Post by Darth Stateworker on Sept 26, 2012 16:53:27 GMT -5
Below is my response to the CapCon blog post ( blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/157742/three-from-ig-double-dipping-bad-procurement-forged-docs-note/ ) on this, since the spam filter there seems to be instantly trashing my response to it when I try to post it:
This guy is a scumbag. Having seen firsthand when parking administrators have denied coworkers who should have gotten a handicapped spot because the spots were full up, this disgusts me to no end. One older woman in particular comes to mind - sweetest person I ever worked with. She could barely walk, even with the help of a cane, and she was stuck parking in the middle of nowhere and hoofing it in for quite some time. You will certainly not see me defending this guys actions.
That being said...
Four felonies?!?!?! $10,0000 bail?!?!?! Both seem just a bit excessive, like someone is trying to make an example or political statement out of this guy.
Let's put this into perspective: We're a state where millions of people go to work everyday and punch timecards - in both the public and the private sector. When was the last time you heard of anyone, public or private sector getting charged with a felony for fudging their timecard? Or for forging a doctors note for something? It simply does not happen. In either sector.
And the $10k bail? How does that compare to the bail amount for someone threatening to blow up DSS office: www.timesunion.com/local/article/Sheriff-Woman-threatened-to-blow-up-DSS-building-3895727.php Looks like you can threaten to blow a place up and walk away with no bail at all, but these non-violent charges warrant a $10,000 bail amount?
While this guy - if the allegations are correct - was totally in the wrong, it seems that firing him and suing him for the excess pay he received would be more than sufficient. If you want to throw some piddly-little violation or misdemeanor on there and toss him on probation, maybe I can even see a case for that. Maybe. But this is just a huge waste of tax dollars.
As an aside, I've noted this before: As much as you'd like to defend the practice Casey, Enough is pretty much spot on in regards to the general treatment of criminal reporting and ones status as a government employee, even if not eloquently worded: The press overall - the Times Union included - tends only to make an issue out of ones employer when reporting on criminal charges if one works for government. We never see headlines like "Burger flipper arrested for public urination!" or "Banker arrested for selling herself on street corner!". In this particular case I take no issue, because the guy was arrested and charged for committing crimes related to his job. But how many articles have we seen where some government employee is arrested for something completely unrelated to their job and their employment is not only fleetingly noted, but a prominent part of the discussion? Perhaps a more beneficial item to report here is to note the ridiculousness and inconsistency with which courts in this state come up with bail figures, given the glaring dichotomy between this guy and the bomb threat in Washington county I linked to above.
This guy is a scumbag. Having seen firsthand when parking administrators have denied coworkers who should have gotten a handicapped spot because the spots were full up, this disgusts me to no end. One older woman in particular comes to mind - sweetest person I ever worked with. She could barely walk, even with the help of a cane, and she was stuck parking in the middle of nowhere and hoofing it in for quite some time. You will certainly not see me defending this guys actions.
That being said...
Four felonies?!?!?! $10,0000 bail?!?!?! Both seem just a bit excessive, like someone is trying to make an example or political statement out of this guy.
Let's put this into perspective: We're a state where millions of people go to work everyday and punch timecards - in both the public and the private sector. When was the last time you heard of anyone, public or private sector getting charged with a felony for fudging their timecard? Or for forging a doctors note for something? It simply does not happen. In either sector.
And the $10k bail? How does that compare to the bail amount for someone threatening to blow up DSS office: www.timesunion.com/local/article/Sheriff-Woman-threatened-to-blow-up-DSS-building-3895727.php Looks like you can threaten to blow a place up and walk away with no bail at all, but these non-violent charges warrant a $10,000 bail amount?
While this guy - if the allegations are correct - was totally in the wrong, it seems that firing him and suing him for the excess pay he received would be more than sufficient. If you want to throw some piddly-little violation or misdemeanor on there and toss him on probation, maybe I can even see a case for that. Maybe. But this is just a huge waste of tax dollars.
As an aside, I've noted this before: As much as you'd like to defend the practice Casey, Enough is pretty much spot on in regards to the general treatment of criminal reporting and ones status as a government employee, even if not eloquently worded: The press overall - the Times Union included - tends only to make an issue out of ones employer when reporting on criminal charges if one works for government. We never see headlines like "Burger flipper arrested for public urination!" or "Banker arrested for selling herself on street corner!". In this particular case I take no issue, because the guy was arrested and charged for committing crimes related to his job. But how many articles have we seen where some government employee is arrested for something completely unrelated to their job and their employment is not only fleetingly noted, but a prominent part of the discussion? Perhaps a more beneficial item to report here is to note the ridiculousness and inconsistency with which courts in this state come up with bail figures, given the glaring dichotomy between this guy and the bomb threat in Washington county I linked to above.
