County executive’s political handler shouldn’t have his own set of rules.
There are exceptions to nearly every rule, especially if you happen to be a key player in the Republican county executive’s office.
Chris Collins’ political handler/chief of staff has ignored the rule, in place at the Rath County Office Building since 2009, that requires nearly every employee to swipe his or her county identification card through a reader each workday to create a record for payroll.
Christopher M. Grant swiped his card for only a couple of months, mid-August to mid-October 2009. But his workday was later entered, to the precise minute, manu-ally and with the help of an office manager and with the eventual approval of Personnel Commissioner John W. Greenan.
All county employees would probably like such assistance. But that wouldn’t adhere to the county executive’s promotional materials citing the accomplishments of his first term, including rectifying the county’s “inefficient paper timekeeping and payroll system that was ripe with abuse, manpower-intensive and wasteful.”
There are reasonable exceptions to the rule. A few department heads and employees required to start their day outside the office do not swipe. And the system doesn’t apply to the county executive and Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz, because they are elected officials and accountable to the public.
Collins instituted the system, and it makes sense to us. Then why does one of his employees seem to have an in-visible asterisk next to his name entitling him to act above that rule?
We’re not so naive as to think that there have never been political operatives working in county government. There are politically astute individuals in every level of government keeping an eye on their party’s operations and helping elect the right candidates.
According to News staff reporter Matthew Spina, besides serving the county executive in his election victory in 2007 and acting as a player in the local RepublicanParty apparatus, Grant’s services were utilized in the 2009 County Legislature election.
He was less successful recently when he was loaned to Assemblywoman Jane Corwin in her bid for New York’s 26th Congressional District seat. Corwin lost to Democrat Kathleen C. Hochul.
Again, politically astute individuals have their place and Grant has proven, even with the latest loss, a valuable player for Collins. But within the confines of his official duties for the county, he should be held to the same standard as other workers.
Grant has not returned to his job with Collins but, if he does, we’d suggest the county executive consider putting him on the same footing as the rest of his employees, meaning he swipes in and out of work each day.