Pol pal’s wife nets pay hike

ALBANY — A Long Island state senator running for Suffolk County sheriff gave the wife of one of his long-time political bosses a $25,000 raise this year. Sen. Phil Boyle granted the more than 45% pay hike to Patricia Walsh, the wife of former Suffolk County Conservative Party Chairman Edward Walsh Jr.

The higher pay came several months after Edward Walsh was convicted in March 2016 on federal charges that as a lieutenant at the county sheriff’s department — which Boyle is now looking to head — Walsh was illegally paid for work time when he was actually golfing, gambling or conducting political party business.

Walsh was sentenced in June 2017 to two years in prison, though he has yet to begin serving his time.

At the time of his conviction, Walsh’s wife was making $55,000 a year as a case worker in Boyle’s office, according to Senate payroll records.

Her salary jumped to $80,000 in January, the records show.

Boyle said the reason is simple: Walsh went from working part-time three days a week to full-time five days a week. Senate payroll records confirm the change.

“We needed more time to get to constituent casework and she wanted to come on full-time,” Boyle said.

But one county political insider accused Boyle of having “used taxpayer dollars to bribe the Suffolk County Conservative Party to give him the endorsement for sheriff.”

Walsh remains close to party leadership, the source said.

“This is the clearest example of a political payoff you could ever see,” he charged.

Boyle got the Conservative Party endorsement over three-term incumbent Vincent DeMarco, a Conservative who had testified against Walsh.

Boyle strongly denied the extra time and money for Patricia Walsh was meant to curry favor with the local party.

He is the favorite to win the Sept. 12 GOP county sheriff primary. He’ll also be on the Conservative and Independence party lines in the general election.

lll Fearful the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn federal abortion protections, a New York group that came together as part of the Women’s March on Washington is urging Gov. Cuomo to support a convention to make changes to the state constitution.

In a recent letter to Cuomo, the group, Forward March New York, says that while the governor has pushed a constitutional amendment to strengthen abortion rights, it’s unlikely to garner the necessary approval from the GOPled state Senate.

The legislative process “is daunting, and the political gridlock that exists in Albany offers no comfort to any New York citizen,” the group wrote.

“In light of this, the only way to protect women’s rights in this state is to put the power back into their hands. You can do this by endorsing and fully supporting a ‘Yes’ vote for a constitutional convention when it appears on the electoral ballot this coming November.”

The letter notes that the governor’s late father, former three-term Gov. Mario Cuomo, was a strong supporter of a constitutional convention.

While Forward March supports the idea, at least one major women’s rights group, Planned Parenthood Empire States Acts, does not, out of fear antiabortion groups could hijack the process.

By law, New Yorkers every 20 years get to vote on whether to hold a convention to make changes to the state constitution. The issue will be on the ballot this November. If approved, delegates would be picked by voters in 2018 and the convention held in 2019.

Cuomo has said he supports a convention conceptually, but fears it could be marred by the delegate selection of the same lawmakers and special interests that dominate Albany politics.