Alexander the Terrible

What an utter disgrace once again by Clarkstown Supervisor Alex Gromack at last week’s Clarkstown Town Board meeting, taking the position as he so often does that a career politician’s job is a “noble profession.” And in the next breath, once again diminishing that value and using his throne of authoritarian power to publicly scold, denigrate and demonize an elderly citizen, whose only crime was in expressing his disgust over all the high salaries and benefits the board is giving to all the unions and themselves and their cronies.

This senior citizen, stated his belief that he can no longer afford to live in a community that is intent on making this town only affordable to the town employees. Higher taxes and debt are making all of us easier to achieve the number one spot for highest-taxed town in the country. Supervisor Gromack’s description of police salaries as being “obscene” and placing blame on his predecessor is true, but he continues on with this obscenity ,while trying his best to hide it.

Town board meetings are constantly violating the spirit of the open meetings law, as the board deliberately hides PBA and CSEA contract settlements in non-descript language added to agenda items at the very last minute. Continuing the violations and lack of transparency by having no public deliberations on any subject item, they then display a public epiphany and vote yes in rapid fire on every spending initiative. The recent hiring of eight–or what they will not say yet is 10–more police officers is a career politician’s Jedi-mind trick to make you believe hiring these officers will be a cost savings over the already obscene salaries the retiring officers are paid.

We have an average officer’s salary for 2012 at $179,688.55 an increase of $25,476 for each one over 2011. What will 2013 bring? Certainly pensions of these recent retirees approaching $200,000 for one. These new hires, with a little overtime and guaranteed benefits, will be six-figure salary payouts in their first year or two. Keep listening and believing the Jedi-mind tricks and you too will be taxed out of your home.

I won’t be surprised the next Gromack Decree will be to even eliminate the public comment from town board meetings. We know now the kitchen is getting too hot for him and his arrogant displays of emotion against defenseless senior citizens, coupled with his desire for absolute power, will ultimately corrupt us all. Dictatorships should never be tolerated in a republic.