Despite a another huge tax hike, a hiring freeze, a fiscal crisis, over $20 million in borrowing, a 45% increase in the city's debt, and a specific promise not to hire any "family & friends”, Adelson, Torres, and Mandel have hired their Democrat Leader's son, Matt Kohut, to a $45,000 a year city job, Give the police a sweetheart deal and raises taxes just 2 months into the budget year!
The hiring of council members Adelson, Torres, and Mandel "friends and family" by the new city administration continues; and taxpayers are paying for it. It is because of political hiring’s like this, as well as Adelson, Torres, and Mandel's out of control spending habits that forced the City of Long Beach to exceed Gov. Cuomo's 2% tax cap in the very first year it has been in effect and increase taxes only 2 months after they adopted their annual budget! Last week, Torres, Adelson, Mandel and Schnirman hired Matt Kohut, who is also Governor Cuomo's "poster boy" for why New Yorkers need a tax cap. The poster boy just happens to be the Long Beach Democratic Leader and Adelson, Torres and Mandel's campaign manager, Steve Kohut's son!
That's right, add another political “family and friend” to the long list of supporters, donors, friends and family hired to a city job despite a self imposed “hiring freeze," a so-called “fiscal crisis," the layoff of more than 20 hard-working CSEA employees, the layoff of five firefighters and a plan to borrow another $5.6 million this month after already borrowing $6 million in March, $5 million in June, and another $4.43 million in July totaling over $22 million of borrowing in eight (8) short months and increasing the city's debt by over 45%! With the hiring of Matt Kohut, the city now employs Long Beach Democratic Leader Steve Kohut's wife, Diane, and his son Matt! To date, the new city administration has hired more than 20 "family and friends" at a cost of more than $1.2 million/year, despite a specific campaign promise not to hire any family and friends!
The hiring of Steve Kohut's son Matt is much more than another example of the political patronage, out of control spending and cronyism by Torres, Adelson, and Mandel, it's another example of the utter incompetence that has flooded the city workforce under this administration despite Adelson, Mandel and Torres' promise to hire the best and the brightest "qualified" people to serve our city.
In full disclosure, Matt Kohut did take a civil service exam in February and he did score in the top three. However, he lives in Merrick, not Long Beach. In the past when a civil service exam was given the city would create two (2) lists to hire from, one Long Beach resident list and one out-of-town list. I know from my experience on the city council and on the civil service commission that is was the city's long standing past practice and preference to hire off the Long Beach residents' list, as taxpayers should be given preference. But in this specific case the city made only one list that combined the residents and out of town applicants. This sudden change in policy worked to Kohut's advantage. One has to wonder if this was done specifically to ensure that the city would have to hire the politically connected Matt Kohut.
But there is even more. Matt Kohut is also a lieutenant on the lifeguard beach patrol. The civil service eligibility list was generated in February but the city didn't hire Kohut to the recreation position until after he finished his summer job on Labor Day; He started his new job this past Thursday, just one day after his lifeguard job finished for the season. This raises a serious question: How could the position, which had been vacant for months, be so vitally important to the city if the administration could hold the job for months until Kohut could start work? I wonder if all new city employees get that kind of courtesy? I know the 20 CSEA workers and the five firefighters who were recently laid off didn't get that type of courtesy; they were called into the office and told you're laid off or fired. In fact, some former employees actually read about their termination in the paper the day before they were let go! One has to wonder if the reasons why Kohut received this type of courtesy were because of his father's political connections.
Not only is Matt Kohut’s father Steve a dominant figure in the Long Beach Democrat Clubhouse, he also has connections at the highest levels of New York State. To prove that point, last year when Gov. Cuomo needed an example of an overtaxed homeowner who couldn't afford their Long Island property taxes, Steve Kohut attended a press conference for Cuomo on his son's front lawn in Merrick. A picture says a thousand words and the picture of Gov. Cuomo standing with the Long Beach political boss Steve Kohut and Matt, at Matt’s Merrick home, demonstrates the very breadth and depth of his father’s political connections. Is Kohut qualified to work in our Recreation Center?
If anyone is wondering if this was a political hiring consider this: Kohut, like me, is a certified schoolteacher. Over the past few years Kohut has worked in numerous school districts including Oceanside, Long Beach, Bellmore, Elmont and Rockville Center. But for one reason or another it doesn't appear Kohut was ever awarded a full time, tenured teaching position. Teacher's tenure is only awarded to those teachers who prove their skill and expertise. It is awarded only to those proven teachers who school districts' wish to have a career commitment with. If this is the case why hasn't any school district ever offered Kohut a tenured position? If he wasn't desirable enough for a school district to award him tenure why is he good enough for our recreation center where the primary constituency is our children? Did the city check Kohut's profession references? Was he ever let go from a teaching position?
At the a photo-op last year Governor Cuomo stood on Kohut's Merrick front lawn and said, "I understand cutting the budget is hard, but if the option is raising taxes on Matt's household or cutting the government spending . . . I'm more sympathetic to Matt's plight," referring to Kohut!! (Video-http://www.newsday.com/video/property-taxes-1.2359521). Cuomo's comments about Kohut couldn't be more ironic. That's because Schnirman, Torres, Adelson, and Mandell blew the Governor's tax cap into the stratosphere with their 2012-2013 budget in its very first year because of their out of control spending and their hiring of multiple friends and family just like Matt Kohut, and this week raised taxes again only 2 months after they adopted their first tax increase!!
Ironically, it is hirings like Kohut's that required the Schnirman, Adelson, Mandel, and Torres administration had to override the state imposed tax cap and raise taxes on Long Beach homeowners! The taxpayers of Long Beach are "overburdened" because of this administration's out of control hiring of politically connected family and friends, just like Kohut and others Torres, Adelson, and Mandel's hypocrisy is truly mind-boggling!
Time and time again, in just eight short months Adelson, Mandel, Torres have proven their hypocrisy since the day they took office. They criticized the prior administration for hiring “family and friends” and as a result they made a specific campaign promise not to hire any "family or friends." Yet Matt Kohut represents the 20th politically connected person or firm this administration has hired or given a taxpayer funded award or contract to! These hiring’s have cost the taxpayers over $1.2 million in salaries and to pay for these friends to have taxpayer funded jobs Schnirman, Adelson, Mandel, and Torres raised our taxes and borrowed over $22 million more to pay for their outrageous spending and bloated payroll! Consider this: since January the city has increased the city's debt by nearly 45% and they hired $1.2 million worth of friends and family to city jobs, all while blaming the prior administration’s spending and Senator Skelos for their problems. Do they think we are stupid?
So while Matt Kohut may be Governor Cuomo’s “poster boy” for why New Yorkers need a property tax cap, he is now the Long Beach taxpayer’s “poster boy” for high taxes, cronyism, political patronage, outrageous spending and all that is wrong with Long Beach government. While he may appear to be the very picture of an overtaxed, hardworking man in Merrick, he represents the very reason why Long Beach residents are paying outrageously high property taxes under Schnirman, Adelson, Mandel, and Torres, and why residents of our city will be straddled with debt for years to come.
