1994 and served as a kitchen supervisor. Mr. Laricchiuta heads the local chapter of Civil Service Employees Association, which represents the cooks and supervisors. The CSEA has been granted leave to intervene in the suit.

"Our guys are specially trained - they go to refresher courses every year, they're background checked more than anybody else," he said. "We're fine with the correction officers being in the kitchen but we did it for 50 years without them."

Around 20 "low-risk" inmates work in the jail's two kitchens. There is one supervisor for each kitchen and around 30 civilian cooks, all of whom are required to pat down the inmates on their way in and out of the kitchen, search for contraband and check identifications.

During his tenure at the facility, Mr. Laricchiuta said there has never been a fatal incident, although some civilian employees have been injured trying to break up fights.

The facility houses state as well as federal prisoners and is staffed by around 1,100 correction officers. Inmates in the two kitchens prepare food for approximately 1,600 inmates and guards, said Mr. Duer, and have been supervised by at least one correction officer since his union's reorganization in 2000.

On July 3, 2007, those posts were removed and the officers reassigned to add more manpower to the housing and transportation areas of the facility, according to an affidavit by Sheriff Edward Reilly.

The move violated a 1992 stipulation between the union and the county and the collective bargaining agreement, union officials charge.

The stipulation in Murphy v. County of Nassau, 3242/92, forbids the sheriff from assigning employees without the title of "correction officer" to perform duties "ordinarily performed by those employees designated as correction officers" except in case of an emergency.

The collective bargaining agreement also calls for "safe and healthful working conditions" and for the county to "initiate and maintain operating practices that will safeguard employees," provisions violated by the use of civilians to oversee inmates in the kitchen, according to the union.

'15-Year Gap'

The county responded that any allegations of unsafe conditions are speculative. It argues that the 1992 stipulation does not include correction center cooks. It says that the job description of civilian employees includes a "security function" and for 15 years between 1985 and 2000, there were no correction officers overseeing inmates in the kitchens.

"The 1992 stipulation was very different, as it concerned civilian employees outside of the kitchen," Nassau County Labor Bureau Chief Barbara Van Riper, who handled the case, said in an interview. "For example, there was a recreation supervisor who oversaw moving inmates from one location to another, so this situation is very different."

A staff analysis by the Commission of Correction also termed the cook staff "sufficient" and determined that officers were not needed, according to Sheriff Reilly's affidavit.

In explaining his decision to deny an injunction, Justice Martin said that the union had not demonstrated a likelihood it would succeed on the merits of its lawsuit.

The judge wrote that the 1992 stipulation that bound the county not to assign civilian employees to tasks "ordinarily" performed by correction officers was so ambiguous as to require evidence of the parties' intent when it was executed.

"Based upon the record herein, the court is not willing to find that the parties concluded that among the duties ordinarily performed by correction officers [at the facility] was the supervision of inmates in the kitchen," wrote Justice Martin, citing the 15-year gap in correction officer oversight in the kitchens as evidence that "such work was not ordinarily performed by correction officers and therefore was not contemplated by the parties" at the time the contract was drafted.

The Erie inmate escape was an "isolated incident" at a different facility to which numerous other factors contributed, and thus inapplicable to the situation at hand, said Justice Martin in dismissing the union's claim that the county breached the work safety provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.

The judge also agreed that Sheriff Reilly acted within the scope of his power in reassigning the officers to other posts and allowing civilians to supervise inmates in the kitchen.

Mr. Duer said he was unsure if the union planned to appeal the injunction ruling before proceeding with the action.

"We are going forward with the lawsuit," he said. "We are going to sit down and strategize what to do from here."

Liam L. Castro of Koehler & Isaacs is representing the union.

- Vesselin Mitev can be reached at vmitev@alm.com.

Newsday.com

BY SID CASSESE
sid.cassese@newsday.com
December 7, 2007

All nine employees of Nassau County’s Office of Minority Affairs are facing a poorer Christmas as officials wrangle over whether to cut their remaining paychecks to cover a year-end budget shortfall.

Because of salary increases in the beginning of 2007, the department has a $5,000 hole, officials said. If the agency sticks to its plan to spread the shortfall around to all the employees, each would lose between $276 to $760 for the remainder of the year, said officials in the administration of County Executive Thomas Suozzi.

While the county legislature typically approves budget transfers to cover such holes, lawmakers this time have refused because of an ongoing furor about alleged disparity in pay between men and women in the OMA. One vowed not to back down until they get "real answers" to the allegations of gender pay disparity.

Deputy Presiding Officer Roger Corbin (D-Westbury) said Monday at a Finance Committee meeting that the panel would decline the administration's request to move money within the 2007 OMA budget to cover the shortfall. "You guys must be kidding bringing this back to us. Have you changed anything?" he asked Charo Ezdrin, Suozzi's legislative liaison, referring to charges of gender discrimination in the minority affairs office.

Committee Chairman Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead), who, like Corbin, is on the Minority Affairs Committee, later said the Suozzi administration has not been responsive with "real answers" to the allegations of gender pay disparity.

