The big news at Tuesday night's meeting of the Ulster County Legislature was Legislator Jeff Collins (D-Woodstock) decision to take a knife to his proposal to more than double legislators' pay. But the evening's hot topics included other county jobs and salaries — all of it framed by the news that the county is sitting on a $31 million budget surplus. The body's discussions shed light on legislators' thinking about the value of labor and the privileges of wealth.

The people spoke first, 10 of them, mostly county employees, with a few dozen supporters seated in the room, most of them members of Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Local 586. They'd come to plead for the restoration of a budget line for a receptionist at the county's Office for the Aging.

Taking turns at the mic, the women (and they were one and all female) described the importance of what many consider lesser work, insignificant compared to say, executives in the corner office, but which are in fact essential tasks.

“They're answering 50 or 60 calls a day on two lines” said one speaker, who went on to cite the receptionist's institutional knowledge — what services are available, where and with whom. “People who come to the office need assistance,” said another. “They've tried calling all your automated prompts and been left on hold or never called back. The receptionist is the first person they see when they come in and they build a rapport with the clients, a vulnerable population. Many appear to have mental health issues, many [are] unable to navigate a computer to find online resources.”

The receptionist position had paid $42,000 annually but if reinstated, “A new hire would start at thirty-four thousand and change,” according to CSEA rep Howard Baul. “And almost all of that is covered by grant funding.” (Legislature Chair Peter Criswell has told Kingston Wire the position will be restored.)

The last of the public to speak were two men who advocated a 15 percent reduction in the county's property tax rates, zeroing out the budget surplus. One of the two suggested it as a step to address the county's lack of affordable housing, since it would benefit long-term rental landlords.

More money was on the line with Resolution 602, setting a date for a public hearing on Legislator Collins's proposed Local Law 18.

As first proposed, the law would raise legislators annual pay from $16,000 to $38,000, with an additional $6,000 each to the body's majority and minority leaders and an additional $12,000 to the legislature's chair.

As amended by Collins in a surprising, last-minute move, these numbers were slashed, county legislator's raises limited to $2,000, the body's officers limited to raises of similar proportion, “the exact numbers given by the Compensation Committee,” Collins said.

“I'm very happy to hear this,” Legislator Herb Litts (R-Esopus) said. “Originally, the legislature was going to vote itself a 137 percent raise. Now it's down to 12 percent.” But, he continued, “It's disingenuous to the public. Many times we've talked tonight about a living wage. The public has talked about affordable housing ... Now we're going to vote ourselves a raise. That makes no sense to me. How am I going to look my constituents in the face?”

Legislator Joe Maloney (D-Saugerties) suggested the amendment was a bait-and-switch, asking “Has there been any discussion with other legislators about doing the two thousand-dollar raise for the rest of this term and putting the larger raise back in next year when there's no election?”

“There was discussion,” Collins replied. “No one wants to do it.”

Legislator Jason Kovacs (R-Town of Ulster) said he would support “No raise for any legislator” and cited the economic difficulties his constituents face, asking “What kind of message does it send about our priorities?”

In defense of raises — though not necessarily of the scale originally proposed — majority legislators spoke of leveling the playing field so that low-wage earners can afford to serve in government.

“There are no poor people in the legislature,” Abe Uchitelle (D-Kingston) observed. “In other counties it's viewed as a job and paid as a job. Here it's viewed as an eccentric hobby for wealthy people.”

Responding to minority speakers' assertion that legislating, serving the public, is “a privilege,” Legislator Lina Grace Harmon (D-New Paltz) agreed but said it's “A privilege that should not be limited to the privileged.”

Legislator Joe Maloney ("D"-Saugerties) scoffed at that argument. “Neither party is going to support a poor person to run,” he said, before launching a diatribe about county workers being poorly paid, and adding, “You're not going to get better people by paying more. You're gonna get worse people. If we paid people nothing they'd be here for the right reasons.”

Collins's amendment passed 20-2 and a public hearing on the amended law was set for Dec. 10.

Kingston Wire asked Collins why the change. “The votes weren't there,” he said. “That's how democracy works.”

“It's weird being in position where you vote on your own salary,” he added. “You just can't win.”