Phoebus fires staff for Thanksgiving

"Your services are no longer required.  Your position is hereby terminated, effective immediately."  (Gail Phoebus to her employees)

Happy Thanksgiving!  Merry Christmas!

Assemblyperson Gail Phoebus sent terse, one paragraph letters to the career civil servants at her legislative office staff and fired them all.  In their place, she is hiring personal friends with no legislative qualifications and questionable backgrounds in the skills needed to handle constituent services.

We haven't seen this kind of indifference to the humanity of employees since Leona Helmsley -- the Queen of Mean! 

It also marks another flip-flop or lie by Phoebus.  When Alison Littell McHose announced that she would not be seeking re-election in 2015, Phoebus personally solicited the support of legislative staff members with the promise that their jobs were safe with Phoebus as their new boss.  Apparently that promise wasn't worth very much, as it has now been broken.

Phoebus refused to meet with her employees before firing them, did not provide a reason for their firing, and did not give them notice face-to-face.  The firings did not provide for the customary two-week notice. 

One source described Phoebus' actions as a "cruel and undiplomatic way of thanking loyal employees."  Another noted that Phoebus' friends need and want the money and the taxpayer-funded benefits (health care and pension), so she's put them before the needs of her constituents. 

Either way, Assemblyperson Gail Phoebus has made for a miserable Thanksgiving for her employees' families.  That's not very nice.