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To The Editor:
In a recent issue of the local weekly The Gazette, a letter appeared which had some incorrect information about the circumstances by which I cut my own salary as Ossining Town Supervisor. I completely understand that government budgets can sometimes be a little difficult to understand. But in this case, I think I can clarify the issue very easily.
In 2008, the Supervisor's salary was over $76,000. Immediately upon taking office in January 2009, I reduced my salary by 10%; in January 2010 I lowered it again by 3%, since I was asking managers and non-union employees to take an unpaid furlough equal to 3% of their salaries. In 2011, I reduced my salary a third time by $1,316 to allocate that money to the Veterans Services budget, since the veterans groups requested additional funding, leaving me with my current salary of $65,769. These figures are all available on the Town of Ossining website.
But these salary reductions, by themselves, are unimportant. They were three drops in the bucket of a larger town budget. Obviously, cutting my salary was not something I enjoyed doing, especially as it had a negative impact on my family. But it was something I needed to do to set the necessary tone for the collaborative and innovative cost savings initiatives the town was able to implement in the three years that I have been Town Supervisor.
When I first took office in 2009, the Town, Westchester County, and the nation were in the midst of one of the worst economic crises we had seen in more than a generation. In Ossining, we had very little rainy-day funds to draw upon to meet the economic challenge. As Supervisor, I knew that in order to restore the town's financial health, some tough decisions had to be made. We needed to find a way to get more results with less government. Vital services needed to be done in a more efficient way. Cuts had to be made.
"Government cuts" is a popular term these days. Now more than ever, people expect government at all levels to figure out ways to be smarter and more efficient with their tax dollars. And rightly so. But making cuts to government is not a simple matter of balancing numbers on a spreadsheet. There is a very real human element to it. Cutting government in the Town of Ossining meant asking for cooperation from the Town's work force. It meant freezing pay during a time when cost of living was rising. It meant asking people who had lived and worked in this town for decades to make sacrifices.
That is why I cut my salary. I believe in leading by example, and working collaboratively to tackle tough economic realities while preserving the services that matter most. As Town Supervisor, it would not have been right for me to ask anyone to do something that I wouldn't do myself. As a County Legislator, I will also seek to find innovative way to cut taxes while laying the groundwork for a prosperous future.
Very truly yours,
Catherine Borgia
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