Money for Nothing
Registrar Fund
On the Town Council Agenda tonight:
8.7 – COMPENSATION FOR OFFICE OF REGISTRAR OF VOTERS
Sponsored by: Honorable. James Connor, Eighth District Council Member
BE IT Hereby Resolved That commencing with the fiscal year 2014 – 2015 and continuing until modified by the Council, the compensation for the Office of Registrar of Voters shall be as follows:
Each Registrar of Voters shall receive compensation for the performance of all his/her duties.
The work week for the Registrar of voters and the assistants, shall consist of 37.5 hours per week for a total of five days, the same as the Town Employees.
The rate for the Registrars shall be $ 34.29 For the assistant the rate shall be $ 18.90
Additional overtime hours will be managed and handled under applicable statutes.
Each Registrar of Voters shall further receive additional benefits during each fiscal year as follows:
(a) two weeks paid vacation consisting of a total of 80 hours for registrars and 62 hours for assistant registrars of paid vacation:
(b) ten days sick leave consisting of a total of 80 of paid sick leave for the Registrars and 64 hours for the assistant registrars of paid sick leave per fiscal year;
(c) 8 hours of pay for each legal holiday, and mandatory closing i.e. snow, hurricane
shut down for which the Town Hall is closed for business;
(d) health insurance coverage, if the Registrar or assistant registrar waives health insurance there will be an annual payout of $ 2,500 dollars opting out of health care, vacation will be in accordance with __________and € One year’s annual salary of life insurance coverage
With thanks to George Mulligan for the heads-up.
$34.29 an hour? For a Registrar? Plus vacation, snow and sick days? Seriously? Are you kidding? And the “qualifications” entirely consist of being the party committee Chairman?
And, oh by the way, we pay a qualified, licensed paramedic who saves your life $21/hour with no vacation, sick or snow days? http://www.townofstratford.com/filestorage/39879/40822/Per_Diem_Paramedic_Job_Posting_%282-2014%29.pdf
Thanks Councilman Connor for being so generous with our money. I am sure you will be able to get your 9-1 vote. It still won’t prevent us from being disgusted.
Filed under: Stratford Political Theater | 39 Comments
Tags: James Connor
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Stratford Politics 
AYFKM? Has this always been a paid position? They do less work then a other elected positions in Town and they get this sort of comp. Further half of DeCicio’s time is spent writing stupid letters to the Star to trash opponents and orchestrate smear campaigns against good citizens (Cahns). I guess if you are not a member of the secret handshake society (Harkins, RTC, TC) you don;t get to rape and pillage the tax coffers.
What a joke.
Rock,
It will be interesting to see how little regard for our money this Town Council has. This adds up to $133,737 this year for both Registrars (not including vacation, sick and snow days). What else could we have gotten for $133,737? A brand new ambulance? 5 more paramedics/EMT’s every single day? Two policemen? Two teachers? Two Public Works employees?
Seems the clowncil is aware that Stratford is full of ostriches and doesnt even attempt to hide the theft anymore.
If there was a real newspaper in the area this would be front page news, rather doubtful that the local rags the Post or the Star will bother touching it though. Its not like there are actual Journalists around anymore- shameful how they get “scooped” over and over by this little blog and still pay no attention to the corruption that is Stratford.
Check out this post from my FB page earlier in response http://www.cga.ct.gov/2010/rpt/2010-R-0512.htm. If i have follow this, they are proposing doubling the comp for DeCilio. You can see what other towns are paying for this position. This is WAYYYYY out of line.
If you look at this form Fairfield, they will argue that they are bringing Stratford’s comp for registrars up to the level of pother comparable size towns.
Click to access ROVSalaryIncreaseRequest.pdf
Rock,
You are forgetting that this is Stratford. We are the same Town that pays its Town Attorney 300% more than any surrounding Town. Of course, we never never never pay anything less than a surrounding Town. That’s how we got higher sewer fees and a $210,000/year BOE Superintendent, remember? This Town strives not to be outdone in expense.
Why wouldn’t we pay more for Registrars who are never there because all of the actual work is done by the assistants and Town Clerk? Listen, it’s hard work showing up at a few polling places on election day and making sure the other Registrar is behaving.