"And I've talked to the women in the office, and they said they could live with the pay cuts if it might help resolve the disparity," Abrahams said.

While all the agency's employees are nonunion, serving at Suozzi's pleasure, Jerry Laricchiuta, president of the county's 10,000-member Civil Service Employee Association, said: "The legislature has good intentions, but this is the wrong time of the year to cut people's pay."

Suozzi said he has directed his staff "to do whatever it can to straighten this out because I want these employees to get their full salary."

The dispute over the potential pay cuts stems from long-running complaints that the agency, which helps minority and female-owned companies do business with the county, pays women significantly less than men.

In a report in October 2006, Eric Naughton, director of the legislature's Office of Budget Review, said the agency paid women far less than men with similar jobs, despite the women's "often superior educational levels."

In October, Deputy Director Doris Stallings-Rodriguez, 65, filed a $60-million federal lawsuit against Nassau County for gender and age discrimination.

But John Moye, executive director of the agency, said an in-house inquiry late last year determined that the allegations of pay disparity were unfounded. "It is my understanding that those results were shared with the legislature," Moye said, declining to comment further on the disparity issue because of the ongoing federal litigation.

"Still, I am hopeful that this matter can be resolved before Christmas," Moye said.

None of the four female workers at the minority affairs agency would speak to a reporter.

But Jack Prophet, the office's director of community services, said of the potential pay cut: "Of course I'll feel it, but it's a punch for the cause - a cause I hope will soon be resolved."

Moye said the shortfall came about because two female employees got raises in January that were, respectively, double and triple the 4.5 percent hike the others in OMA got.

But Naughton said the shortfall occurred not because of a few large raises, but because the agency "did not budget for any of the increases. So it's misleading to blame it on any one large increase. The shortfall is a result of all of the raises"

According to the county charter, transfers from one budget line to another must be done with legislative approval.

Eric Lane, a professor of constitutional and municipal law at the Hofstra University Law School in Hempstead, said the legislature appeared to be within its rights to balk.

"There obviously is some political action - playing chicken - going on here," Lane said. "But the legislature has every right to realize its oversight."

In the hole

A breakdown of salaries and the Budget shortfall at Nassau's Office of Minority Affairs

2007 SALARY

Position Gender Budgeted Actual % over budget

Deputy counsel Female $62,400 $65,208 4.5%

Deputy director Female 53,820 61,335 14.0

Program Supervisor Female 67,600 70,642 4.5

Special assistant Female 32,760 36,036 10.0

Staff assistant* Female 41,600 13,656 n/a

Deputy director Male 82,500 86,213 4.5

Director community service Male 85,000 88,825 4.5

Executive director Male 95,004 99,279 4.5

Project director Male 70,000 73,150 4.5

Project director Male 70,000 73,150 4.5

SOURCE: OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE BUDGET REVIEW

*Worked part of the year.
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.

Catholic Charities tells Nassau it needs more money
BY SID CASSESE
October 4, 2007

Officials with Catholic Charities have warned that they may eventually have to stop their meal service for low-income seniors unless Nassau County increases its contribution to the program.

On Monday, they told members of the county legislature Health Committee, which held the first of a series of hearings on County Executive Thomas Suozzi's 2008 budget, that the agency is $3 million in debt and cannot continue its yearly 10 percent match of the county's contracted budget amount.

Catholic Charities is one of Long Island's largest social-service agencies. Eileen Verity, the group's administrator of senior service, testified that two-thirds of seniors eligible for services in Nassau receive them through her agency but "at a major deficit" to it. The agency serves more than 200,000 meals a year.

Half of the deficit, which totals $2.9 million over the past five years, is caused by the 10 percent match Nassau requires of the agency, Verity said. The other half is for administrative costs not allowed by the county, she said.

In addition, Verity noted that the budget's proposed contractual services for seniors in 2008 is about $3.5 million, $24,328 less than this year.

But Carolyn Acerra, executive administrator for Nassau's Department of Senior Citizen Affairs, said the 10 percent "good faith" match mandated by the county has been in effect for 38 years and has worked. She also said some administrative costs that are clearly programmatic and not back-office related are allowed toward the match.

Mary Curtis, deputy county executive for Health and Human Services, said yesterday that "we will work with Catholic Charities on this issue." Legis. Lisanne Altmann (D-Great Neck) vowed not to vote for the budget "if Catholic Charities is not made whole."

In other legislative proceedings, on Tuesday night at a budget hearing of the Government Services Committee, Public Works Commissioner Ray Ribeiro was grilled by legislators on the proposed merger of the Police Building Maintenance Unit with the Department of Public Works, which maintains all other county buildings.

David Denenberg (D-Merrick) demanded to see some specific savings from the merger, as did Fran Becker (R-Lynbrook).

Ribeiro said there would be savings, but he could not quantify them.

"But more importantly," he said, "there will be greater efficiency."

Many members of that unit were on hand, as was Civil Service Employee Association President Jerry Laricchiuta, who lambasted the proposal as "Ill-conceived" and asked the committee to study it more thoroughly.

Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.

Nassau police mechanics plan gets rough reception
BY SID CASSESE
September 23, 2007

A proposal to consolidate Nassau County Police Department mechanics with those of public works is drawing fire from union leaders and others.

The plan surfaced Monday at County Executive Thomas Suozzi's news conference on his proposed 2008 budget.

"With overtime, the top 10 police mechanics earned over $100,000 each last year, while working only three days and assigned to less than half the vehicles of their counterparts in public works," Suozzi added after the news conference.

He said higher paid mechanics would not be replaced when they left.

Jerry Laricchiuta, president of the 10,000-member Civil Service Employee Association, said the merger would create morale problems while not really saving any money.

"How are you going to to tell two mechanics working side by side but on different pay scales that they should be doing the same job?" asked Laricchiuta, who represents both groups. "How can the county executive say the police guys are underworked and overpaid? These police mechanics have done this for more than a decade. They make more money because the county wanted them to have special training, especially on how to handle any evidence they might find in a car. Now they want to undo that?"

Laricchiuta also said he is sure the changes "must be negotiated."

County legislative Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) said he is opposed to the merger, which is similar to a previous proposal for single fleet services "universally opposed by the legislature."

He said police vehicle maintenance differs from non-police vehicles "due to safety of police officers and the public ... including undercover policing."

Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) was more noncommittal. "Any concerns on the part of the legislature and the unions would have to be addressed," she said.

Union leaders of the largest police group, police officers, did not seem opposed. "We would have to see the details, and all of our concerns would have to be met," said James Carver, first vice president of the Police Benevolent Association.

Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said he supports the consolidation "providing it has no negative impact on personnel or operations."

Administration officials, who did not want to be identified, said Suozzi is considering laying off police mechanics in January if he is blocked on the consolidation. Suozzi would not confirm that, saying: "Traditionally, reductions have been achieved through attrition. But we need dramatic change, and I am considering all options."
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.

Newsday.com
Nassau to join "green building" movement, sort of
BY SID CASSESE

September 6, 2007

The Nassau County Legislature agreed unanimously yesterday to join the "green building" movement when it puts up major new county buildings or rehabilitates old ones.

Under the new law, a "green" rating system will be used to ensure that buildings are designed be more water- and energy-efficient and to foster a healthier environment.

The county will use the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design guidelines established by the U.S. Green Building Council, a not-for-profit agency in Washington, D.C.

But one leading environmentalist argued that a major part of the those guidelines was missing: formal certification.

"You're borrowing the LEEDs standards but leaving out the key requirement at the end," Neal Lewis, the executive director of the Neighborhood Network in East Farmingdale, an environmental and public advocacy agency, told lawmakers. "A building that lacks the LEEDs certification is not a green building."

"The certification is just a piece of paper to make you feel good," countered Nassau Commissioner of Public Works Ray Ribiero. "It requires a certain amount of documentation and fees. None of that stuff saves any energy or helps the environment. I'm not saying we won't eventually go for certification, but we need to see how this first part works first."

The Green Building Council could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Under the measure passed yesterday, green building requirements would apply to capital projects of greater than 5,000 square feet and an estimated construction cost of $1 million or more.

Also at the legislative meeting yesterday, Jerry Laricchiuta, the president of the 10,000-member Civil Service Employees Association, asked that legislators carefully examine a proposal announced Tuesday to ban smoking within 50 feet of county buildings.

"We're not totally against the ban, but about 3,000 of my members smoke - they know the risk - but smokers are people, too," the union leader said. "What I'd like to see is maybe allowing one side of the building for smokers, while leaving the other three sides free of it. Then, nonsmoking people would simply avoid that side."

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi is expected to sign the measure, which would go into effect on Jan. 1 [CORRECTION: Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi is expected to sign legislation ensuring that county building projects adhere to "green building" standards. Through an editing error, a story yesterday made it appear that he also plans to sign an anti-smoking measure that has not yet passed. PG. A17 NS 9/7/07].

Legis. David Mejias (D-North Massapequa), chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee and sponsor of the smoking measure, was among several lawmakers who agreed to consider Laricchiuta's request. "But I've got to say that many of his members have stopped me and thanked me for this legislation," Mejias said later.

Suffolk has a similar outdoor smoking ban that applies to county buildings and hospitals. Earlier this year, Suozzi announced that he wants to ban smoking in parks.

Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.

ShOA calls jail reassignments a public threat
East Meadow Herald
July 26, 2007
By Hector Flores

Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.

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Safe Staffing Switch?
Long Island Press
July 12, 2007
By Brad Pareso

Nassau County's maximum security correctional facility recently underwent a small staffing change, but that change is creating a stir between local unions that, if not resolved, will prompt a court date.

