By Eric Wolf Schoen
President Trump has to follow the law by living and being born in the United States. Joe Biden has to follow the laws too. Same goes for Presidents Clinton and Obama and Kennedy and FDR. Pretty straight forward and what you would expect for the President of the United States.
Christopher Johnson is a WESTCHESTER County Legislator. He gets elected to a legislative district. If he should move out of his district his position on the Board the County Charter is pretty specific:
‘A county legislator who ceases to be a resident of such district from which he is elected shall forfeit his office and the same shall be deemed vacant.’
Pretty straight forward. So why the hell did the Board of Legislators meet Monday to discuss ‘his situation.’They have nothing to do with his moving from an investment to a house to a house to an investment or that ever happened here. He doesn’t live in the district he was elected in.
The minute he moved out of the district he was elected to represent he loses his seat on the Board of Legislators. The County Board has nothing to do with it. When the move occurred and Mr. Johnson admitted it, that was it. Any vote he made as a County Legislator from that point on did not count. The seat is vacant until it is filled.
The people to blame in this fiasco? Apparently the Board of Legislators is waiting for a communication from the County Attorney as to what to do. County Attorney? What does he have to do with this? I view this as a stalling tactic and nothing else.
But the two people to really blame. County Executive George Latimer and the County Finance Commissioner. When they knew Johnson was not living in the district he was elected to represent they should have stopped paychecks to him. They should have begun ‘clawing back’ money he was not due from any funds due him. They needed to calculate money that was paid to him that should not have been.
Let me remind you again the County Board and any other boards can meet all they want but this is out of their jurisdiction.
Just a reminder since no one here seems to be following any laws that if a majority of the legislators gather in a room no matter if that room is on Martinè Avenue in White Plains or in DisneyWorld in Florida you as a citizen have the right to be in that room whether or not county business is discussed. This law has been on the books for ages and many people don’t know it.
The Inspector General for the City of Yonkers has been called on to investigate the other piece of this puzzle, whether or not Johnson can rent out a federally subsidized apartment he owns to family members. How he thinks he has the power to do this is remarkable. Taking an apartment away from someone who really needs it, well that person has no ethics. I hope the federal government makes him return every penny he stole in this scheme.
Makes you wonder if this scheme is being played by one legislator how many other elected officials are part of the game? Has the County Ethics Board reviewed this. Did they review the disclosure statements officials are required to submit. Is anybody at home here or is the County Board asleep like they were when there were tapes of one of their employees attempting non-consensual sex with an underage girl?
Between Johnson and the Legislature’s failure to immediately fire their employee accused via video and audio of sexual shenanigans yes, friends there’s trouble in River City. With all that is going the County Executive must appoint an independent Inspector General to review such manners.
A similar situation played out in Yonkers many years ago but at least the Yonkers City Council didn’t attempt to get involved. Someone read the Yonkers City Charter and the League of Woman Voters in Yonkers got involved. The Councilman who did not live in the district he was elected resigned. Simple!
Let’s hope the County Board cleans up its act and good, ethical government can return to WESTCHESTER County. Now!
Briefs:
Do you think it was Hunter Biden who brought cocaine into the White House and dropped it in a working room. I don’t think so. Even he’s not that stupid. The only thing I can think of is this was a game to embarrass his father and get him not to run again because of his mental state.
Oh my! Drama on the set of Wheel of Fortune. Vanna wanted more say in who would replace Pat Sayjak and now that she didn’t get it she wants more of a piece of the $$ action. Wheel without Pat AND Vanna? I can’t take it.
What can Steve Harvey not do? Now he plays a judge. It’s sad that the major networks don’t have anyone in the bullpen to bring up and host game, judicial or talk shows. There must be someone out there!
Listen to Eric Schoen 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. Reach him at thistooisyonkers@aol.com.
