Editorial by Guest Columnist Brian Harrod of the White Plains Newswire

White Plains – The Roach Political Machine has rewarded on its well-connected insiders with a plum six-figure judicial seat — even though she was too sickly to work, over taxed White Plains taxpayers charge.

A BIG PROBLEM: Mayor Thomas Roach’s Democratic Chairwoman And City Judge Elizabeth Shollenberger — who suffers from a digestive disorder and morbid obesity, among other ailments — was unable to climb the three steps to her courtroom bench, even with the help of a specially installed railing, White Plains Police Department insiders say

THE FIX WAS IN: City Judicial Review Committee member Mark Elliott has publicly accused Mayor Tom Roach of making sure “the fix was in” for the judge, who had been his campaign treasurer.

YOU’RE HIRED: Insiders say that Mayor Thomas Roach’s campaign treasurer came to her city hall judicial interview barely able to move connected to an oxygen Tank.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: Infuriated and over taxed homeowners are saying that no reasonable person could have looked at her and thought that she could finish her 10-year term.

THEY DID RIGHT THING: The committee rejected the very ill 61-year-old for appointment to the judicial seat, which infuriated Mayor Roach.

CRONYISM GONE WILD: But the Roach Political Machine maneuvered and she got the job anyway,

THERE GOES THE JUDGE: Then Roach Campaign Treasurer / City Judge Elizabeth Shollenberger promptly went on the first of several medical leaves just a week after being sworn into her $175,500-a-year job.

White Plains homeowners also provide $65,000 worth of annual health benefits, which the currently hospitalized Shollenberger has been putting to good use.

Aside from the alleged cronyism, White Plains court workers were also troubled by a more immediate concern — a severe gastric distress problem that made itself apparent on the few occasions the judge made it into court.

There have been reports that Roach Campaign Treasurer / City Judge Elizabeth Shollenberger would come in and courthouse workers would see diarrhea running down her leg and to the floor.

Further reports have said the Roach Campaign Treasurer / City Judge Elizabeth Shollenberger would soil her chair and then ask for a new one.

Court workers have said court worker said the Roach Campaign Treasurer / City Judge Elizabeth Shollenberger astounded staffers by acting with “complete arrogance” following the awful accidents.

Apparently, the Roach Campaign Treasurer / City Judge Elizabeth Shollenberger would just say, ‘There is a mess over there. I think someone should clean it up,’

Council member Milagros Lecuona, who’s challenging Roach for the mayoralty this year, said Mayor Roach engineered Shollenberger’s Dec. 20 appointment “to make sure he’d have the support of the chair of the Democratic Party” for his re-election bid.

Shollenberger was succeeded as the party’s head by her husband, Tim James

“If I knew what I know now, I would not have voted to support her,” Milagros Lecuona said. “This is going to be a big problem for the taxpayers. It’s financially very irresponsible.”

Shollenberger told the press from her bed in White Plains Hospital Thursday: “I have no intention of retiring. I want to work. I want to be a judge. Judges get sick all the time.”