Elite get fat pay hikes amid Senate stalemate -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY:2847:

Elite get fat pay hikes amid Senate stalemate -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY:2847:

ALBANY -- Eleven of the state Senate's highest-paid staffers received raises of up to $32,000 when it appeared likely Democrats would lose control of the chamber during the five-week leadership fight.

The combined increases will cost taxpayers $200,000 annually.

Since the June 8 Senate coup, dozens of staff members from both sides of the aisle have received raises, but the elite group received raises ranging from $10,000 to $32,000 annually, state Comptroller's office records show.

The beneficiaries include top aides to Senate President Pro Tempore Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, and Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn.

Because many of the raises were backdated, staffers are paid the additional cash in a lump sum, said Jennifer Freeman, spokeswoman to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. As a result, staffers expected fat paychecks of thousands of dollars in backdated raises at the exact time that Sampson was accusing Senate Republicans of stalling legislation in an attempt to seize the spoils of majority leadership.

Early last week -- before the return of breakaway Democrat Pedro Espada Jr. ended the struggle for control of the chamber -- Sampson held a news conference where he charged Espada and Senate Republicans "care about what I call T-triple-P -- that is titles, power, pork and patronage -- more than the New York's economy."



Nevertheless, the past month has been kind to the bank accounts of some Democratic staffers.

One day after the coup, Senate Majority Deputy Secretaries Meredith Henderson and Patricia Rubens each received nearly $23,000 in raises. Both staffers received an additional raise on June 23, for a total of nearly $32,000 each, backdated to Jan. 1, 2009. Both staffers are paid $140,382.

Mortimer Lawrence, a top Smith aide and already one of the highest-paid staffers on the Senate payroll, was given a $16,000 raise on June 24 that was backdated to Jan. 2. His annual salary is now $177,231.

On June 26, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Indira Noel received a nearly $11,000 raise that bumped her salary to $118,000. Counsel for Latino and Immigrant Affairs Lourdes Ventura received a nearly $12,000 raise, increasing her annual pay to $131,000. And Curtis Taylor, who holds the title of special adviser to the majority leader, received a $13,500, taking his annual salary to $135,000.

Lawrence was Smith's chief of staff when the Democrats were in the minority; after the November elections, he became "special counsel to the majority leader." Taylor, who was the director of minority communications, became "special adviser to the majority leader." Lawrence and Taylor are members of the Queens-based Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of Greater New York, the church led by the Rev. Floyd Flake, a former congressman and Smith's political mentor.

Lawrence, Noel, Ventura and Taylor were key figures in Smith's staff before Senate Democrats won the majority, but were largely pushed aside of the daily operations of the conference when Smith ascended to become majority leader.

They were moved from the central suite on the third floor of the Capitol to other floors; some were assigned to offices in Harlem; the conference's operations, strategic planning and communications were largely taken over by Senate Secretary Angelo Aponte, Chief Counsel Shelley Mayer, and Press Secretary Austin Shafran.

Two aides to Sampson received pay raises: On June 23, special assistant Celeste Knight received a $22,000 increase, raising her annual salary to over $70,000. Administrative assistant Shirley Piper received a $10,000 pay raise to $45,000 on July 3. Both raises were backdated to mid-June, when Sampson was installed as the de-facto leader of the Democratic conference.

Meanwhile, the Senate stalemate made Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone scramble to make payroll for city workers, and drove New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to reveal a hiring freeze hitting an entire class of police academy cadets.

Senate Democrats said the pay hikes were authorized long before the June, and the timing of the raises had nothing to do with the party's tenuous hold on leadership.

"Salary increases for central staff are authorized by the office of the president of the Senate, which was at the time and still is Sen. Malcolm Smith," said Shafran. "The decision was made well prior to the leadership dispute, but because of the budget crisis and the general fiscal uncertainty of the state, the decision was made to delay the allocation of some of the salary increases. One thing had nothing to do with the other," he said.

Staffers in the offices of Republican Sens. Frank Padavan of Queens and Thomas Morahan of Rockland County received salary increases during the coup, but in both cases, the higher rates were a partial reinstatement of significant pay cuts employees took when Republicans transitioned into the minority at the beginning of the year.

"We agreed in advance, 'Let's take the cut to ensure that we can all continue to work for someone we respect,'" said Morahan spokesman Ronald Levine, who received a $6,000 raise to about $46,000. Levine said the money left over in the staffing budget allowed for partial reinstatement of salary.

The issue of resource allocation was a major reason why Senate Republicans allied themselves with two dissident Democratic senators to oust Smith from leadership. Under Smith, Republican senators each received $350,000 for staffing -- significantly less than they had received in the majority, but nearly 30 percent more than the $273,000 average that individual Democratic legislators received to staff their offices when they were in the minority.

But at the same time, Democrats slashed the Republicans' central staff. In 2008, the Senate Democratic minority had a central staff budget of $6.8 million and employed roughly 110 staff members. Beginning in April, the Republican central staff was allocated around $3.1 million.

Irene Jay Liu can be reached at 454-5081 or iliu@timesunion.com.

Big hikes amid Senate stalemate

Democrats provide salary increases to key workers while their control of the majority was in doubt

Salary

Name, title, officeAnnual salarybefore raise% changeSalary change

Celeste Knight$70,191.21$47,820.4746.78%$22,370.74

Special assistant to John Sampson

Shirley Piper $45,122.90$35,095.7428.57%$10,027.17

Administrative assistant to John Sampson

Vincent Thomas$65,177.50$53,190.0522.54%$11,987.45

Senior analyst, majority counsel

Christopher Labarge$85,232.36$75,188.7613.36%$10,043.59

Senior policy adviser, majority counsel/program

Indira Noel$118,153.77$107,412.5210.00%$10,741.25

Director of intergovernmental relations, majority counsel/program

Despina Moraitou$75,787.88$50,136.6251.16%$25,651.26

Legislative analyst, majority counsel/program/committee staff

Lourdes Ventura$131,150.69$119,227.9010.00%$11,922.79

Counsel for Latino and Immigrant Affairs, majority operations

Meredith Henderson$140,382.43$107,412.5230.69%$32,969.91

Deputy Secretary, Majority senior staff

Mortimer Lawrence$177,230.66$161,118.7810.00%$16,111.88

Special counsel to the majority leader, majority senior staff

Patricia Rubens$140,382.43$107,412.5230.69%$32,969.91

Deputy secretary, majority senior staff

Curtis Taylor$134,695.30$121,224.9411.11%$13,470.36

Special adviser to the majority leader, majority senior staff

Total$198,266.31