The recent report issued by Nassau Comptroller Howard Weitzman was presented as a public service in this time of fiscal challenge. We believe the timing and nature of this report make the comptroller's motives suspect, coming as it does at the start of new contract negotiations with the CSEA (Civil Service Employees Association), the union which represents 7,000 Nassau County workers.

We submit that the report and press release contain misrepresentations and distortions, which do a disservice to Nassau's taxpayers.

For public employees, unlike some workers in private enterprise, there is no such thing as a golden parachute. Public servants don't get rich by plowing your snowy roads, rendering assistance in times of medical emergency, protecting abused women and children, or by performing a wide variety of vital services for residents of Nassau County.

Due to the downsizing over the last decade, most Nassau County workers are already doing much more, without proper compensation or the chance of promotion. It is simply dirty pool to pay far less in salaries over the years (than in comparable positions in the private sector) and then to attack their benefit package.

One point that the comptroller's report and the media seized upon with gusto was a claim that one year of Nassau County service resulted in fully paid health insurance for life. The reality is, all public employees, who participate in the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP), are required by law to serve a minimum of five years in positions in public sector employment, in order for their health benefits to continue in retirement.

If CSEA employees did qualify for health benefits into retirement, but have less than five years of service with the county, it was because they had previously served in a civil service position in some other county, state, city, village or other qualifying municipal government for many years, before coming to county service. In other words, they put their time in as required.

The comptroller's report also conveniently failed to mention that the Nassau County unions, in their last five-year collective bargaining agreement, secured their employer paid health coverage until either 2005 or 2007, as a result of the give-and-take of contract negotiations.

Finally, the comptroller's report ignores a simple fact. Nassau County employees are also taxpayers and citizens of the very same county they serve.

To intimate that public employees don't want to pay their fair share is nonsensical! They are paying the same property taxes and school district taxes as everyone else, but make less money on average. Nassau County workers are also paying the price for years of past fiscal mismanagement, not only by having to do more with less on the job, but by being "tarred and feathered" in the media as scapegoats for the gross negligence of past administrations.

Yes, it's true that health care costs skyrocket from year to year and prescription drug prices continue to soar. But the way some people talk, you'd think that public employees had something to do with manipulating the health care system. The very argument is ridiculous. It has no basis in fact and it's about time that people lay the blame where it belongs: At the feet of the big drug and health insurance companies!

After all, aren't they the ones being given a free ride by the state and federal lawmakers who are supposed to be looking out for the interests of the general public? The fact that so many lawmakers are too focused on their own fundraising and self-interests is not the fault of public employees.

If you worked hard all your life and don't have a decent retirement package, you should blame Enron, Tyco, WorldCom or some other employer! Blame your senators and members of Congress when they promote corporate welfare, or tax breaks for the very rich. But it's time to stop blaming public employees! We didn't create Nassau's or the nation's fiscal crisis. Nassau's county workers are just like you. They do their jobs well, try to earn a decent living to support their families, and hope to put in enough years to retire in peace.

Nicholas LaMorte, President

CSEA Long Island Region

Jane D'Amico, President

CSEA Nassau County Local