Fasten your seatbelts, Chautauqua County Republicans. You’re about to be taken for a ride.

Crossover SUVs are currently in vogue, but in our neck of the woods so are “crossover plums.” Lest you think I’m describing some hybrid fruit, rest assured I am not – though a case could be made that a lemon/raspberry combo is at work here.

Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards, a Republican, is dealing his party a lemon with his choice for Human Resources Director while at the same time giving the raspberry to county taxpayers.

In the world of politics, it is a time-honored tradition for those elected to office to offer political plum jobs to supporters within their own party. This reward system is both an expected and accepted practice. Edwards, however, is guilty of a crossover plum by giving the nod to a top north county Democrat to fill a Department Head opening in his administration.

County Republicans as well as county taxpayers should be outraged at Edwards’ decision to reappoint Dunkirk resident Joseph Porpiglia to the lucrative post of Human Resources Director. According to www.seethroughny.net, Porpiglia made a whopping $92,131 in 2010, about $4,000 more than Edwards himself ($88,269), in a position with a salary range of $60,635 to $93,141. Porpiglia’s reappointment is for six years which ka-chings to $188,976 over the minimum salary. I would wager that with 24 other applicants and given the current job market, Edwards could have had his pick of highly qualified applicants at a far more taxpayer-friendly starting salary.

So the question on everyone’s mind should be: What kind of backdoor deal was struck and with whom?….

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