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Guards contest jail kitchen staffing
July 13, 2007
By Sid Cassese

Angered by the redeployment of their members from the two kitchens in the county jail in East Meadow, leaders of the correction officers' union threatened court action if the county administration did not rescind the change."We met with Sheriff [Edward] Reilly, Undersheriff [Michael] Sposato and Deputy County Executive for Public Safety Timothy Driscoll on this issue, but to date nothing has changed," John Duer, president of the Sheriff Officers Association, said at a news conference yesterday in Mineola.

"If this issue is not resolved by tonight, we will go to court," he said. "The papers are being written up as we speak."On July 3, Reilly notified the six officers on the three shifts during the kitchens' hours of operation, from 3 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. daily, that they would be assigned elsewhere in the jail and that civilians would supervise and secure the kitchen area. The two kitchens are staffed with one officer each.The civilians include cooks and general supervisors. But leaders of the 1,100-member Sheriff Officers Association call the change a threat to the safety of the public, jail employees and even inmates.

"This change puts the duty of supervision and control of between 15 and 30 inmates at a time in each kitchen in the hands of minimally trained or supported civilian food service personnel," Duer said. Calling the kitchen areas potentially the most dangerous in the jail because of inmates' access to knives and other possible weapons, the union's first vice president, Brian Sullivan, said: "These are the last places that security should be eliminated."Reilly disagreed."Safety and security are always carefully considered whenever the department contemplates organizational adjustments," he said. "You can be assured that all posts mandated to be filled by the New York State Commission of Correction are staffed on every shift. Posts not mandated by the New York State Commission of Correction are opened and closed as department needs dictate."Reilly would not comment on the threatened lawsuit but said redeployment of staff helps curtail overtime and ensures that officers "remain familiar with security platoons, their duties and required facility protocols."

He said he is not considering changing the redeployment at this time.Reilly is supported by two jail-area civic associations. "The union wants to run the jail, but that's the sheriff's job," said Robert Zafonte, president of the East Meadow Civic Association and a member of the jail advisory committee that meets with the sheriff every month.Richard Cardozo, president of the Carman Civic Association and an advisory committee member, said he saw "no problem" with the change.Jerry Laricchiuta, who worked in the jail kitchen as a civilian from 1994 to 2005, said correction officers never supervised or secured the kitchen until 2001, when Reilly, the new sheriff, allowed them to do so."I never saw one of them working in the kitchen before that," said Laricchiuta, who is president of the Civil Service Employees Association.

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Earl Stroughton, phlebotomist, 70
July 13, 2007
By Sid Cassese

Earl Stroughton, a nearly 30-year phlebotomist at the Nassau University Medical Center and president of the 3,000-member unit there of the Civil Service Employees Association, died of a heart attack Tuesday at the hospital. He was 70 and lived in Hempstead.

Stroughton, who got his medical training while in the Army from 1958 to 1963, was considered the best hospital employee with a needle. "Everybody wanted Earl to draw their blood; he always got it on the first try," said Robert McLaughlin, a friend and the executive vice president of the CSEA unit.

After leaving the Army, Stroughton worked at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, where he stayed until 1978. He joined NUMC on May 1 of that year. "I went to visit Earl in the emergency room ... the day he died," said medical center president Arthur Gianelli. "As was always the case, you would never have known he was very, very sick ... He was smiling. He was dignified. He downplayed his high blood pressure. He proudly introduced his daughter-in-law. In short, he was at home. ... We will miss Earl greatly."

A longtime active union member, Stroughton became vice president of the CSEA unit in 1995, then executive vice president in 2001. In July 2005, he became president of the unit, the CSEA's largest in Nassau. "We called him the mayor of NUMC because he had time for everybody, from laborer to doctor, and they all knew him," said Jerry Laricchiuta, president of the Nassau parent union, the 10,000-member CSEA Local 830. Laricchiuta said Stroughton played a significant role in helping the medical center shore up its fiscal health. Stroughton was a 10-year member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and a 20-year member of the local NAACP chapter.

"He enjoyed spending a lot of time with his grandchildren," said Tamika Hill, Stroughton's daughter-in-law. Survivors include his wife of 30 years, Sumera, daughters Cassandra Hill of Dadeville, Ala., and Cassie Gary of Charlotte, N.C.; sons Earl Stroughton Jr. of Warsaw, N.C., and Rodney Hill of Hempstead; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Viewing will be 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. Sunday at the Burnett Funeral Home in Hempstead. A funeral will be at 5 p.m. Monday at Mount Olive Baptist Church at 163 South St., Oyster Bay.

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Long Island Press
Transfer Troubles
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Parks Proposal Under Fire

Nassau County residents have spoken, and they were heard-they thought. They voted twice-overwhelmingly-to pay $150 million more in taxes for more open space and to improve existing parkland.

Now, they may lose some of that land, because the county is talking about giving it away.

The Press has learned that Nassau County and the Town of Oyster Bay are holding talks over a proposal to transfer ownership of 800-plus acres of county parkland and up to 150 miles of county roads to the town. The deal would include one of Nassau's largest active parks, 127-acre Cantiague Park in Hicksville, and two of its largest preserves, 423-acre Massapequa Preserve in Massapequa and 270-acre Stillwell Woods in Syosset, along with several smaller parks.

