Delen Goldburg of the Syracuse Post- Standard writes - “Gov. David Paterson ordered a “hard” hiring freeze in state government nearly two years ago, declaring that only “absolutely essential” positions be filled.

But state officials hired 51,464 people at a cost to taxpayers of more than $1 billion in salaries, plus fringe benefits, since that decree on July 30, 2008.

The hires include sons of elected officials, a close friend of the governor’s and a slew of highly paid political appointees.
Former Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll, for example, makes $155,000 a year in an environmental job the governor created for him. Paterson hired an executive assistant at $178,000 a year, a special assistant at $135,000 a year and a scheduler at $105,000 a year. A man responsible for blogging and tweeting for the Senate was hired by the Democratic majority at $120,000 a year.”

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