SCHENECTADY Savage handed political worker a job Decision bypassed county Legislature BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
Susan Savage, the former chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature, appointed one of her former campaign workers, a Montgomery County resident, to a $43,000-ayear job with county government before resigning to take a state job. The action was immediately attacked by the Republican minority on the Legislature as a patronage favor. Savage appointed Kelly Quist to the non-Civil Service position of director of legislative operations in the Offi ce of the Clerk of the Legislature. The director is one of several positions the chair can fi ll without authorization from the county Legislature. Savage’s appointment of Quist, who lives in Amsterdam, also avoids the requirement that county employees live within Schenectady County. The residency rule, established in 2000, applies only to positions or appointments by the county manager. Quist’s hiring occurred during a hiring freeze within the county, but the freeze does not apply to “essential personnel,” said Joe McQueen, director of communications for the county. The director of legislative operations is considered an essential position because the Office of the Clerk of the Legislature must remain staffed during regular working hours, McQueen said. ...........................>>>>>....................>>>>>........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00101&AppName=1
Farley was a member of the county Legislature in 1999 when it created the position. “I was the one who advanced creation of the position,” he said. “In doing so, the Legislature then, when the Republicans were in control, eliminated two other positions to create it.” Farley said the purpose of the job is to serve as an assistant to the clerk of the Legislature. The director of legislative operations drafts legislative initiatives submitted by county legislators, writes and distributes public notices, drafts correspondence to constituents, assists in press releases and press conferences and handles general office duties.
So cost vs need. Is it a patronage job? YES Can the taxpayers afford it? NO Is there a need for this position?....Farley thought so when he created the position.
Ohhhhh the web they weave.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
A hiring freeze Schenectady County DEM style! We got pork! First, a needless assistant director of purchasing at $51,000. The director of purchasing is too busy? Now a Montgomery County hack hired as useless director of legislative operations. She really did a great job on the SS Savage campaign in Montgomery County-lol. Couldn't you at least hire a Schenectady County resident?
Thank you SS Savage. The County was already a fiscal wreck because of your "leadership". And of course the REP did it defense. The REP budget was not millions in the red like yours. It will take a decade for the REPS and real CONS to reverse the Savage fiscal ruin.
A hiring freeze Schenectady County DEM style! We got pork! First, a needless assistant director of purchasing at $51,000. The director of purchasing is too busy? Now a Montgomery County hack hired as useless director of legislative operations. She really did a great job on the SS Savage campaign in Montgomery County-lol. Couldn't you at least hire a Schenectady County resident?
Thank you SS Savage. The County was already a fiscal wreck because of your "leadership". And of course the REP did it defense. The REP budget was not millions in the red like yours. It will take a decade for the REPS and real CONS to reverse the Savage fiscal ruin.
They all do it salami.............kinda like when ST in rotterdam 'gave' the als $$$ to REMS and then slipped in a last minute $120K/year!!
But hell.............rotterdamians are worried about a 'tip jar'!!!
reps cry foul but they are doing the same thing!!! And in some cases have created the problems.....eg: metroplex!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Amazing it didn't go to her biggest cheerleader that posts on these boards.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
He wouldn't get it he actually resides in Schenectady County! He actually defended her. SS Savage really slammed the County taxpayers before blasting off for the big dollar. Let's see how many morons vote to re-elect her DEM stooges. Expect the same trick as in the City, all of a sudden every DEM will start attacking her. Remember in November.
SCHENECTADY COUNTY Dagostino OK with job for ex-Savage aide BY DAVID LOMBARDO Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter David Lombardo at 395-3134 or dlombardo@dailygazette.net.
A last-minute appointment by outgoing Schenectady County Chairwoman Susan Savage has been endorsed after the fact by interim Chairwoman Judith Dagostino. The appointment of Kelly Quist as director of legislative operations has drawn the ire of some Republican legislators, who characterize the move as a patronage favor. But Dagostino doesn’t see it that way. “I’m not viewing it as a favor,” she said. Quist was a paid campaign worker for Savage during her failed election bid for state Senate last fall, earning approximately $6,276 based on campaign filings. In her new job she will make $43,000 a year. In Quist’s first week on the job, Dagostino said that she has been very efficient and labeled her performance as “exemplary.” Dagostino said she became aware of the possibility that Quist was a candidate for the job when Savage approached her after it became clear that David Fronk, the previous director of legislative operations, was interested in leaving. Dagostino acknowledged that she didn’t know if other candidates had been considered, but noted that Quist’s resume made her qualified for the job. “Its more than exceptional,” she said. On the question of Quist’s residence, which is in Amsterdam, Dagostino said this wasn’t an issue at this time............................>>>>.....................>>>>....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01403&AppName=1
On the question of Quist’s residence, which is in Amsterdam, Dagostino said this wasn’t an issue at this time. Legally, Quist is not required to live in the county, as the residency rule only applies to jobs filled by the county manager.
I guess they dont go door to door on the Hill looking for candidates.....HA!
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Judy maybe in the bag with the Amsterdam DEM hack hiring but guess who isn't? SS Savage's new employer in Albany. This is raising many eyebrows in the Cuomo administration. It doesn't sit well. And it doesn't sit well with County residents sick of COUNTY property taxes 3X as high as Saratoga County.
Judy maybe in the bag with the Amsterdam DEM hack hiring but guess who isn't? SS Savage's new employer in Albany. This is raising many eyebrows in the Cuomo administration. It doesn't sit well. And it doesn't sit well with County residents sick of COUNTY property taxes 3X as high as Saratoga County.
Benny - I am skeptical the Cuomo administration cares.
They took both BS and Landslide Suzy, even though they must have known their popularity was plummeting... Highest taxes, rising crime, and the whole city falling apart.
So with the credibility hit they took in hiring these two, the fact that she appointed someone for a job that only pays $43k/yr, I just really don't think the Cuomo admin cares.
Cuomo cared enough to take our very best-lol. This latest patronage hire is not sitting well with DEMS in this County. The patronage is not the problem the residency is. Plenty of more qualified locals would have loved that lob job. Judy really stepped in it.
What was that line about a big political star that will run for Farley's seat in 2012!?! Who said that? The League of Little Women Vultures? WTF?
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
If this was the best cuomo could do..........nys's in big trouble.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Logged
A hiring freeze Schenectady County DEM style! We got pork! First, a needless assistant director of purchasing at $51,000. The director of purchasing is too busy? Now a Montgomery County hack hired as useless director of legislative operations. She really did a great job on the SS Savage campaign in Montgomery County-lol. Couldn't you at least hire a Schenectady County resident? 
Judy maybe in the bag with the Amsterdam DEM hack hiring but guess who isn't? SS Savage's new employer in Albany. This is raising many eyebrows in the Cuomo administration. It doesn't sit well. And it doesn't sit well with County residents sick of COUNTY property taxes 3X as high as Saratoga County. 