"The idea is to have two levels of government, county and town, maximize park recreational benefits for our county residents, but particularly those where the individual parks are located," explains Bill Cunningham, counsel to Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.

"It makes absolutely perfect sense in theory," says Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto, who says that the two municipalities are in weekly meetings to determine the proposal's feasibility. "In fact, common sense is what it really is, good common sense. All around, it's a win-win in terms of efficiency, cost effectiveness, unburdening the taxpayer and the order of the administration of government, making government a little more friendly."

Of course, Venditto recognizes that there is still much homework to be done, saying, "The question is, in reality, will it work? When you start absorbing all the roads, what will the increased costs be on the town's side of the ledger?

"We're hoping that the county taxes go down and the town taxes stay stable," adds Venditto. "In theory, that would make the whole operation obviously less expensive, less burdensome to the taxpayer as well. But we're just not there yet."

The proposal reflects efforts by the county administration to consolidate governmental functions, increase efficiency and save money. The county Legislature approved a similar smaller deal with the Town of North Hempstead in April. Nassau County transferred ownership of nine county parks and 12 county roads to the town, including 60-acre Hempstead Harbor Beach Park in Port Washington and 24-acre Whitney Pond Park in Manhasset. In all, the deal included more than 230 acres of county parkland, two non-park county properties and 26 lane miles of county roadway. Under the plan, Nassau County will pay North Hempstead more than $3 million for repairs and maintenance. The North Hempstead transfer must be approved by the New York State Legislature.

Venditto tells the Press that Suozzi and he came up with the Oyster Bay proposal after a "test" several years ago, wherein the town purchased about 10 acres between Sunrise Highway and Old Sunrise Highway from the county, and about 10 miles of roadway. The town now calls the area the Field of Dreams.

Unlike the non-revenue-generating county preserves and thoroughfares under discussion, Cantiague Park actually makes money. It is home to an indoor ice skating rink, Olympic-size swimming pool, nine-hole golf course and driving range, and athletic fields.
Although county and town officials describe the potential transfer to the Town of Oyster Bay as being in its very early stages, its possibility has environmentalists, union officials and some legislators up in arms.

Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Local 830 President Jerry Laricchiuta is one of those reacting vehemently to news of the deal.

"That's not up for option," he says. "We won't allow that to go through. It has to go through the state Legislature and I will stop it. You can quote me on that. It ain't going through."

Laricchiuta says the proposal would affect between 50 and 100 county workers. Although the county has reassured him that there would be no layoffs and that union members would be reassigned to other county parks, the president of the state's second largest union is not willing to take any chances.

BOND ACT BLASPHEMY

Critics of the proposed deal question the reasoning behind the decision to give away county parkland and preserves when county residents voted-twice-to financially support the acquisition of open space for preservation. The Nassau County Legislature approved $50 million in 2004 and $100 million in 2006 through Environmental Program Bond Acts. Besides open space acquisition, the money will be used for park improvement projects, storm water improvement and brownfield remediation.

To fund the bonds, taxpayers must make sacrifices: They agreed to a $24 per average household increase per year, for the next 20 years, as a new line item on their tax bills.

According to Tom Maher, Nassau County director of environmental coordination, about $37 million of the first bond has been spent on land acquisition. The remaining $13 million has been earmarked for projects in various stages. An advisory committee is reviewing recommendations for the $100 million bond.

"It's hypocritical," says Legis. Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow). Gonsalves was the only lawmaker who didn't vote to approve the North Hempstead transfer (she abstained). "We asked the taxpayers to approve these two bonds and they overwhelmingly approved the bonds. I believe it was over 75 percent in each case. And now you're saying, we'll acquire open space, but we're going to give away open space. Does that make sense? No. It's ludicrous."

In the same vein, other legislators and environmentalists working to safeguard the preserves also question the logic. Nassau County Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), whose jurisdiction includes Stillwell Woods Preserve, has a lot of "burning questions" that would have to be answered before any transfer takes place.

"Not on my watch," says Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) of transferring preserves. Denenberg is the chair of the Legislature's Planning, Development and the Environment Committee and has sponsored some of the toughest encroachment legislation in the state to protect open space. "I think it would be a disservice to the community....If anything, open space comes to the county."

Nassau County Legis. Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa), whose district includes Massapequa Preserve, is adamantly opposed to its transfer. Schmitt says that the preserve transfers might actually be illegal, due to clauses in the deeds. He calls the idea of giving Massapequa Preserve away after approving $150 million in bond funds to acquire open space "a little bizarre."

"There is no possibility," he adds. "We're about to undertake $6 [million] or $7 million of work in that preserve. Why would anybody in their right mind give it away after spending that kind of money?"

Hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funds have been earmarked for Massapequa Preserve improvements from the 2004 Bond Act. In addition, a $7 million stream-enhancement project in the preserve will be put out to bid, with construction to begin after Labor Day. The funds are mostly county, with some state, monies. Brian Schneider, hydrogeologist for the Nassau County Department of Public Works, says that the county's "very ambitious" plan would result in the restoration of the preserve's stream as a viable fishery habitat. New pipes would be laid beneath the bicycle path. A new pumping station would be installed. About 800 gallons per minute of cool groundwater would be introduced into Massapequa Creek. Freshwater trout would be reintroduced and once again swim in its waters.

