corrupt ex-deputy county executive lands $160k job

Ex-Spano aide Susan Tolchingets N.Y. court job

Westchester's former deputy county executive isback on the public payroll after landing a job in thestate court system — and now has a combinedannual income of more than $160,000 in salary andpension.

Susan Tolchin was hired in December as amanagement analyst in the 9th Judicial District.

A year earlier, she put in her retirement papers afterformer boss Andrew Spano was unseated by voters.

Her main role is as facilities coordinator for thedistrict, which covers Westchester, Rockland,Putnam, Orange and Dutchess counties, said stateSupreme Court Justice Alan Scheinkman, thedistrict's administrative judge.

He insisted that Tolchin did not get the job as aresult of their longtime association in DemocraticParty politics and the Spano administration.

"This is not a friendship deal. I'm trying to run acourt system," Scheinkman said. "We have a strict(hiring) process, and we follow it."

Tolchin's annual court pay is $75,982, and herpension is $85,758. The combined income ishigher than the $155,000 salary she received herfinal year in county government.

Tolchin, 66, did not need a state waiver to doubledip, or receive a public salary and pensionsimultaneously, and there are no limits on howmuch salary she can receive while drawing apensionbecause she is older than 65.

She worked for more than 20 years in the publicsector, and her pension is based on her mostlucrative three years, when she was Spano's second-in-command.

She spent 14 years as Greenburgh town clerk and,after five years in the private sector, joined Spano'sadministration when he took office as countyexecutive in 1998.

Tolchin was head of the communications office,later his chief adviser and finally deputy countyexecutive. During Spano's first term, Scheinkmanwas the county attorney.

She did not respond Wednesday to phone and e-mail messages.

Tolchin's hiring came as the state is battling a $10billion deficit and Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasproposed slashing nearly 10,000 jobs.

Scheinkman said the district lost just more than 100people to the state's earlyretirement incentive lastyear and that there have been about 50 new hires inrecent months.

In her newjob, Tolchin will monitor the use of thecounty and city court buildings in the district. Thestate reimburses local municipalities for the moneyspent to maintain the county and city courts —about $5.9 million this year, Scheinkman said —and Tolchin will ensure they are doing the requiredwork.

The judge said Tolchin's position had gone unfilledsince a 2008 retirement, but that he determinedduring the summer that it was necessary becausestate audits had criticized how the district waskeeping tabs on the reimbursement claims by thecities and counties.

"We felt this was a prudent expenditure because itgoes to the accountability of public funds," he said.

The job was posted in August, and Scheinkmaninsisted he played no role in her getting it.

He said applicants were reviewed by a hiringcommittee and that the committee's recommendationto hire Tolchin was approved by state court

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administrators.

"I do not get involved in these things ... I don'toverrule, veto or suggest," Scheinkman said. "WhenSue got the job, I congratulated her."

Asked whether he had any discussions with Tolchinabout working in the court system, Scheinkman saidshe might have expressed interest in a job whenthey ran into each other at a social function lastyear.

He said he told her to check the district's jobpostings and apply.

Susan Tolchin

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