What's worse than being greedy? Being ungrateful AND greedy.

This story has been kicking around for about a week, and not getting too much coverage, beyond a few little news items in the papers.

The Charleston Area Alliance, some sort of non-profit (today's codeword for "scam funded partially by you and me through "grants" of our tax dollars") pro-business facilitator group, hired this Patricia Bradley Pitrolo chick. Not only did they hire her, they created a position specifically for her, and then hired her in at $44,000 in May of 2005. Evidently, the Alliance has money to burn, if they can just create 40+ grand positions on a whim. Of course, this is only a couple months after her husband, Jim Pitrolo, waltzes in with Papa Joe Cheerleader to be his legislative director. Evidently, wifey needed something to do here in Charleston. So, The Alliance, a group that gets a ton of government money to promote "economic development" (I can't begin to tell you how much I hate that collossally overused, cliched, and completely devoid of any real meaning term, so I think I'll just call it ED from now on since ED also means something else - think "Check with your doctor if something lasts more than four hours") creates a position specfically for her. $44,000 isn't a bad salary, especially for someone who's not got the greatest track record when it comes to being honest. From the July 29, 2006, Gazette:

In 1990, Pitrolo, a former delegate from Hancock County, was charged with failing to report on her taxes that she accepted money from a lobbyist representing Tri-State Greyhound Park.
Before accepting a $376 payment, which helped cover expenses for a vacation, Pitrolo had supported a law that would have allowed Tri-State and other racing tracks to get a bigger share of the money wagered by bettors. She was convicted of a misdemeanor, paid a $1,000 fine and served two years’ probation.

The Gazette also said that The Alliance's Executive Director, Bill Goode was unaware of her conviction when he hired her. So, this whizbang Alliance wheels and deals for ED, hoping businesses will spend millions here, and it wines and dines and kisses their asses. Millions, maybe tens or hundreds of millions are possibly at stake. But its Executive Director, hires someone off the street into a position that was created specifically for that person, but he doesn't even know enough about that individual, to know they have a misdemeanor conviction for what appeared to be close to a bribe taking incident on their record? That sounds like the same ridiculous obvliviousness that got Putnam General in its current hot water. Unless it's a lie.

But anyway, $45,000 isn't enough for the former disgraced legislator convicted of shady dealings. No, she needed more. So, within a year, she is making $58,000. In just over a year, she had her salary increased by approximately 33%.

You'd think, that after a place CREATED a position just for you, AND increased your salary by 1/3 after a year's work, the least you could be is content. I know, I know, $58,000 yearly salary isn't enough money to make you secure for life. But the average West Virginian would probably be supremely content with that kind of dough.

But not Patty. Nooooooo, she had to actually quit in a little huff over the fact some of the administrators made more than she did. One evidently was hired in recently at about $90,000, and she felt she was gettin' dissed, yo. Awwwwwwwwww. Poor baby. 58 grand is dissing you.

She abruptly turned in a letter detailing WHY she is quitting. Of course, The Allliance then immediately (and showing its true colors - yellow) hides behind "Oh, we don't have to disclose that letter, it's a personnel matter." Never mind this group evidently gets money from you and me. It gets 150 grand a year from the County, and the City and the State probably kick in some too to help promote ED too (they also get $$ from businesses who are "members" who pay yearly dues - the point here is that they DO get 150g's a year from the county, and like I said, probably some state and city money too).

Cry me a freaking river.

It's not enough her hubby is probably pulling down close to 100 grand. It's not enough that because her hubby is Papa Joe's buddy she got the job created for her in the first place. It's not enough in a year, her salary jumps by 1/3.

No, none of that is enough to make Patty happy. She has to complain she's not getting enough of the free taxpayer money. It's like she found a 20 dollar bill in her winter coat the first time she puts it on one winter, and then she bitches because it isn't a 50.

But what's even more disgusting, is the support she is getting from Worker Tax Danny Jones. Oh, he can't stop raving about how great she is, blah blah blah. He even had a personal meeting with her to see if he could find any way to keep her from quitting. Of course, this is also the same guy who has done nothing but pass his little cash grab and pay his buddies big bucks at city hall, all while claiming the city has no money. And Dave Hardy, the County Commission's rep on The Alliance's board was also quite muted in his criticism of her, same with Kent Carper.

Let her quit. That's 60 grand a year The Alliance can use to hire someone else. If this chick is so freaking good at what she does, and is so freaking invaluable to kissing ass or whatever the hell it is she does, why is she still in the boonies of WV? She should be running some national fundraising campaign or something. WV should be small potatoes for her.

Unless, like I said, her only qualification is who she's married to, and nobody outside WV gives a crap who she is.

Ungrateful and greedy. Just the type of people we need running the show here in WV. With this type of leadership, we deserve to suffer.