Schneider detailed the project at a Town Hall meeting in Farmingdale hosted by Legis. David Mejias (D-Farmingdale) on June 20. Mejias held the meeting, in part, to distinguish Massapequa Preserve from neighboring Viceroy Woods, which is in his district. Many in attendance voiced concerns over underage drinking and vandalism in Viceroy, which is owned by the state but leased by the county. The county recently renewed its lease for 10 years.

"How in the hell can you begin the largest stream enhancement program ever undertaken in this county in a preserve-and at the same time, you're going to give it away?" asks Richard Schary, president of Friends of Massapequa Preserve, a nonprofit that has acted as the preserve's steward for the past six years. "It doesn't make sense. It doesn't add up."

Schary argues that the county's justification of giving Massapequa Preserve away to save money is hogwash, because there are no county employees designated to the preserve-his group and other volunteers do the majority of maintenance. The county spends between $1,000 and $3,000 a year on upkeep, he says, and can draw up to 6,000 people per weekend. Press readers voted the preserve the Best Nature Walk on LI in 2005 and the Best Nature Preserve on LI in 2006.

Schary also explains that the preserve is perpetually "forever wild"-it cannot be disturbed. He says, however, that in March, town workers cut down about 50 trees in Stillwell Woods-a big no-no. The county has perpetual laws. It has encroachment laws. It has laws against all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Nassau County also has a parks protocol. But towns do not have the same laws, laws that protect preserves from such destructive acts.

SAVINGS?

The North Hempstead transfer "will save county taxpayers millions of dollars," say county and town press releases touting the deal. Yet with the relinquishing of county parkland and roads, county residents would be hard-pressed to find extra money in their wallets because of the transfer. The deal-and the proposal with the Town of Oyster Bay, despite Venditto's hopes-would not lower their tax bills one cent.

"I think it's a mistake to say that there will be tax savings," says the county's Cunningham. "I would say there'll be greater efficiencies and you will get more in terms of services for individual tax dollars."

"We'll be saving future dollars," explains Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman. "We just have to keep coming up with ideas on how we can operate more efficiently, and in the long term, that will lead to a more stable tax base."

Weitzman, who supported the North Hempstead transfer, explains that when municipalities duplicate services, "any consolidation is going to have a financial benefit."

For example, county and town snow trucks each wind up covering the same ground. Weitzman predicts that residents would also see improvements in the parks because of the deal.

Critics insist, however, that the transfers are not consolidation, but rather mismanagement and neglect followed up by abandonment. Some feel cheated-others, robbed-convinced that down the road, towns may charge higher user fees for non-town residents, just as county parks charge more for non-county passes.

"All county residents paid for the acquisition, development and maintenance of the county park system," says Bruce Piel, chairman of Park Advocacy & Recreation Council of Nassau (PARCnassau), a coalition of 150 park advocacy groups with a membership of 250,000 county residents. "By turning it over to one town, my investment, so to speak, in those county parks, is lost. I no longer have a say in what happens to them, how they're maintained, what the hours are, etc."

Piel spoke before the county Legislature in opposition to the North Hempstead deal and refers to the transfer as a "theft."

"Basically, they're stealing from the county residents."

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East Meadow Herald
Officers rally for new contract
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Hector Flores

For the third time since April, members of the Nassau County Sheriff Officers Association, who work at the Nassau County jail in East Meadow, rallied in front of the county's legislative building in Mineola on June 18, demanding a new contract from the Legislature.

The Legislature's presiding officer, Judy Jacobs, however, insists that negotiations are still in the works, with meetings scheduled for July.

John Duer, president of the Sheriff Officers Association, or ShOA, said that county correction officers have been working under the terms of an expired contract for over two years. We are demonstrating before the Legislature to bring attention to the unfair treatment correction officers are receiving in Nassau County, Duer said. Not only are we working without a contract for more than two years, [but] offers that have been put forward are so far off base that we cannot take them seriously.

Brian Sullivan, ShOA's first vice president, explained that the officers old contract expired on Dec. 31, 2004. We did negotiate a contract with the county, in the middle of September 2005, Sullivan said. The contract had gone through [County Executive Tom] Suozzi but was turned down by the Legislature.

One of the problems the Legislature had with the contract, according to Sullivan, was a so-called _me too_ clause in the Nassau County Police Department_s contract with the county: Whatever concessions the county made to sheriff officers had to be extended to police as well.

Sullivan said that since the near-agreement, the union has been unable to reach an accord with the Legislature. It has charged the county with negotiating in bad faith, and unsuccessfully attempted to introduce a bill in the Legislature calling for binding arbitration.

