County Legislator Alden Wolfe, D-Suffern, has issued a press release noting he is “unsurprised” by the findings of a cancer study in the medical journal “Lancet Oncology.”

He said the study confirmed the dangers of tanning beds and their ultraviolet radiation. It pointed out that the risk of skin melanoma was increased 75 percent when people started using tanning beds before age 30, Wolfe said.

Why does he care so much about the topic?

Because back in 2006, Wolfe authored a bill to ban tanning for anyone under 16 and to require parental consent for those 16 and 17. The Legislature passed it, County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef vetoed it, then legislators overrode the veto and made it law.

Wolfe says as a result of the study’s findings, the French-based International Agency for Cancer Research, part of the World Health Organization, has designated ultraviolet tanning beds as “carcinogenic to humans,” meaning they cause cancer.

“Hopefully this latest study will encourage people to make smarter health decisions, and encourage our young adults not to engage in a practice that could have devastating impact on their health,” Wolfe said.

Next up: Wolfe and the other 16 legislators will eventually consider, again, whether to pass a calorie-posting law to require chain restaurants to put the number of calories on their menu boards. Supporters hope such a law will encourage people to make smarter health decisions and to not engage in a practice that could devastate their health.

County Legislator Alden Wolfe, D-Suffern, has sponsored a resolution to express concern and opposition to the state Workers’ Compensation Board’s plan to close 11 of its 30 customer service centers around New York, including the one in Rockland.

The shut down looms as state agencies seek to trim their budgets under orders from Gov. David Paterson. The state faces a massive deficit due to the slowed economy and is working to respond to the revenue shortfall.

Wolfe and the 14 other legislators present during its general meeting Thursday unanimously approved the resolution, addressed to Paterson, on the planned service center reductions.

“Injured workers are already suffering financial hardship and should not have to bear the burden of added costs,” Wolfe stated.  “Moreover, the closures won’t save state taxpayers any money, as the board’s operations are funded by assessments against insurance carriers.  The insurance companies will be the only beneficiaries of the closings.”

Wolfe concluded, “Cutting the costs of the insurance companies, at the expense of those the system was designed to assist, is wrong and burdensome. Furthermore, injured workers may be unable to pursue their compensation claims if the service centers are too distant and will need to turn to other public assistance, a burden transferred to the local taxpayer.”

The Legislature failed last night to override the county executive’s veto of a local law that called for all major facility projects in Rockland to be “designed, constructed and certified” to the standard of the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system.

Bill sponsor Alden Wolfe, D-Suffern, knew the demise of the so-called LEED law was coming — he’d been told the Legislature’s minority party members would side with Republican County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef — so he took the time normally spent pleading for votes to castigate the exec’s office for poor communication.

It’s been a running theme of the Legislature this year—that Vanderhoef’s office is either less than forthcoming on certain issues or gratingly mum on others.

Wolfe detailed to the Legislature his attempts to get the county executive’s input and how he had heard from his chief of staff only after it was too late to make any changes to the proposal.

Chief of Staff Sean Mathews, who was in the audience during Wolfe’s speech, released the following statement through spokeswoman C.J. Miller: “The (LEED) law was flawed. We could not support a law that puts the County in direct conflict with the intent of the  legislation. Secondly, we work with everyone. With over 350 pieces of legislation passed so far this year with only one veto, Legislator Wolfe’s comments seem unfounded.”

The veto override failed 11-6 with Legislators voting among party lines. Twelve votes were needed to overturn Vanderhoef’s veto.

The battle continues… Dum, dum DUM!

Okay, not it’s not that bad. But there has been a running theme this year of the Legislature complaining that County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef has been less than forthcoming with information, something his office says just isn’t true.

Last month, at the April 30 Government Operations Committee meeting Legislator Ed Day, R-New City, asked Hospitals Commissioner Richard Maloney for a detailed breakdown of how much overtime pay is included in the department’s payroll figures.

At last night’s Multi-Services Committee meeting, Day again asked Maloney about the figures and Maloney replied that he’d gotten the numbers to the county executive’s office two days after the request was made.

So Day, visibly miffed, questioned Vanderhoef staffer Vince Altieri who told him he’d have to check and get back to him.

Other legislators, including Jay Hood Jr., D-Haverstraw, Philip Soskin, D-Monsey and Alden Wolfe, D-Suffern, said they were disappointed that the county’s administration had shared so little with them regarding the construction of the new hospital and nursing home. Soskin said he’s gotten most of his information about the project from media reports.

The Legislature, earlier this month, also accused Vanderhoef of not communicating effectively with them when his office requested approval for a $24 million bond related to the Mirant tax dispute.  Vanderhoef countered that the Legislature knew about the issue because it was discussed at a 2006 meeting.

C.J. Miller, spokeswoman for the county executive, said yesterday that claims the Legislature can’t get information on finances are bogus. The  Legislature’s fiscal analyst has access to the same numbers as the administration’s finance personnel.

“That information is open and accessible to everyone,” she said

As to the rest of the complaints, Miller said Vanderhoef’s office isn’t trying to hide anything or play games with the legislators.

“Maybe communication isn’t the problem here,” she said. “Maybe it’s a lack of understanding … a lack of comprehension.”

This morning, Rockland County Legislature candidate Alden Wolfe held a news conference to tie his opponent, Legislator Bruce Levine, to the Spring Valley mayor’s hiring of illegal immigrants for a government public works project.

Reporter Steve Lieberman attended the news conference. Here’s his account of the news conference and a discussion afterward with Levine:

Levine, the village attorney, called Wolfe’s accusation false, saying he had no role in the hiring of illegal immigrants and was on vacation when it happened.

