| Lottery winners won't quit their day jobs at Health Dept. | |
| Back in the last millennium, PEF members
Bill Ahearn and Ernest Mills were just a couple of
longtime state workers looking forward to retirement, but
wondering how they'd manage it. Now, they're much less worried about how golden their retirement years will be. But it's not because of a generous new contract courtesy of Gov. George Pataki. Their futures brightened when they came up second-place winners in the state's Millennium Millions jackpot drawing on New Year's Eve - although they're sharing the $1.5 million prize with seven other lucky ticket holders. The two friends have been playing the lottery together for 13 years. For Ahearn - a 34-year veteran of the state Health Department where he designs electronic research equipment at Wadsworth Center in Albany - the $167,507 check he received after taxes is "a nice buffer" for the day when he no longer has to wake up at 6 a.m. Meanwhile, the 59-year-old Troy resident has no plan to give up his day job, even though he readily admits the morale in his department isn't the greatest right now. "It's pretty low." he said. "People want to see something happen with our contract. They feel raises are long overdue. Even money for the laboratory seems to be very tight." But that didn't dampen their enthusiasm over Ahearn's good luck. "They were pretty amazed by what happened. At least a couple of hundred strangers came up to us," he said, "and that's not counting the people we know. "They'd say, 'Let me touch you. I've never met anyone who made that much money before." Ahearn said that when he and Mills were at the recent contract rally at the Capitol, "People kept giving us the thumbs up and shaking our hands." Mills said he is puzzled by the failure of the Pataki Administration to bargain in good faith with the state work force. "I find the the stupidity of some of the top politicians incredible," he said. "I just stand back, shake my head and ask, 'How did these guys get there?' " Mills, 57, has worked the past 12 years as a state research scientist at Wadsworth Center, developing machines for chemical analysis. And since he had no real pension before starting with the state, the lottery windfall means: "Maybe I won't have to work until I'm 65." The Ballston Lake resident said he will put 80 percent of his winnings in his investment portfolio and use some of the rest to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary by going on a Caribbean cruise. While Mills appreciates the positive attention from co-workers and other well-wishers, he said the media spotlight was "a little bit embarrassing after a while. I'd rather watch TV, than be on it." |
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