In May, the union and the Legislature entered into the fact-finding stage of negotiations, during which a mediator from the state examines the issues raised by the union and the Legislature. The mediator will then issue a report, though his findings are not binding, and both parties have the option of either accepting or rejecting the recommendations.

Jacobs says that the county is trying to reach an amicable solution with ShOA. I have been working hard toward a resolution that will be acceptable and fair to everyone, she said. A fact-finder has been appointed, and there should be a decision within the next few months.

Defining Peace Officer

At the rally, ShOA members were joined by their Suffolk County and upstate colleagues in opposing a bill that has been introduced in Albany, which would grant civilian employees at the Nassau County Correctional Facility peace officer status.

Duer derided the legislation, which would expand the authority of non-correction officers working at the county jail. This specific legislation only impacts Nassau County, and would allow untrained individuals to be granted peace officer status while working at the facility, he said. This would cause a great risk to the safety of the citizens of Nassau County.
Brian Dawe, executive director of the American Correctional Officer Intelligence Network, also expressed his opposition to the bill, saying that it would set a precedent that is unacceptable to ShOA and to correctional officers across the state and the nation. Untrained individuals cannot take the place of correctional officers, Dawe said.

This is a dangerous proposition for these individuals ‹ who are considered civilian staff as well as the correctional officers currently working in the facility. Working as a correctional officer is a dangerous job, and if they are forced to work with people who have no training at all, there is a strong possibility that someone could be seriously injured.

One of the bills sponsors, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), said that many civilian workers at the correctional facility in East Meadow regularly perform correction officers_ duties. According to a justification for the bill issued by Skelos's office, the bill would stipulate [that] employees ... are officers only during the course of their duties. This will grant them the authority that correction officers in other correctional facilities have when performing their jobs.

Ryan Mulholland, director of communications for the Civil Service Employees Association, the union representing civilian employees at the county jail, said that the union is not looking to replace the correction officers. The peace officer status will not change anything for the correction officers, Mulholland said. We are not looking to demean the officers. We want them to have a fair contract. We just want to have the same rights as they do.
Mulholland explained that CSEA workers are support staff for the jail, and include cooks, engineers and mechanics who work with the inmates. They have been doing that for the last 40 years, he said, and peace officer status would just give CSEA workers more rights.

Ken Banschback of Wantagh, a ShOA trustee, said he believes that if the legislation is passed, it would hurt the bargaining power of the sheriff officers union. We have many hours of training, Banschback said. We are trained in law enforcement, penal law, firearms and weapons of mass destruction. ... When there is a problem, we are the responders. When you give peace [officer] status to civilians, it chips away at the status of our jobs.

Banschback added that, on average, correction officers receive three months of specialized academy training, while civilians do not. They are trying to give our jobs to civilians, he said.

The bill, currently in the state Senate, has also attracted the attention of correction officers upstate. Karen Joycox, president of the Green County Jail in Catskill, said that she is vehemently opposed to the bill. This is our profession, and to give peace officer status to civilians would demean our jobs and take away from our training, Joycox said.

Brian Costello, president of the Rockland County Correction Officer Benevolent Association, believes that elected officials in Albany should see for themselves the duties that come with being a correction officer. This is another case of people making laws without having stepped foot in a jail, Costello said. They don't know what we go through.

The effect at home

For Correction Officer John Hogan, 39, of East Meadow, the prospect of having a civilian doing his job only adds insult to injury, with the county Legislature and ShOA at loggerheads on a new contract. First we don't get a new contract, and now this law, Hogan said. They are going to kill our profession.

Hogan, who has two children, said that in order to make ends meet, he must work overtime, which leaves him with little time to spend with his family. It's a trickle-down effect, he said. I don't have enough time for my family because I have to work more hours. Being a correction officer is not a 9-to-5 job, it's a 24-hours-a-day job.

Hogan's wife, Tracy, is frustrated by her husband's situation. We are financially strapped, she said. Everything keeps going up. My house assessment keeps increasing, [along with] school taxes, fuel and gasoline. Everything increases with inflation, and we haven't gotten a cost-of-living increase in over two and half years.

I'm disappointed at the way the county is treating the sheriffs, she continued. My husband risks his life every day, but because he works [behind] closed doors, no one knows or sees what he goes through and the risks involved with his job. They don't get the respect, and they are treated very unfairly.

In order to make ends meet, Tracy works part-time at an insurance company, and she sees her husband rarely. He is walking in and I'm walking out, she said. We just tell each other what the kids need and then we say, ŒSee you later.

I wish this Legislature would live a day in my husband's shoes. Then they'd see what he goes through, and what he's truly worth.

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Newsday
Union feud at county jail heats up
January 26, 2007
By Sid Cassese
sid.cassese@newsday.com


A rift over jobs, wages, authority and respect between leaders of the correction officers union and those of most other workers at the Nassau County jail has widened.

As a result, the union feud is making it more difficult for the nearly 1,100 correction officers, whose county contract expired at the end of 2004, to get a new one from Nassau. Some county and union officials believe the public bickering also could hurt jailhouse morale.

