By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – Two state senators weigh in on the most recent reports that their colleague, who was the center of the Senate stand off last month, got a high paying Senate job for his son.
Taxpayers couldn't believe what they heard. After a lengthy sSenate stalemate that halted state government for weeks -- and in the midst of the worst economic crisis -- the son of Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. started a job on August 6th. The position was created especially for him -- deputy director of intergovernmental relations for Senate Democrats. It paid $120,000 a year. But the 35-year old younger Espada resigned after word surfaced that the Attorney General would investigate.
Senator Bill Stachowski of Buffalo wasn't please, but says he didn't have any control over who was hired by his colleague.
In a statement issued by the elder Espada, he denied having any role in the hiring of his son. State Senator Jeff Klein of the Bronx was in Buffalo on Friday. Klein says it is time to for ethics reform and changes to the state's nepotism laws. He says the current law is filled with "holes."
Klein says senators should not be tolerating patronage jobs or family positions.