Desso Disagrees With Himself

At last night's Town Board meeting, the board was asked a question by Supervisor candidate CB Smith. The question was whether anyone on the board would support a change to the town's ethics law that would permit party chairman to be appointed to paid positions in town hall?

Well the answer to the question was resounding silence by Board members, none of whom dared to say they would support rescinding that provision of the ethics law. Not even Lou Desso. Why would anyone ask such a question asked the Supervisor. And the answer simply was that this is exactly what Councilman Lou Desso had done to Hudson Valley Community College just days before when as a County Legislator, he voted to change the County Ethics Law's prohibitions against the employment of party officers at HVCC.

Apparently Mr. Desso the County Legislator disagrees with Mr. Desso the Town Councilman! He would never do to the town what he did to the college by allowing partisan politics to enter into the governance of the school. In effect, Desso disagreed with himself! Well ain't that a hoot!

Trouble is, why would anyone believe that a politician who just voted to open the floodgates to partisan politics and political shenanigans at HVCC be opposed to a similar vote as a town board member here in North Greenbush. Maybe Lou has arguments with himself over the issue, although we know of no debate taking place.

The bottom line here is a lesson that you can't judge someone by their words, but by their deeds. No matter how you cut it, Desso's vote as a County Legislator to embroil HVCC into partisan politics by weakening the County Ethics Law speaks louder than any words of support he could muster for the Ethics Law in North Greenbush.

Soon his political cronies will be able to join the payroll at HVCC where an ethics law once stopped him from doing so. Ethics in Politics 101 at HVCC starts int he fall 2011 semester and Professor Lou Desso will be teaching the course.