Contact:  Bill O'Reilly, 212-396-9117 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PART-TIME MAYOR BRAMSON: TOUGH LUCK, NEW ROCHELLE,

I'M KEEPING MY HEALTHCARE FOR LIFE

"New Rochelle Taxpayers Have Been Downright Swindled,"

Astorino Spokeswoman

Westchester--Aug. 15...Part-time New Rochelle mayor Noam Bramson is keeping his healthcare for life, taxpayers be damned. And they should thank him for it because he's kicking in 18 cents on the dollar. That was the message the high taxing, part-time mayor delivered yesterday in a rambling interview with the publication City & State, said Jessica Proud, campaign spokeswoman for Friends of County Executive Rob Astorino.

"Public officials are supposed to look out for the people, not themselves," Ms. Proud said. "But Noam Bramson has quietly set himself up for life as a part-time mayor at the expense of the unsuspecting taxpayer. To pay for his healthcare bonanza -- and the 40% pay hike he handed himself -- Mr. Bramson raised New Rochelle property taxes 109%, plus every imaginable local tax and nuisance fee. There is no other way to put it: New Rochelle taxpayers have been downright swindled here."

Under New Rochelle law, the part-time mayor is eligible for healthcare for life after just five years.

In contrast to Mr. Bramson, County Executive Astorino changed county healthcare rules for himself and his staff upon entering office, requiring that they contribute to the cost of their insurance. And Mr. Astorino's healthcare insurance expires with his term -- as it should.

"Mr. Bramson is well known in New Rochelle as someone who loves to talk," Ms. Proud continued. "But it's funny; no one seems to recall him ever mentioning this sweetheart healthcare-for-life deal."