12 TIMES • OCTOBER 6, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.QNS.com editorial 22 THE COURIER SUN • OCTOBER 6, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com SNAPS QUEENS WHITESTONE BRIDGE AT NIGHT PHOTO BY MARY GRACE FARRUGGIA Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @ queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing editorial@qns. com (subject: Queens Snaps). Part-time time policies policies equal equal full-time corruption The thought of raising an elected offi cial’s pay often causes people to wretch in disgust. That’s especially true in New York state, which has seen over the last decade one lawmaker after another shackled and marched into a courtroom to answer to charges of public corruption. Whenever an Assembly member or state senator takes a perp walk, our trust in government — already shaken by bad decisions — is eroded even more. We often ask ourselves how we allow this to happen time and again, but we don’t look as deeply into the problem as we should. New York state lawmakers are considered part-time workers; they only spend six months of the year in active session in Albany. They are also permitted to take on side jobs away from government. In recent years, however, we’ve seen some unscrupulous politicians use their part-time work to their advantage, manipulating a fl awed system of government in Albany. Fortunately, a number of them were caught. Consider the late Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, who supplemented his job by opening up a consulting fi rm which he used to funnel kickbacks from companies doing business with the state. Consider also former Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin, who embezzled funds from the unions he represented in his side job as president of the Central Labor Council. Consider also ousted Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who used his other job with a law fi rm to accept bribes in exchange for his infl uence in government. The reality is that if we want to stop Albany’s “pay-to-play” culture, we have to start by making our state lawmakers full-time employees and prohibiting them from holding any other job while in offi ce. In order to do this, the state must also increase the lawmakers’ pay. New York State legislators make $79,500 annually — and they haven’t had a pay increase in 17 years. A state commission has recommended a raise, but Governor Andrew Cuomo has balked at the idea, noting that any increases should fi rst be approved by his appointees. We’re not naive enough to believe that raising pay and changing the law will completely eliminate corruption. This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reforming Albany. More must be done to regulate campaign fi nance and diminish the infl uence of lobbyists; that task won’t be easy. Nevertheless, we believe that these changes would go a long way toward ending the “pay-to-play” culture and send a message to everyone in government that those who would sell out their constituents have no business being there. sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM Font: Engravers Old English Normal VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH STEPHEN REINA RON TORINA, JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ, CHERYL GALLAGHER KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA SUZANNE MONTEVERDI KATARINA HYBENOVA CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI JACLYN HERTLING DEBORAH CUSICK WARREN SUSSMAN CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS PUBLISHER & EDITOR CO-PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER ESTABLISHED 1908 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-ART DIRECTOR YUNIS JOSHUA SCHNEPS......................ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Co-Publishers ARTISTS ROBERT POZARYCKI..................STAFF REPORTERS Editor-in-Chief Font: Engravers Old English Normal NIRMAL SINGH.............................DIGITAL EDITOR Production Manager CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS CHERYL GALLAGHER EVENTS COORDINATOR ...............Art Director DEBORAH ASSISTANT CUSICK......................TO PUBLISHER SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Classified Manager MARLENE RUIZ.............................CLASSIFIED MANAGER Assistant Classified Manager CONTROLLER ANTHONY GIUDICE.....................PRESIDENT & CEO Reporter VICE PRESIDENT CRISTIN NOONAN........................Contributor Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 www.qns.com editorial e-mail: [email protected] for advertising e-mail: [email protected] Entire Contents Copyright 2016 by The Courier Sun All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. 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