During the news conference in front of Spring Valley Village Hall, Wolfe said Levine should explain what role, if any, he played as village attorney in Spring Valley Mayor George Darden’s decision to hire illegal immigrants and to discuss the advice he had given the mayor.

At one point, Wolfe asked, “What other advice did he give the mayor to cover up the illegal hiring?”

Wolfe denied that he was accusing Levine of committing a crime. He also said his demands that Levine explain himself were not political.

“This is about good government,” Wolfe said. “This is about accountability. … As an elected official [county legislator] … Mr. Levine needs to be held to a higher standard.”

Wolfe said Levine had been silent for more than a week since The Journal News reported that Darden had shelled out his own money to hire 10 people from Route 59 for a urban renewal job.

Wolfe also charged that Levine’s job as village attorney conflicted with his being a legislator — a charge he has made previously. He said Levine was voting on issues that might be good for the village but not necessarily good for the county and all his constituents.

Reached by telephone, Levine said when he learned about the illegal hirings, he told the village treasurer not to reimburse the mayor. When he was told that already had happened, Levine said he told Darden to return the money until he could resolve the issue.

“When someone in government makes a mistake like this,” Levine said, “it creates a complex legal situation.”

He called Wolfe’s accusations “Nixonian” in nature.

“It’s classic for people in political campaigns to make false accusations for the purpose of the trying to divert the people’s attention from the real issues,” Levine said, adding that he believed people were more interested in taxes, the county’s fiscal problems, affordable housing and environmental issues.

Wolfe said the key issue was that Levine couldn’t serve two masters—Spring Valley as village attorney and residents as a county legislator.

“This is not a political issue,” Wolfe said. “Rockland taxpayers deserve the highest level of service from their elected officials, but when scandal clouds the air, we need to know that our elected officials can stand above.”

This is the second campaign between Levine and Wolfe.

Wolfe was appointed to the Legislature in 2006 to replace Robert Berliner after the latter won election to the bench as Surrogate Court judge. Levine, a former legislator for 10 years, decided to seek the seat last year after an 11-year hiatus.

Wolfe won the party’s nomination for re-election with the support of Ramapo’s political leaders.

Levine forced a primary and soundly defeated Wolfe. Wolfe and Levine each gathered enough signatures to force a primary, during which Levine soundly defeated Wolfe. Levine won election in November for the remainder of the term, which expires at the end of this year.

Vince Monte, the Rockland County Democratic Committee chairman, called me this morning. I had tried, unsuccessfully, to reach him several times last week for a story I was doing on the departure of County Legislator Roman Rodriguez, D-Haverstraw, and his wife, village Trustee Evelyn Rodriguez.

In a complete change from what he had said before, Monte said the Legislature will likely fill Roman Rodriguez’s seat by appointment and the appointee pushed by the Democratic party would be Haverstraw Town Board Member Jay Hood Jr. who is already mounting a campaign for November’s elections.
He had told me a couple of months ago that he would prefer to wait to fill Roman Rodriguez’s seat by election in the fall rather than appoint someone this summer. Roman and Evelyn are expected to move from Rockland by the end of this month.

The Dems in Rockland have taken quite a bit of heat in the last year or two for a string of appointments to the Legislature. Two of the four most recent appointees, Alden Wolfe and now-Assemblyman Kenneth P. Zebrowski, were defeated in the elections following their appointments. Wolfe is running for his old seat this year.

Legislators Ilan Schoenberger, D-Wesley Hills, and Bruce Levine, D-Montebello, could have some thinking to do the Legislature approves a proposal to prohibit county legislators from being employed by the county or a Rockland town or village. Schoenberger is the Ramapo finance director and Levine is the Spring Valley village attorney.

The proposal, introduced by Legislator Patrick Withers, D-Suffern, isn’t aimed at any one legislator, but would eliminate the appearance of impropriety that comes with legislators holding both positions. The county already has a “two-hat” rule that prohibits legislators from also holding elective office in a Rockland town or village.

The proposal calls for the amendment of the “two-hat” rule to take effect in January 2008 so that anyone seeking election or re-election could make a decision before mounting a campaign.

Schoenberger, for one, agrees with Withers and is supportive of the idea. Levine, who had not heard of the proposal until he heard of it from The Journal News, said he thought Withers was proposing this on behalf of the political structure in Ramapo.

This structure, is said is threatened “because I present a challenge, a daily challenge to the system, to the way the county has operated,� he said.

Levine already has one person gunning for his spot next year—former Legislator Alden Wolfe. Levine soundly defeated Wolfe in last year’s primary. Wolfe recently announced his campaign to get his seat back and among his chief concerns was the fact that Levine is answerable to both the people of Rockland County and the village of Spring Valley.

I get so many of those campaign palm cards during election season that I could wallpaper my cubicle. You all know what I’m talking about — you get them in your mailbox or at the grocery store. You hit up a local festival anytime between May and November and you could likely fill a small pillowcase with literature from local politicians and their challengers.

Personally, I’ve never found much use for them, other than seeing who has the best design or who should have thought to comb his cowlick before smiling for the camera.

But County Legislator Bruce Levine keeps an entire file of them, his to be exact. They are his own version of a to-do list. Every politician tells voters what he or she will do for them, but Levine said recently that he keeps his file to make sure he keeps his word.

“What they’re really looking for is action and results,� he said of voters.

Back when Levine was a legislator in the 1980s and ‘90s, he’d keep his palm cards from each election and then check them later to see what promises he’d fulfilled and what else needed to be worked on. Now that he’s back in his old seat and facing opposition in a September primary from former Legislator Alden Wolfe, Levine said he’s back in the old file.

And he better make this year’s palm card good. After— he’ll be looking at it for years to come.