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Bobby
Galgano,SOA Trustee-DD Pct. Squads
October
9, 2011
While recently reading the PBA
newsletter (October 2011) I saw a picture of the front
lawn of the old courthouse (
County
Executive
building) set up with tents and a bandstand all ready
for the
County
Executive
’s summer BBQ. The
lawn was abandoned at the time of the picture, and
rightfully so.
I remember thinking to myself, at the time,
how ridiculous is this?
This guy just laid off over one hundred plus
county employees, and at the time of the picture was
probably inside the building plotting how he was going
to take apart our contracts, and lay off hundreds more.
But there it was…. tents, food, and the band,
all ready for a Manganopalooza
2011!
Then I got to thinking all this celebrating
(which didn’t happen, because no one really showed)
was intended to happen under the watchful eyes of
President Teddy Roosevelt’s statue that stands on that
very lawn. This
statue is of a man who was at one time a NYC Police
commissioner, and probably one of our greatest
presidents. Who at one time gave a speech on that very
front lawn. The
speech took place back in the day when the “old
courthouse” wasn’t so old. I
believe he was even present when the workers
laid the cornerstone for the courthouse construction.
How ironic this all is.
In case you did not know some
Roosevelt
history, I will let you in on some.
President Roosevelt was forced in 1902 to
intercede when Coal mine owners and workers were at odds
over many work related issues.
Roosevelt
knew that management held, and would always hold, the
upper hand over workers unless some sensibility could be
put between them. Coal
management refused to abide by promises they made to the
workers and their ‘baby labor unions”.
A strike (they had no
Taylor
law), complete with extreme violence was looming large.
In fact,
New York City
’s mayor at the time warned
Roosevelt
that unless the government could intercede there would
be blood in the streets come winter when the public
began freezing.
Roosevelt
knew that the intended strike, and the small outbursts
of violence, would persist and increase unless common
sense was applied.
Roosevelt
was able to form a government task force. This task
force included former President Grover Cleveland, who
was brought on board to lend credibility to their
mission. Without
boring you with more details, arbitration between labor
and management was realized. An arbitrated deal was
struck and both sides agreed to abide by its terms for
the life of that deal. Back in the ‘old days” when
people made deals, they stuck by them. The
strike was averted. The people did not riot. Teddy,
and his common sense plan (a real plan,
not a photo op plan du jour created for Newsday and
politico mailings of the minute), saved the
day.
When interviewed later in his presidency he
commented that the actions that were taken were one of
his proudest moments and achievements.
This came from a man who won a Nobel peace Prize
as President (that was when they actually gave the prize
to a president who actually did something to deserve it)
for negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese war.
A man whose actions eventually won him the
Congressional Medal of Honor
for bravery at San Juan Hill, and whose motto was
“Walk softly, and carry a big stick. All
in all, a man of courage and of his word!
Suffice to say, Teddy had common sense. He
meant and stood by what he said and did.
He appreciated the common man and his labor
efforts, and was wildly popular with his constituents
for his ability to get his job done through sensibility
and honesty.
President Teddy Roosevelt could be
called the American author of Labor arbitration by what
he did that winter.
Roosevelt
got this done because he understood both sides and knew
what was right for both!
President Roosevelt knew that an arbitrated
deal, or any deal he made, or made in his government’s
name was a deal made with moral character, and was
binding by his word, and attested to by the signature on
that deal. Whether it was his signature, or his
predecessors, or a government representative acting
under him, it was binding, and decency required that all
parties involved stand by it.
My father used to tell me “a man is only as
good as his word”. It may be corny, it may be a
forgotten cliché, but I teach my children that your
word is your bond. If you tell someone that you are
going to do something,
you do it.
Your word is all you have. You are only as
good as your word. If
you can’t trust someone who gives you their word, what
is left?
County
Executive
Ed Mangano, who fashions himself a republican like
Teddy, has
the gall to throw a party under Teddy’s statue?
Under the current conditions this County is
facing under his watch?
I really hope that you have some real and
workable plan in all of this. It
scares me to no end to think the head of this County is
just winging it. Remember
Emperor Nero.
Mr. Mangano, let me inform you that these
whimsical, seemingly irrational decisions affect real
people, with real lives.
People with families.
People who trusted in you, believed that this
government gave its word to them, and planned their
lives based on it’s word.
Think about all of this, and how your actions are
seemingly destroying this County. Possibly to the point
of not ever being repairable. BBQ’s
and rhetoric aside, I know that there has to be a better
way to fix all of this.
Hey Old
Chatham
, be glad you’re there, and not here!
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