By JIMMY LAWTON

CANTON – A Lisbon man who spoke out against the county’s wage hike June 4 has called on the sheriff’s department to investigate the county legislature in open session.

Pat Green, a beef rancher from Lisbon, criticized legislators for considering a pay hike while their constituents struggle to make ends meet. Green then segued that criticism into the larger debt problem faced by the nation.

Green said the U.S. debt is measured in the trillions. To help explain the magnitude he told legislators that a million seconds is short of two weeks, a billion seconds is nearly 35 years and trillion seconds is more than 30,000 years.

He said the country is heading in a direction that will put children into debt slavery, which he said was unconstitutional.

He said county employees are better paid than most private sector workers who foot the bill for county employees’ wages and benefits. He said the St. Lawrence County Sheriff should undertake an investigation of the legislature as he believes some have failed to live up to their oaths.

“I think some of you people should be prosecuted,” he said.

Pat Green is a vocal Lisbon resident who often speaks at St. Lawrence County meetings, often calling for reduced spending and fewer taxpayer-funded services.

Another Lisbon farmer, Kenny Putney, also spoke at the meeting. He said he was afraid for his children who would be growing up in debt and raised concerns about the government purchasing land.

He said the nation is in a “bad way” and he is hopeful the county legislators will make an effort to reduce spending and help agriculture.