That was not just his political mentor sitting next to judicial appointee Robert Bruno on Wednesday. It was also his wife’s boss.
Mixing politics, government, justice — and perhaps nepotism — Nassau County Conservative Party boss Roger Bogsted spent much of Wednesday squiring Bruno through the approval process at the county legislature.
Bruno’s wife, Joann, is a $38,475-a-year “community service assistant” in the county’s Office of Consumer Affairs. Bogsted is the $119,820-a-year commissioner of the agency.
The Nassau County Legislature later approved the nomination of Bruno, 51, of Wantagh to the $122,700-a-year district court judgeship in what was seen as a political payoff to Bruno for running for county executive on the Conservative Party line in 2005.
The theory was that Bruno drained votes away from Republican contender Gregory Peterson, the main rival to Democratic incumbent Thomas Suozzi, who is Bogsted’s boss.
Bill Murphy