How many NJ Transit commuters have six-figure incomes and receive 9 percent salary increases?

NJ Transit learns from best to waste money

To the Editor:

Not that long ago, top NJ Transit officials were forced to resign when the decisions they made to leave trains and locomotives exposedduring Hurricane Sandy resulted in $100 million in equipment damages.

Ronnie Hakim, the former New Jersey Turnpike Authority director, was brought on board as executive director to fill the void. The turnpike authority had an overtime scandal following 2013-2104 snowstorms. Apparently that wasn’t a deterrent to Hakim becoming a top NJ Transit official. It might even have worked in her favor: She could show the boys how it’s done.

Maybe you read a more recent article about NJ Transit. They have 1,000 employees making six-figure salaries. Excuse me — that’s 1,001 such employees — because Michael Drewniak, Gov. Chris Christie’s former press secretary, just landed a job at NJ Transit paying $147,700. That policy-and-planning job was newly created just for him and didn’t require any transit experience. It’s just another made-to-order Trenton patronage job paid for with our transit dollars.

Does anyone in Trenton have oversight responsibility so they can require that NJ Transit officials spend transit funds on actual transit projects? Or, will the revenue from the recent 9 percent fare hike provide additional patronage opportunities?