This looks like an advertisement for County Executive Andy Spano’s reelection, doesn’t it?

The sign was hung on the Michaelian Office Building in White Plains in full view of the crowd that gathered outside at last weekend’s “tea party”  rally in protest of high taxes.

The rally was organized by Sam Zherka, the publisher of The Westchester Guardian who wants to abolish county government.

You might expect that the sign was paid for by Spano’s campaign and not an expense charged to the taxpayers, but don’t kid yourself.

We’re going to leave politics behind on “High Noon” tomorrow and follow in the 19th century footsteps of one of the regions’s strangest characters—the Leather Man.

He was a mystery. Nobody really knew where he came from or why he continuously tramped a 364-mile loop that covered western Connecticut and northern Westchester County. People who lived in the small towns along the Leather Man’s path, said they could practically set their clocks by him.

Even in the hottest months of summer, he wore an odd suit of clothes made of leather. He rarely spoke, but he gladly took handouts of food.

A collection of contemporary newspaper stories about the legendary eccentric were put together by Dan. W Deluca in a new book called “The Old Leather Man.”

DeLuca will be the featured guest on my “High Noon” radio program tommorow (Thursday) at 12 noon. Tune in to 1460 AM or log on to wvox.com.

The country’s economy is collapsing under a crushing load of debt, but that hasn’t stopped the credit-card industry from trying to trap more consumers in the revolving door of financial servitude.

For some time, ever since the dissolution of the subprime mortgage market, Lehman Brothers, etc., my daily load of junk mail has been completely free of credit card enticements. I figured that the rise of unemployment and the new-found religion of saving had killed the spirit of instant gratification that was aided and abetted by easy access to plastic.

But no. I was wrong. Just the other day, I received an application for a Visa Black Card, which is Visa’s competitive answer to the American Express Black Card. This is the pitch: Only one percent of U.S. residents can get one of these cards for annual fee of $495. The implicit message is that any holder of the Black Card is in the minority circle of winners.

The other 99 percent? Losers, all of them.

And the Black Card isn’t even plastic like the cards the losers are forced to carry around.  Indeed the advertisement declares that the Black Card “is not another piece of plastic. Made with carbon, it is the ultimate buying tool.”

The annual percentage rate is 13.24 percent. The word “variable” is added in small print. That means that at any time, they’ll jack the rate up to the usual loan-shark levels.

Calling Dr. Freud! Westchester County politics is getting weirder and weirder.

You many already know that David Spano has announced his intention to mount a primary run against his three-time incumbent dad, County Executive Andy Spano. His platform? Abolish county government.

“By running for county executive. I intend to be the last county executive,” Spano, 50, told a crowd of anti-county government enthusiasts at a rally in White Plains last Saturday. This has become an embarassment for the elder Spano—and it doesn’t look it’s going to go away.

I couldn’t find an appropriate file photo of the prodigal son, but I did find one of Scott Evil, the angry offspring of Dr. Evil. There he is at left. Hmm…  you know something? With a radical haircut and a chnage in wardrobe, ol’ Andy kind of resembles the man who once held planet earth ransom for ….ONE MILLION DOLLARS! BWAAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Oops. It turns out that the furlough means I cannot do the “High Noon” radio show. However, I am trying to get a substitute for next Thursday’s program in the person of Matt Richter, my good pal and colleague at The Journal News.

If things work out, Richter will be joined by Buddy Waller, a “High Noon” regular who does not like doing the show alone. Go figure.

Stay tuned.

Ouch, sorry about that pun. But just a couple of program notes. I will not be around next week because of a planned furlough. That’s the state of things. So no column, no blogging until I return to  the grist mill at the end of the month.

For the few dogged (damn, another bad pun) loyalists who listen to my “High Noon” radio show on WVOX, I apologize now for failing to notify you in advance that there was to be no show yesterday. The reason was that I attended a writers’ day program at the Mark Twain Middle School in Yonkers. As always, the kids were bright, attentive and asked very good questions. Sample: Do you ever regret some of the columns you’ve written? I won’t repeat the long reply I gave to the class, but I’ll give you my short answer. Yes.

Despite the hiatus, I will resume the “High Noon” show at the regular day and time next week. That’s Thursday, April 23 at 12 noon. 1460 AM or wvox.com. We’ll be talking to Dennis Robertson, a former councilman from Yonkers who is seeking the Democratic nomination for council president.

Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick will be my guest on “High Noon” today at 12 noon. Listen to the conversation by tuning your radio dial to WVOX, 1460 AM, or log onto wvox.com.

Calls will be taken at 914-636-0110.

Yes, it does.

The Florida city got rid of them. At least they got rid of a lot of them, saving about $800,000 a year. Even the mayor doesn’t take a free car.

West Palm Beach put the new policy into effect after a municipal audit found that more than half the 3.6 million miles driven in municipal vehicles were actually logged by commuting employees. For the full West Palm Beach report click on records-request-robins.

This just moved on the wires an hour ago. We’ve got a new international wonder canine. She’s an Australian cattle dog named Sophie Tucker.

Sophie fell over board on a trip with her owners off the coast of Queensland. She swam five nautical miles through shark-infested waters and made it to an island where she managed to survive for four months, feeding on baby goats.

She was found in the wild  and later eunited with her owners.

Sophie’s story of survival is an inspiration, and should be part of the conversation on April 24 when the Pet Adoption League & Cat Assistance hold its annual fundraiser dinner at the Coveleigh Club in Rye. The guest of honor will be Dr. Michael Woltz, the veterinarian at Central Animal Hospital.

I try to make it to this event every year in support of a very worthy cause. By the way, the photo at left is the amazing Sophie.

The city of Yonkers has been trying to come up with a workable policy on take-home vehicles for five years—and still there are problems.

Tomorrow’s column takes a look at city Inspector General Philip Zisman’s examination of the use and abuse of municipal gasoline. The results aren’t pretty.

Click here for the full report: city-fleet-gasoline-usage-final-report114