Peter Schmitt and His Fabulous Raises

Dear Reader,
If you have come here from a internet search you are in the right place. This site is all about Legislator Peter Schmitt of Nassau County and the train wreck of an elected politician he is.
This site was discontinued in 2007 and new posts on Peter Schmitt can be found at www.nassaugopwatch.blogspot.com.
You can still look through this site for his past transgressions against the taxpayers of Nassau County.

To repeat, Please go to Nassau GOP Watch for stories on the raises and continued coverage of Schmitt's lies.

Thank you for visiting!

A Programming Note

It's been awhile since this has been updated. I mean to do it but I've been busy over at Nassau GOP Watch.
Since most all the posts are going up there, I am phasing this site out and transferring the old posts to Nassau GOP Watch. That site is expanding more and more.
Does this mean I'm done with Peter Schmitt?
Hardly.
It's just easier to have everything on one site.
I will have links posted here to Schmitt stories and have tags to Schmitt stories on Nassau GOP Watch so they are easy to find.

Schmitt is still an anti-intellectual reprobate and I'm still going to report on what he is doing.

So come on down to Nassau GOP Watch, the party has just started.

A "Heartfelt Appreciation" From Schmitt and Dunne? Hardly.

A friend of this blog and outstanding candidate John Clark caught this little copy and paste job from Schmitt and Dunne.
You can really tell when a politician cares because they take the time to do things personally. Seems Schmitt and Dunne typed out the same exact post-election "Thank You" letters to the Anton Newspapers.
Oh wait... they didn't.
Each re-elected legislator sent a form letter to the newspapers to thank the voters.
Great Job Guys!

From the Massapequan Observer...

"I am writing to express my heartfelt appreciation to the voters of the 12th Legislative District for re-electing me as County Legislator. It is an honor to serve as your representative in the Legislature.

In the coming years, our county and communities will continue to face great challenges and opportunities. I look forward to working with leaders of both parties to return this county to the principles of fiscal conservatism by encouraging the passing of my proposed legislation to freeze property reassessment for five years and discouraging the continuation of excessive county spending practices.

I also look forward to working with elected officials, community leaders and residents to preserve the suburban character of our neighborhoods. Together, we must stop the forces of urbanization that threaten our quality of life.

Once again, thank you for affording me the privilege of serving you in the County Legislature.

Legislator Peter J. Schmitt, L.D. 12

Minority Leader"

From the Levittown Tribune.....

"I am writing to express my heartfelt appreciation to the voters of the 15th Legislative District for re-electing me as County Legislator. It is an honor to serve as your representative in the Legislature.

In the coming years, our county and communities will continue to face great challenges and opportunities. I look forward to working with leaders from both parties to return this county to the principles of fiscal conservatism by encouraging the passing of my proposed legislation to freeze property reassessment for five years and discouraging the continuation of excessive county spending practices.

I also look forward to working with elected officials, community leaders and residents to preserve the suburban character of our neighborhoods. Together, we must stop the forces of urbanization that threaten our quality of life.

Once again, thank you for affording me the privilege of serving you in the County Legislature.

Legislator Dennis Dunne, Sr., L.D. 15"

You'd think they would be embarrassed by this.. but they are not.

Newsday Endorses Me (John Rennhack) for Legislature

12TH DISTRICT

Republican Peter Schmitt, 57, of Massapequa, has taken to his role as minority leader of the legislature with vigor. Perhaps too much vigor. While the job is to lead the loyal opposition, Schmitt has too often been an obstructionist, reflexively rejecting anything the Democratic majority proposed. He stands for everything that we found disappointing about the old, sclerotic Republican Party.

Democrat John Rennhack, 37, of North Massapequa, is a television broadcast satellite manager who wants to use technology to open up legislative operations to the public. And he would push Nassau to go green. Both are worthy ideas. But his anti-Republican rhetoric as an outsider and Web site operator has, unfortunately, sometimes been over the top. He needs to reject the hyper-partisanship that has characterized his opponent. With that caveat, Newsday endorses Rennhack.

Full of Schmitt

Schmitt raises some rightous indignation on News12 about the PROPOSED raises for the County Executive, Assessor, DA, and Clerk.
Schmitt practically screams at Scott Feldman "You don't try and sneak it in the middle of the night without any public scrutiny or without any public debate or public discussion. He should know better."
What the hell is Schmitt talking about????
Seriously.
Nothing is being "snuck in" because Schmitt as a legislator has to READ the budget proposal and then VOTE yes or no.
Schmitt is just plain LYING when he says there won't be "public debate or public discussion."
That is what the LEGISLATURE will be doing before they vote in the budget proposal.
I'm going to try to help Schmitt here...
Step 1. Suozzi sends budget proposal to the Legislature.
Step 2. The Legislature (which includes Schmitt) will read the budget.
Step 3. The Legislature (again which includes Schmitt) will have a public hearing on the budget.
Step 4. The Legislature (still including Schmitt) will VOTE on the budget.

No where in there is Suozzi sneaking in raises "in the middle of the night" or "without any public scrutiny or without any public debate or public discussion."

It is up to the LEGISLATURE to approve or deny the raises.
That is how it works.
To use Schmitts own words, Schmitt "should know better."

Schmitt is hoping that he can fool Nassau residents into thinking that the raises are a done deal and no one can object to them.
Why does Schmitt think Nassau residents are stupid?

Here is the video of a red-faced Schmitt doing a great job of looking like a bufoon.

Schmitt Admits to Not Doing His job

Look, I know that sometimes life can be busy. Heck, I have 3 kids under 4.
But if all you do is be a part-time Legislator and not have any other job, you can at least read the budget proposal given to you.
In a story in Newsday, it is revealed that in the budget proposal for next year there are salary increases from the County Executive to the County Clerk.
The budget proposal is a public document.
Schmitt as Minority Leader was given a copy.
This is what he said to Newsday about the raises "Minority Leader Peter Schmitt said he was "disappointed" that Suozzi did not tell the legislature about the raises, which were in the salary lines of each elected official in a "telephone-size" supporting budget book. "I have always been supportive of the idea of salary increases," Schmitt said. "I think everyone is underpaid relatively speaking, but this is not the right way. This is sneaky."

Whoa! How is putting the raises in th ebudget under its own line "sneaky?"
Sneaky would have been hiding the raises under a different budget line.
Maybe Schmitt should just read the budget.
You know, do his job.
Last time Schmitt was lazy about reading a proposal, Nassau County lost $70million.

Yes, the budget is "telephone-size" which I guess he means telephone book-sized but it is Schmitts job to read it before votes on it.
Did Schmitt want someone to write a Cliff Notes version for him?

To parapharse Schmitt for his response to Suozzi's State of the County Address earlier this year "Peter, Do. Your. Job."

Why Can't Peter Just Tell the Truth?

Even the little things are tough for him.
On his website Peterjschmitt.com, he says he graduated from Hofstra in 1973. According to a Newsday article last year, "Schmitt finished his bachelor's degree in political science at Hofstra, which awarded the degree eight years after he started, in October 1976, university records show. That date is at odds with his public statements in recent years. In 2004, he gave the graduation date as 1972 to Newsday. It is listed as 1973 on his Legislature Web site. And in 2003 he gave the date as 1974 to Massapequa weekly newspapers. Schmitt said giving the wrong graduation dates was an "oversight.”

So the "oversight" continues.

I graduated from St. John's University in 1991. Ask me in 10 years and I'll still say 1991. Ask me in 20 years and it will still be 1991.
If he can't even tell you what year he graduated, what else isn't he telling you?

It's now time for Leadership You Can Trust.