"Feuds in general don't help anybody. Better working conditions and finding solutions to problems sooner than later should be the aim of everybody involved," said Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs of Westbury.

John Laricchiuta, president of the 10,000-member Nassau Civil Service Employees Association, said, "They want binding arbitration, and we might have supported them in that if they weren't so hostile and disrespectful to us."


The feud goes back to November when a former jail cook was named undersheriff - the jail's second in command. The issue resurfaced on June 18, when leaders of the Sheriff Officers Association (SHOA), representing the correction officers, traded potshots with CSEA leaders in front of the county legislature. The SHOA folk need the legislature to support their bid for binding arbitration.

That body's members generally ignored the SHOA speakers, but CSEA leaders pounced on president John Duer, who said SHOA had met a promise to return 55 jobs to civilians.

"In six years, they've only returned 19 jobs. They have not shown good faith," said Laricchiuta, adding that where there were 165 civilians at the jail 10 years ago there are now only 125. He used to be a jail cook.

Duer said his union has generally met its obligation on the 55 jobs. "My people deserve those lighter jobs when they're near the end of their career," Duer said. "My concern is what's best for my members."

Returning former civilian jobs now done by officers is a big issue between the two unions, as is the effort to gain peace officer status for certain CSEA employees, such as cooks, who have CC - Corrections Center - added to their titles.

"We supervise inmates, get extra training for it and, truthfully, handle the only inmates who - in the kitchen - are legally armed," said Laricchiuta. "We don't want to carry . . . weapons, but want the same on-the-job protection as corrections people, such as it being an automatic felony for an inmate to assault one of us."

SHOA is opposed, saying civilians aren't trained for emergencies. "When something goes down in the jail, the civilians are the first ones out the door - and I don't blame them," Duer said.

The correction officers and the county agreed on a contract in 2005, but the legislature rejected it, fearing unintended costly consequences. Last year, supporting administration opposition, the legislature rejected SHOA's bid for binding arbitration.

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

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Long Island Press
May 17, 2007


When you are the president of the largest labor union on LI, you can always get somebody to listen to you. Laricchiuta made history when he beat an incumbent for the seat two years ago by a two-to-one margin. Since then, he has walked softly and carried the big stick of having an entire union behind him when he needs to get something done.

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May 8, 2007, 10:36 PM EDT
Clemens Working Past Prime Isn't That Uncommon
By Erik German


At 72, George Maeder isn't your typical landscape contractor. The Smithtown resident spent an entire morning this week hand-building a rock staircase into a hillside, wrestling mammoth slabs of weathered blue stone into place with pry bars.

"They must have weighed 800 pounds apiece," Maeder said with a satisfied laugh. His lone helper was one-fourth Maeder's age.

They used to call me 'the professor' in the company because I've been around so long," the landscaper said.

Maeder is part of a dedicated group of Long Islanders who continue to work at strenuous jobs long after their peers. They do so in an era when a 44-year-old like recent Yankees signee Roger Clemens can remain an effective power pitcher, and others, still older, stay active. Some do it for money, others for fun, and still others, like Maeder, because they couldn'timagine living any other way.

"I just love the fire service," said Don Rothe, 72, who responds to up to 10 calls weekly with the North Patchogue Fire Department. Until 68, he still crawled into burning homes to fight fires, stopping only on orders from his doctor. "I think I could still do it," he said.

Now Rothe drives trucks and helps extract victims from wrecked cars when needed. "I'd sure as hell hate to stop," he said.

Union leaders said economics and habit motivate their older workers. "Sometimes youjust have the old dinosaurs where all they want to do is work," said Suffolk Civil Service Employees Association president William Walsh.

Jerry Laricchiuta, president of the Nassau CSEA, said the small number of his members working long past retirement age do so "because trying to live on Long Island on a pension is impossible."

Almost 37 million Americans -- 12 percent of the population according to the 2000 U.S. census -- are 65 or older, and 10 percent of that group live in poverty. "I get e-mails all the time from seniors saying, 'I thought I could live on my pension, but I just can't,'" said Ilyse Shapiro, of Philadelphia, who runs MyPartTimePRO.com, a job placement Web site serving the tri-state area.

But not everyone stays active by necessity. "This has been my business all my life," said former bodybuilder Dan Lurie, 84, of North Woodmere. Voted "America's most muscular man" in 1942, 1943 and 1944, he still lifts a 50-pound barbell daily. Lurie cites grave diggers he saw growing up. "They worked into their 90s," he said. "They sweated, they kept their body young and healthy and so they lived longer."

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Long Island Press
April 20, 2006


Laricchiuta took Nassau by storm when he defeated incumbent Jane D’Amico in a historic upset for the presidency of the county’s largest union back in June. Since then, he’s been a very visible and very vocal defender of his members, opposing proposed staff ER cuts and testifying before the legislature to ensure new hires and proper procedure at Wantagh’s troubled Cedar Creek Sewage Plant. Consequently, he’s also become a bit of a thorn in the side of county management—and indication that he’s doing exactly what people voted him in to do.

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Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

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