Monroe County's outgoing District Attorney Mike Green is hired to head the Appeals Bureau in the DA's office.
Nothing wrong with that; maybe even a good idea. Green's smooth lying about it in a press conference and subsequent lying to explain the original lie doesn't change that.
Yet he then states he's not doing the work for which taxpayers are paying him $110,000 per year, plus benefits. It just happened to be an open slot in an organizational chart. "I'm here for one purpose," Green told the press: new DA Doorley gave him the job "to help with the transition."
The clock's running at nearly $4,000 per week, inclusive of benefits, for a job its holder admits he isn't doing.
After a few weeks, that's more than cigar-and-strippers money.
For unclear transition services that remain unstated. Transition services the world would have thought unnecessary for a new DA with 20 years of experience in the office, most recently as second-in-command.
Democratic and Chronicle news editor Karen Magnuson, following standard procedure for news putting her side in a bad light, did the usual one-off story, then total silence. Down the memory hole. Our self-proclaimed "watchdogs" are off somewhere, maybe sniffing each others hindquarters as dogs will.
There's nobody left to stand up for taxpayers footing the bill, or to ask the questions on their behalf. Except for our County Legislature.
Since no one else is acting, getting to the bottom of this scandal is as much a part of their job as keeping property tax rates flat.
County Legislators: Ask District Attorney Doorley for the information. If you're stonewalled, file Freedom of Information Law requests. If that doesn't do it, form a special committee to investigate, using your subpoena power to dig out the truth.
Such action isn't necessary in situations where the whole weight of the media is cranking out stories day after day. (Again, cigars come to mind, or a single incident of bad judgment at a Christmas Party by a competent and otherwise respected airport director).
Here, it's just you.
If you don't do it, apparently no one will.
Meanwhile, for taxpayers, the meter's running at four grand a week.
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18 comments:
I agree that we should have a full accounting of what Mike Green is doing at the DA's office, but what's with the false equivalence? Spending money on strippers and cigars is quite a different thing from being hired under a job title that's different from your job duties. Is there any evidence that Green is not working? Is there any evidence that he's using county money for anything but job related duties?
We're far from "both sides do it" territory here, and all you did was remind me to be upset about the gross abuse of power and waste of money in that other scandal.
Maggie Brooks has the right attitude towards those scandals: she nips them in the bud and shuts up about them. The most recent example was the way she handled the DUI of her airport director: silence, a quick firing (sorry, "resignation"), and more silence. She also made it through Robutrad and the other airport scandal by dealing with the wrongdoing quickly. You might want to take a page from her book.
Reference to cigars and the DUI are only to illustrate the disparities in press treatment.
As we said, appointing Green to the Appeals job might have been a good idea. Who better experienced in the DA's office? At minimum, eminently defensible.
But then he says he's not doing the job. That's the point.
As for transitioning, what's the work being done? What's the help being given? Is it worth $110,000 per year?
And as WHAM's Sean Carroll asked last week:
1. Isn't the period from election day to swearing in the transition period?
2. Based on her experience, and her campaign focus on it, what incoming DA should needed less "transition" than Ms. Doorley?
Is there a way to sign up to be notified of comments being added to a particular blog entry? If not, would you consider such an option?
I'll agree that the D&C isn't covering this and WHAM is. I'll disagree that it's smart politics/polemics to drag up an old scandal to prove the point.
As for Green, as my old buddy Dick Nixon used to say, let's get down to the nut cutting: the issue is whether Doorley's staffing decisions result in her office doing a good job. I don't care who she hires for what, and what she calls them, unless it impacts her office's performance. Since she's been the DA for 13 days now, let's give her a few months to find out. Green can be called the Exalted Grand PooBah of Writs and Warrants for all I care - as long as he shows up and does actual work that results in the DA's office doing its job.
Rottenchester,
Isn't the point that it's not an old scandal, but a current one, that's not getting meaningful media scrutiny?
AllanBlockhead,
Don't know. We'll look into it.
Lucy, all I'm saying is that the way to make that point in a more persuasive way is to point out that one media outlet (13WHAM) is doing it while another (D&C) is not.
And, my second point is that it's not established that this is a scandal. No matter -- the D&C should be writing about what Green is doing there, whether or not there's something scandalous about it.
He can't get a real job because everyone in legal community hates him . Keep sucking on government tit!!
Yet a dwi of a DA employee is something that is totally fine?
So when is Sandy going to announce this ace transition team she has put together to keep our streets safe. I've never had less faith in the office. It seems like she has a bunch of immoral yet politically connected, talentless employees comprising her new staff.
I wonder when Lonsberry is going to go on-air and apologize for the over the top shilling he did for her as a "professional" who is "above politics".
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Thank you.
Anyone ever look into the sweet plea deals Mike Green gave his brother (twice), his neighbor, and two local TV reporters for their DWI's? A definite scandal there.
Wait- An employee of the District Attorney's office has a DWI??? Does anyone have further information on this???? Maggie had to fire her staff, but Mike/ Sandy have someone working for them with a record?! Is it a cleaning staff or secretary or someone like that or one of the prosecutors?! If it is one of the attorney's that person needs to be fired immediatley!!!
What deals did they get? The office has a policy of no reductions. So anything beyond that would be favoritism and show corruption.
It's an attorney in what's left of the domestic violence/ sex crimes unit.
There was also a DA investigator (usually politically appointed retired cops who get waivers from the state to double dip on their pension) who got into a fender bender in his Monroe County issued vehicle and he was completely drunk which the DA's office completely placed neatly under a rug. Under Green a few years ago. The guy got nothing and is still working there. no arrest record or anything.
Who got a DWI in the DV Bureau??
anonymous from Jan. 29, since most of the DV unit got fired its not hard to figure out. though she may be out now on maternity leave any day, too. Anonymous from Jan. 21, how am i not surprised? when the judge's son recieved fellacio in the alleyway of the magpie on park ave from an intern they swept that under the rug too. they just initiated a "no dating interns" policy. he has managed to violate that again as well, with no reprecussions. the intern got fired though.
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