On the other hand, since most of the work is done by the DMV and Secretary of State (Really? Do you need to register to vote or change parties? Go here: http://www.sots.ct.gov/sots/lib/sots/electionservices/electforms/electforms/ed-671s.pdf or here:https://voterregistration.ct.gov/OLVR/registerDetails.do)
Sadly, I think this will zip right through with the usual 9-1 vote and there will go $133,737 that we’ll have to cough up and won’t be able to spend on something that benefits us. Who needs more medics/EMT’s anyway?
By the way, Harkins got a 30% raise. Why not spread it around to the guy who writes his nasty letters?
Is it typical for a committee chairman to be registrar? Isn’t that a conflict of interest? Why do we trust a partisan hack with our vote, let alone pay him a hefty wage and benefits to hang out at Starbucks and write poison pen letters to the editor?
Shake my head….
Has Mr. Marcone, Stratford’s other Registar, voiced his opposition to this? Everyone seems to be killing Lou Decilio, rightfully, but don’t forget we have two Registrars.
Mike,
“but don’t forget we have two Registrars.”
That’s how I got to $133,737. After all, why should Stratford only waste money on one do-nothing position?
Because of the tight control the RTC & DTC have on the Town, the Registrar of Voters position has always gone to whoever happened to be the Committee chairman. In the past it was part-time at something around $30K/year. Showing up during the work week at the Registrar’s office was never really a requirement. Oh sometimes there was business to do. Like when Richard Miron ( a past “qualified” Registrar) “retired” for two weeks in order to cash out his 401K.
But pretty much it was the reward for the tedium of chairing the party committees. It’s not like either Registrar is there if you need to register. That detail is usually handled by the assistants or the Town Clerk. In fact, if you want to register to vote and can’t download the form from the Town website, the Secretary of State’s website or the DMV website you go to the Town Clerk’s office. After you spend 30 or 40 seconds filling it out, you hand it right back to the Town Clerk. Obviously you can see the need for two “qualified” people at $66,868 EACH plus vacation (10 days) plus sick time (10 days) plus holidays plus benefits to handle the immense workload.
Now you may think that the workload is a bit light. But let’s not forget the rumors, gossip and stories flying around Town Hall that must be denied or enhanced by responsible and well paid Party leaders. You know, like Lou DeCilio who has to bash anyone who objects to selling off Town assets.
I did not attend the Council meeting last night due to having a life, but if anyone knows whether or not this passed by the usual 9-1 vote please post it.
Now that I think of it Im sure republican councilman Connors put this forward to help out Mr. Marcone…brilliant as usual mikereynolds…roll eyes
If Mr. Marcone finds this increase in his salary so reprehensible I’m sure he’ll speak out against it.
Mike,
You mean like Harkins did about his raise?
Roll eyes…again
To no one’s surprise the vote was 9-1 in favor of taking more of our money.
Raise your hand if you still believe the RTC or DTC represents our interests.
…No one?
Keep rolling those eyes…eventually you’ll see straight.
I see straight enough to know those crooks in the RTC that you run defense for belong in ski masks, the way they rob we taxpayers blind.
I also see straight enough to know the crooks in the DTC are no better!
Even the few who arent outright criminals could be termed criminally incompetent.
I’m just anxious for the day when the FBI finally swoops in and send them all on a long vacation to Club Fed.
The FBI? Yeah, sure. Now I’ll roll my eyes.
Mike,
So your only objection is that the Democratic Registrar of Voters got the raise too? Can you explain the 9-1 vote? Were all those Republican Councilmen (Including Connor, the Republican who proposed it.) concerned about the poor Democratic Registrar of Voters?
“So your only objection is that the Democratic Registrar of Voters got the raise too? ”
I can’t believe you drew that conclusion.
Did I not say that Decilio is being rightfully killed here? I’m no fan of his and I think the RTC would be better served by someone else being the chairman.
However, before everyone jumps on the anti-Registrar bandwagon remember the chairman of the SDTC occupies the other cushy chair in that office and has a propensity to write letters to the editor as well. If you’re going to kill Decilio, Marcone shouldn’t be left out of the fun.
I don’t have to explain the 9-1 vote. The voters of Stratford decided to have that 9-1 super majority. If you don’t like it then get on the SDTC like Patti Sperling and do something about the absolute absence of credibility being experienced by the SDTC. You’ve said it yourself…Democrats outnumber Republicans in Stratford…how does this happen?
