The chair of a special committee created to review the spending of a Westchester County legislative aide, accused the Republican members of that committee of “politicizing” the issue.
County Legislator Ken Jenkins, D –Yonkers, chair of the Special Committee on Internal Controls and Procedure, said in a statement that the two Republican members — George Oros, R-Cortlandt, and Gordon Burrows, R-Yonkers — are playing politics in their critique of the recently released report.
The recommendations came out Monday and it was approved unanimously, with support from the two Republicans, who were unsuccessful in their efforts to have Gary Kriss and Board of Legislators Chairman William Ryan testify.
“As attorneys, Mr. Oros and Mr. Burrows understand that there is an active investigation by the District Attorney. Mr. Burrows opined if he were the lawyer representing Mr. Kriss, he would advise his client not to speak in front of the Committee,” Jenkins said in a statement. “To suggest at this time that their request for additional testimony was ignored is disingenuous. Their motion was put to the members of the committee and defeated.”
Jenkins said it wasn’t until after the committee approved its report that Republican publicly blasted it. The county board on Monday referred the report to the Rules and Legislation Committees for further action. The committee will reconvene in six months to monitor the recommendations, he said.
Jenkins said he was “positive that Mr. Oros and Mr. Burrows will be able to put partisan politics aside and make an honest effort to work cooperatively on behalf of Westchester’s taxpayers.”Read the original story
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Photo: From left, Westchester County legislators George Oros and Gordon Borrows, listen to Ken Jenkins, Chairman of the Committee on Open Government Operations, speak during a special meeting about Gary Kriss, at the county office building in White Plains Aug. 6, 2008. ( Frank Becerra Jr / The Journal News )
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