Her Heiress Essley

Did you catch the Irondequoit Post congratulating Councilwoman Debbie Essley for voting against sending Judge Valentino to his MANDATORY training and certification program? Apparently, because Essley and D’Aurizio can afford to pay for their voluntary sightseeing junkets to NYC, Essley thinks Judge Valentino should be able to pay for his mandated training. While Essley and D’Aurizio are wandering around gawking at the bright lights of Times Square, Judge Valentino will be sitting in a classroom learning about judicial ethics.

Essley’s move is a cheap political shot by an ignorant politician. Serving on a town board isn’t rocket science, but somehow Essley still hasn’t figured out how to balance her ability to pay for sightseeing trips, and Judge Valentino’s requirement to attend MANDATORY training.

It’s absurd for the town to require its elected officials to pay for their own mandatory training and certifications out of their own pockets. Any reasonable politician knows this. Those trainings can be expensive and prohibitive to people without a lot of money. The poll tax for our “ruling class” was done away with a long time ago and it’s a shame that Essley is trying to bring it back to Irondequoit.

I know a lot of good people who are living paycheck to paycheck, and I do not think it should be the town’s policy to prohibit them from serving in government. I don’t know Valentino’s personal finances, but it’s not up to Debbie Essley to be the wealth police, making judgments on what individuals can afford.

I’ve got news for Councilwoman Essley, just because you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, doesn’t mean the rest of us were. People without personal wealth should still be allowed to serve our town without providing bank statements to Heiress Essley for her approval. Essley and D’Aurizio have a lot to learn about running a town government because they clearly have no idea what they’re doing.