“Boss” Bill Ryan should have accepted the April 30 pay recommendations from the Compensation Advisory Board from the start.

Instead, the chairman of the County Board of Legislators sat on the volunteer panel’s suggestions that the board accept modest raises tied to the Consumer Price Index going back to 2006 and that the raises only go into effect on Jan. 1, 2010, or after the next election. Ryan, of course, wanted much more.

And so he just thanked the advisory board for its hard work and waited… and waited.

Finally,  Legislator Mike Kaplowitz, D-Somers, who as vice chairman, ranks second in authority, seized the proverbial bull by the horns. Last night, Kaplowitz was the first among the 13-member Democratic majority to put out a statement which forced the issue.

By the end of  what was reportedly a tumultuous evening, the board actually decided to take less than what the advisory board recommended by accepting raises indexed to the CPI, but not retroactively.

The four-member Republican minority put out its own statement, saying they were against any raises.

In the end, the board did a smart thing politically. But Ryan, as he has all throughout this disgraceful process, looked bad. It took Kaplowitz’s initiative to settle the controversy.

He told staff writer Glenn Blain: “We’ve handled this badly, and I think our better days are ahead of us.”

Those words must be stinging to Ryan. Is he losing control of the board?