As Predicted Here

Yesterday our own Tony commented on the Democrat and Chronicle's editorial endorsement of a plan, floated by county legislature Democrats, to game the political system to increase their chance of winning the majority.   How?   By tampering with the number of legislators.

The editorial fulfilled our prediction:  "When the Democrat and Chronicle does its editorial in the next few days backing the Democrats' plan to reduce the county legislature, we're betting they won't be looking for similar savings in City Council."

The D&C also mimicked a central deception of the Democrats' argument:   that, to save expense, we should cut our number of legislators to 15 because Erie County has 15.   As we noted:  

What they carefully omit is that each of those 15 Erie County legislators is paid $42,588 per year (as of 2007; it may have increased since then.)   Monroe County legislators are paid $18,000 per year, an amount that hasn't risen since the early to mid-1990's.   It doesn't end there.  Erie County pays for a district office for each county legislator.   Monroe County legislators?   No district offices.

By refusing to increase legislators' fees over a period of more than a decade, Monroe County has exercised cost containment in legislature expenses constantly, over the years.   Therefore, unlike Erie, it doesn't have to make the massive adjustment, in fees or number of legislators, that Erie must consider now.

How bereft of intellectual and moral integrity must a person be, to qualify as editorialist for Gannett's sorry remnant in Rochester?