OSWEGO COUNTY – At the final Oswego County Legislature meeting on Thursday, December 14 the body passed every resolution, including FP-1 which amended the salaries for “certain elected county officers.”
The county officers with the increase are county legislators, the chair of the legislator and both the majority and minority leaders of the legislator. In 2024 and 2025, each legislator will be paid $15,525, an increase from $15,170, the chairman will be paid $34,372, an increase from $33,371 and the minority and majority leaders will be paid $18,748, an increase from $18,202.
FP-1 was passed despite opposition from several members of the council in addition to the lone public speaker at the 2 p.m. hearing.
The public speaker, who works as a principal social welfare examiner at the Department of Social Services, was disappointed with the pay raise while his department struggles to maintain an appropriate level of staffing.
“For the proposed budget, a social welfare examiner on average will earn around $40,000 plus benefits,” Eric Cronk said. “I want to know why a county legislator feels they need to be paid more than one-third of what a social welfare examiner is paid. A social welfare examiner is doing a 35-hour-a-week job, you’re doing a 40-hour-a-month job … We are facing a severe staffing shortage due to the low pay and stressful work environment.”
In addition to Cronk, four legislators opposed the resolution. In a roll call vote, Kevin Hill (District 15), Marie Schadt (District 19), Noelle Salmonsen (District 21) and Frank Castiglia (District 25) voted “No.” Stephen Walpole (District 14) and Robert Willmot (District 18) were excused absences at the meeting and were not able to vote on FP-1 or any other resolution. Castiglia spoke prior to the vote, suggesting it is not a legislator’s job to vote on a raise.
“There isn’t an elected official anywhere that should have other elected officials vote to give them a raise,” Castiglia said. “Raises should be voted on by constituents at election time. Because this has not been done, I will not be voting in favor [of resolution FP-1.]”
Prior to the resolutions, the body held a moment of silence for Legislator Laurie Mangano-Cornelius who passed away on December 3.
“She was dedicated, devoted and an extremely active member of the legislation,” Chairman James Weatherup said. “Her dedication to District 17 and the entire Oswego County community is immeasurable. She will be missed.”
Later in the meeting, resolution GC-3 was passed despite a motion to amend it. The resolution set January 4, 2024 at 2 p.m. as the time for the 2024 Organization Meeting, which will be held in the Legislative Chambers. Castiglia motioned to move the meeting to 7 p.m. that day so more constituents could attend. His request was seconded by Schadt but was not adopted.
Several resolutions from the Human Services Committee, HS-1, HS-2 and HS-3, modified the budget of the Department of Social Services for the remainder of 2023. The trio pulled unused money from the Salary and Wages line to the following accounts: Legal Fees, Adult and Children Services Additional Hours, and Other Supplies and Expenses. The additional hours are essentially overtime pay for current staff. All three, plus HS-4 and HS-5, were passed unanimously.
Rounding out the resolutions passed during the 2 p.m. session, Schadt and Castiglia opposed two from the Infrastructure, Facilities and Technology Committee. IT-4 is a resolution that accepts a grant from the New York State Department of Transportation for two aviation refueling trucks. The grant is worth a maximum of $458,521 or “90% of the allowable costs for the project.” IT-4 works alongside IT-5 which establishes Capital Project No. 0423 Oswego County Airport – Airport Fuel Trucks. This capital project uses the $458,521 from the state along with a $50,947 county share to acquire two new aviation refueler trucks for the Oswego County Airport. Schadt appeared displeased with the historic costs associated with the airport.
“I hope that a fuel line is established in this department, so that it just tracks fuel coming in and out. It is the only reasonable way to keep track of this because [the] price for fuel should not be coming back, it shouldn’t be any issue, it should just rebalance itself,” Schadt said. “I’ve seen tons of expenses at the airport and I’ve yet to see any black ink [revenue].”
After a brief recess, the legislature reconvened at 7 p.m. to vote on GC-2, FP-5, FP-7, GC-7 and GC-8, of which the final three were not on the original agenda. All five were approved, however, FP-5, the resolution to adopt the county budget for 2024 was not unanimous.
Schadt and Castiglia were joined by Republican Legislator Richard Kline (District 12) in voting against the 2024 budget. The tentative budget can be found on the Oswego County government’s website or here.
The agenda for the meeting can be viewed here.
The next meeting for the legislature will be its annual Organizational Meeting which will occur at 2 p.m. on January 4, 2024 in the legislative chambers.
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