Lawmakers Demand Day Implement Resolution Supporting Union Rep

NEW CITY, NY — The Rockland County Legislature’s Government Operations Committee voted 6-0 Tuesday to formally object to County Executive Ed Day’s refusal to implement a resolution authorizing paid leave for the CSEA’s Regional President.

Legislators are calling on the County Executive to immediately rectify the situation and say they are ready to take the matter to court to enforce the resolution - both to make their jurisdiction clear and to support the union leader.

“The Administration’s failure to follow through on the resolution is a failure to implement a legal act of the Legislature in a timely manner,” said Michael Grant, chair of the Government Operations Committee. . “Furthermore, Mr. Riccaldo has worked diligently on behalf of his union and its members, including his opposition to the County Executive’s attempts to change health care coverage for county government retirees, and his treatment smacks of retaliation.”

William Riccaldo holds a county job title as coordinator of facilities maintenance in the Department of General Services. For 10 years, he was on a paid leave of absence to accommodate his service on behalf of the Civil Service Employees Association, or CSEA, the union representing the largest portion of county government workers. The union fully reimburses the county for his pay and benefits.

The Administration placed Riccaldo on unpaid leave in July, after the 10-year agreement authorizing his paid leave expired.

The Legislature voted 11-5 on Oct. 16 to establish a new agreement, which the County Executive subsequently vetoed. The Legislature voted 16-1 on Dec. 4 to override the veto.

“The County Executive has failed to implement the dictates of the resolution and place Mr. Riccaldo on paid leave as required – actions that ignore the doctrine of separation of powers and violate both New York State Law and the Rockland County Charter,” Legislator Alden Wolfe said.

Day's office issued this response:

It is troubling that Legislator Michael Grant hastily proceeded with this action knowing full well that the County Attorney’s Office and counsel representing the CSEA have been in contact in an attempt to resolve this matter. These discussions are necessary as there are legal issues, according to the County Attorney, regarding the original resolution authorizing paid leave for William Riccaldo. He chose to ignore this.

The prudent course of action would have been to wait for these discussions to come to a conclusion before taking action. However, this one Legislator is obsessed with wanting to manage County Government.

This is the same Legislator who in his haste to manage personnel matters back in 2017 attempted to fire a military wife when he ignored the funding clauses in a resolution prepared by Stephen F. DeGroat, Commissioner of Finance/Budget Director to honor the plan of Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco III to pay for the Memorandum of Agreement between the County of Rockland and Sheriff’s Deputies Association.

These actions are reckless and reek of political gamesmanship. They also go against the legal advice of the County Attorney who believes the original resolution violates several laws. This administration will do its utmost to ensure illegalities are not codified through the reckless actions of one rogue Legislator.

PHOTO/ Robin Traum