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Sheriff elections across N.J. dominated by ‘double-dippers’

Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino

NJ SpotlightBy NJ Spotlight
on September 20, 2016 at 6:30 AM, updated September 20, 2016 at 5:03 PM

….In Bergen County, Sheriff Michael Saudino is opposed by Republican Manuel Alfonso, a chief investigator for the state Department of Corrections. Saudino was elected as a Republican, but switched his allegiance to the Democratic Party this year.

Saudino rakes in more than any other double-dipping sheriff – $138,000 in salary plus $130,000 from pension. Alfonso is eligible for an $80,000 a year pension, but has promised not to collect retirement pay while he serves as sheriff….

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/09/sheriff_elections_across_nj_dominated_by_double-di.html?utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics#incart_most-comments

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NJ Department of Education Unit “Q” Double-Dippers collected roughly $5.9 million last year

jersey-capital

jersey-capital

NJ Department of Education Unit “Q” Double-Dippers collected roughly $5.9 million last year
March 2,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Speaking of salaries, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports on an investigation from New Jersey Watchdog that found that an obscure unit of the NJ Department of Education called Unit “Q” employs 40 “double-dipping” staff members, who collect pensions as well as paychecks.  For example, Cathy Coyle, who collects an annual pension of $73,765 from the State, also takes home $151,862 for her DOE job as a “special services” employee in Unit Q.

From the Inquirer:

•    Two-thirds of NJDOE’S top 60 Unit Q special services workers collect state pensions.
•    Those 40 employees collected roughly $5.9 million last year – nearly $2.9 million in state pay plus almost $3 million from retirement checks.
•    Thirty-eight of the double-dippers have six-figure incomes. Five receive more than $200,000 a year.

Most of them seem to work as either County Superintendents (irony alert: they control merit bonuses for district superintendents; see post below this) or Regional Achievement Center Executive Directors, who oversee NJ’s most troubled districts.

Data collected by https://watchdog.org/category/new-jersey/ and the https://www.philly.com/inquirer/