$48,000-$75,000 Starting Pay
By Eric Schoen
There are job openings in Yonkers and Westchester. Let’s start with the Yonkers jobs. The 2 in Yonkers are part time and pay $48,000 a year and are for 4 years guaranteed. Maximum 12 years. Fully paid health insurance. With 12 years you get a pension and health insurance benefits for the rest of your life.
A car comes with the job filled with city paid for gas. You are supposed to use the car for city business, but no one really stops you from piling the family in the car and heading up to Ridge Hill in Yonkers to do shopping. Hey, at least you are supporting the local economy!
Depending on how many years you have on the job, seniority and the support of your colleagues, you can be selected for a leadership position. That comes with additional monetary support. Comes in handy during the holidays!
You control a budget of over a billion dollars. In actuality $1.2 billion dollars spread out between the city and its’ school system. Plenty of jobs are under your control. They are supposed to be open to everyone in Yonkers but nothing stops you from recommending someone for one of the jobs. Many people don’t even live in Yonkers and get the jobs.
Yes, many of the jobs require one to take an examination and score high enough among fellow job seekers for appointment. But who knows how long it will take for an examination to be called for. Make up a new title and the examination is not called until it is scheduled by the State of New York. Chances are the questions on the exam will have little or nothing to do with the job you will actually be doing. So if you are a good test taker, you can score high and move up the ladder.
The jobs that don’t require an examination, well they fall into a slippery slope. Some have specific jobs requirements that you must have. Many others have ‘suggested’ job requirements you should have for the job. And many of the jobs serve at the pleasure of the man in charge of the whole entity. Perish the thought that you would recommend someone for one of these jobs but it is not unheard of. Could even be a friend or relative. Chances are that person has a better shot at getting the job than the average ‘joe schmo’ on the street who might have far better qualifications.
Now there are certain requirements for the two job openings. Some are drawbacks where you could risk your life doing them. You must live in the particular district where the job is located. You are required this year to get only 150 signatures of people who live in the district nominating you for the job. They must be in the same political party as you. But getting those signatures this year might be particularly difficult task.
You would normally go door to door, apartment buildings and private houses and ask people to sign a petition nominating you for the job. It’s not such an easy task right now as we are in the middle of a pandemic. You have the federal, state, county and local governments telling you to stay in your house and if you go outside wear a mask, wash your hands and keep your distance, at least 6 feet from others.
How can you get 150 signatures which you or a Notary Public must witness? How can you do this from 6 feet away. That is if the person answering the door, someone you may or may not know actually opens it. But wait, our government leaders tell us not to come in contact with people who do not live in our households or are family members living in the household. You could be risking your life and you, god forbid could get Covid-19, the virus involved in the current pandemic.
So what is this good paying job with excellent benefits with the drawback of getting ill by coming into close contact with those you don’t know? You can, if you live in the 2nd or 6th Yonkers City Council District become a Yonkers City Councilperson this year. The current City Councilpersons, Corazon Pineda Isaac and Anthony Merante are up for re-election this year.
This would be the the 3rd four year term for Pineda Isaac. But wait a minute. Didn’t she vote against extending term limits from 2 to 3 four year terms as a member of the City Council several years ago when the issue was before the City Council? These issues most of the times are decided upon by the voters. But 3 years ago a majority of the City Council approved extending term limits with Pineda Isaac and Council President Mike Khader voting against it.
Pineda Isaac was pretty clear that she was against the extension of term limits when she voted no. Could the pension and life time health benefits after 12 years have changed her mind. Or is it one of those only in Yonkers kids things, only in Yonkers. Or maybe she thinks the city needs her now more than ever. I have no answers friends.
When we go up to the the County level, all County Legislative seats are up for election this year. Pay is $75,000 with additional compensation for leadership posts. Term is only 2 years. No car other than a shared car. Health benefits fully paid for.
You are charged with approving a County budget of $2 Billion. Most of that is mandated by the state. But if you were to walk down the street and ask 100 people what a County Legislator does, I doubt half of them would be able to tell you one or two things the County is responsible for doing.
Friends this is nothing new.
It reminds me of the time when the child of a Yonkers resident didn’t get into the college of choice he or she wanted. It was a private college somewhere in this great country of ours. They complained not only to college officials but also to then Yonkers Mayor Angelo R. Martinelli. Yes, the good Mayor could send a letter of recommendation to the college on the child’s behalf, but in terms of the decision as to whether or not the child would get in he played absolutely no role.
So, if you live in Westchester County or in the 2nd or 6th Yonkers City Council Districts there are good paying jobs with nice fringe benefits available to you. For the most part except for the one Yonkers district represented by Councilman Merante all you need is 150 signatures of Democrats in your district to get elected. You need to make up your mind very soon as you can start collecting those signatures March 2 and they must be filed by March 25.
The drawback, of course is that you and your supporters have to get 150 signatures going up to people you don’t know with the possibility god forbid of getting sick. This could have been changed by the people who are telling you not to interact with people you don’t know and to stay home, wash your hands, keep a six foot distance and wear a mask. Those in charge did lower the number of signatures you would need (normally it was around 500) but they shortened the time to get those signatures, cutting it in half.
Let me end with a quote from the Gershwin song ‘Nice Work If You Can Get it’ that was in the Broadway musical of that name and the Broadway musical ‘Crazy For You.’
Holding hands at midnight
‘Neath a starry sky
Nice work if you can get it
And you can get it if you try!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM, go to WVOX.com and click the arrow to listen to the live stream or download the WVOX app from the App Store free of charge.
