The Strange Involvement By Senator Roy McDonald In Mental Heatlh Administration

Roy McDonald had been the Senator representative Saratoga County.  In 2011 and then in 2012 he introduced a bill to the state legislator to amend section 41.09 of the New York State Mental Hygiene Law to eliminate the hiring/firing mandate assigned to the Community Services Board effective immediately.  The New York State Assembly refused to act on it so the law remains the same.  This casts an odd light on the recent events around the hiring of Michael Prezioso.  It raises questions about how previous hiring was done.  The membership of the Community Services Board is required to be made up of professionals in the mental hygiene field.  Given the disgraceful history of patronage in our county, it is small wonder that there was an attempt to move the authority to the county government.  It remains to be seen whether the county ignored the law when it hired Prezioso.