Mike,
“how does this happen?”
I think I’ve already answered that one:
“I can’t believe you drew that conclusion. ”
It must have been when you said: “If Mr. Marcone finds this increase in his salary so reprehensible I’m sure he’ll speak out against it.”
“It must have been when you said: “If Mr. Marcone finds this increase in his salary so reprehensible I’m sure he’ll speak out against it.”
I don’t believe that is an objection or an endorsement hence I don’t know how you are drawing your conclusion.
Will all the staff now be working a 40 hour week?
Mike,
This horse is almost dead. Mr. Decilio had no discernible objection either.
In any event, this ridiculous raise for these two purely political no-show positions is symbolic of the way residents and businesses of Stratford are treated by this RTC Council and mayor.
I can hardly wait to read Harkins’ proposed 5.7% increased budget. I don’t feel I’ve been insulted enough yet.
Cyclops,
“Will all the staff now be working a 40 hour week?”
Don’t be silly. It states right there in the agenda item that the Town thinks that 37.5 hours equals 40 hours. Not to mention the 160 hours of vacation and sick time ($5,486) that they will undoubtedly cash out. Besides, I don’t think they’ve installed time clocks in Town Hall. Who is going to check? The Registrar of Voters?
Marcone hasn’t been the Chairman of the SDTC for over a year.
Appalled,
Sigh….let’s not get all defensive here. Marcone was Committee Chair when he was “elected” as Registrar. My guess is that Buturla was already billing the Town $150/hour (straight time) and couldn’t afford to be Registrar.
Speaking of “electing” Registrars…there are only ever two names to vote for for the two positions. One Republican, one Democrat. Kinda like voting in North Korea isn’t it?
Not defensive, just factual. Marcone isn’t innocent, but he also isn’t in charge of the Ds or the town legal fees on still active lawsuits. The point is, should a sitting Chair of political party (or legal counsel still on the books) be allowed to run for registrar? So far we have neither from the Ds in that role, but there is DeCilio.
If the registrar is split between R & D, the least we can do is make sure that those elected aren’t also the running their respective parties. (And frankly, comparing Marcone’s role to Decilio’s make for a pretty hilarious
false equivalence.)
I think the point is $137,00+ for nothing.
Well, yes.
The ROV’s are not the only ones receiving substantial pay increases albeit they are receiving the most. There are several receiving double digit percentage increases totally several thousands of dollars for each and all in one fiscal year.
“However, before everyone jumps on the anti-Registrar bandwagon remember the chairman of the SDTC occupies the other cushy chair in that office and has a propensity to write letters to the editor as well. If you’re going to kill Decilio, Marcone shouldn’t be left out of the fun.”
Ok Mike, let me make it official and say that Marcone should not accept the raise either. Plus least we not forget that Phillips voted FOR the increase. What a joke. Its all part of the wink-wink maneuvers that goes on behind closed doors.
“Will all the staff now be working a 40 hour week?”
1Cyclops: But since they are hardly ever in the office, how would we know? We could probably get by with the assistants working their 20-25 hours per week.
Jez, how about an iCamera in DeCilio’s home office where he makes all those blog posts on the Patch in disguise? That must use up at least 10-15 hours per week. Why not at the taxpayers expense? PLus all those lovely letters he writes to the Star. That counts as time on the clock too you know.
Rock,
“Its all part of the wink-wink maneuvers that goes on behind closed doors.”
You mean like a water park in District 3? Or is it District 2? I get confused.
Ms. Phillips is beginning to remind me of Charlie Brown trying to kick that football. The Council and mayor, of course, being Lucy. Unfortunately, it will now cost the taxpayers an extra $100,000 every year for the rest of eternity.
And no, there is no justification whatsoever for adding a do nothing position just because the “other” side has one.
“That counts as time on the clock too you know.”
“Clock”? What clock? You wouldn’t want Registrars showing up twice a day to actual log their time in and out would you?
well YEH!!! twice a day and then we will call in there twice a day to see if they actually show. If not …
Update:
The Town of Stratford has a new “Legislative and Constituent Liaison” appointed by Mayor Harkins named David Fuller (Yes. The former councilman). His salary is unknown, his duties are unknown and his whereabouts are unknown. One needn’t bother referring to the budget because it is not there.
Money for nothing.