Politics & Government

Rogowsky: It's Been a Pleasure to Serve You

The veteran county legislator discussed his time in office with a group of Harrison seniors Friday morning.

The party atmosphere in the Harrison Senior Center Friday morning had the feel of any going away party, but that didn't keep outgoing County Legislator Martin Rogowsky from mentioning the work that still needs to be done in his time before leaving office.

Rogowsky, who has represented Harrison and parts of surrounding communities on the County Board of Legislators' District 6 for the last 13 years, decided to earlier this year. He will be  on Jan. 1.

Meeting with a group of about 100 Harrison seniors Friday morning over cake and coffee, Rogowsky thanked the community for the support he has received over the years.

Find out what's happening in Harrisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's been my pleasure and honor to represent you," he said, explaining to the seniors that he has done his best to promote their interests over the years. Rogowsky said he might not have worked on the most glorious projects while holding office, but he feels his work behind the scenes has been to the benefit of the Harrison community.

"I sit in a chair for 56,000 people," he said. "They've given me their trust and their expectation to do the right thing."

Find out what's happening in Harrisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Seniors who met with Rogowsky Friday said they appreciated the chance to speak with one of their representatives and were impressed with his 20-minute speech that became emotional at times.

"He's always had an interest for the seniors," said Mary Pagano over a game of cards. "He's loved here, he's a good man."

Others were thankful Rogowsky made the trip to explain to them some of the issues affecting the county at this time.

"It's very nice," said Lena Ealto, 89. "There's things we didn't understand or know and he explained it to us."

Rogowsky vowed to focus on the during his four remaining weeks in office. He told the group of seniors that he has concerns over the current budget proposal that has no tax rate increase, but lays off hundreds of county employees.

"The county executive is proposing laying off 200 people," Rogowsky said. "We have a difficult budget we're going through, we're trying to keep taxes down but (County Executive Robert Astorino) is laying off a lot of people to do that. I need to make sure that some of those layoffs don't affect our public health and safety."

Astorino's current budget cuts about $100 million in budget to budget spending from 2011 and keeps the tax rate level, but Democrats have expressed concerns over layoffs and cuts to county programs.

The County Legislature has until Dec. 27 to approve the 2012 budget.


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