Welcome aboard New York Times. It is about time.
On Sept. 21, 2012, The Williston Times printed my letter that referred to a letter that I had written on Nov. 7, 2007, in which I wrote that an individual lawyer/politician in Albany, “not only receives a paycheck from the taxpayer, but also from a law firm he is associated with.” He is Sheldon Silver.
I also stated, “However, one has to wonder if any of the bills he passes or doesn’t pass aids his law firm.”
In a follow-up letter in The Williston Times dated Oct. 19, 2012 I wrote, “Mr. Silver is a lawyer and one has to guess as to how much he earns from his law firm as a percentage of his government salary.”
Now enter The New York Times on Sept. 24, 2013, six years after I wanted some answers to how Sheldon Silver operates. The editorial headline in the Times was, “New York Legislator’s secret income.”
The editorial continued, “The Moreland Commission must keep pressing for details about outside money sources.” And this what was reported on Sheldon Silver.
“The Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, made up to $920,000 for his work with a law firm and his investments.”
So, the question is how much of this $920,000 comes from his law firm?
The Times asked, “Crucially however, these raw numbers do not show in detail where that money comes from, and thus where the conflict of interest may lie.”
I asked the same question six years ago.
Jim Messina
East Williston
