Richard Myrlak's job connection was Bobby J himself

Thursday, May 03, 2007
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

In 1988, Richard Myrlak left his job in the athletic department at Ramapo College to join the staff of his childhood friend, Robert Janiszewski, who had just been elected Hudson County executive.

Myrlak initially served as county director of parks, then assumed the role of Janiszewski's chief of staff. He was later promoted to county business administrator.

In 1998, roughly three years before Janiszewski's public fall from grace in a corruption scandal, Myrlak left county government, but not before he was appointed by his boss and pal to become president of the Hudson County Schools of Technology Board of Education, a move that eventually landed him a lucrative position with the district.

Today, he pulls in nearly $180,000 in the dual role of board secretary and athletic director for the district, a figure that several local officials say outweighs his responsibility, while becoming a symbol of the patronage that fills HCST's payrolls.

Most school districts combine the roles of board secretary and business administrator, and Myrlak outpaces that group by tens of thousands of dollars in salary, according to a Jersey Journal analysis.

"That's a lot of money," said Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise, who declined to provide more clarification of his statement.

"I think that's a little steep," said Hudson County Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons.

One insider who was part of Janiszewski's administration said: "Richard got the biggest golden parachute in county government. He saw a cozy job, and he was childhood friends with Janiszewski, so there was political support, so he jumped on it."

Myrlak did not return repeated phone calls made to his office in the district over the past week.

As board secretary, Myrlak provides public notice of board meetings and contracts, along with record keeping of the board's activities. He also serves as the conduit between the board and the administrative staff, ensuring they are aware of the actions taken by the board.

By way of comparison, the much larger Jersey City school district pays Joanne Gilman $132,528 to serve as the business administrator and board secretary. The Hoboken school district pays $32,000 for a part-time board secretary, David Anthony.

==========================

Reward is a voice and influence

Thursday, May 03, 2007
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

They are not elected, but the seven-member Hudson County Schools of Technology Board of Education is certainly political.

Just ask the man who appointed them.

Since becoming Hudson County executive in 2002, Tom DeGise has appointed or reappointed all seven members to the HCST board, which now features three school district superintendents, a former cop, a politician, a funeral director and a mayoral aide.

The appointments are important to local politicians - especially to the 12 mayors of Hudson County - who view the seats as a means of access and influence in the school district.

"There are only seven seats, and each mayor would like someone on the board so they can have a voice, but that's not possible. It's tough to make everyone happy," said DeGise, who noted that four of his seven appointments came directly from local mayors' recommendations.

DeGise said there is no exact formula for selecting board members, nor are there any requirements. Like other school boards, the members meet once a month and generally oversee spending, hiring and school policy.

The most recent appointment came from Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who recommended Jersey City Incinerator Authority Executive Director Oren Dabney for the seat.

"I knew Oren, and he's competent, and it was who Mayor Healy wanted," said DeGise.

Dabney said his primary mission is to provide the greatest educational opportunity for local residents, but he also noted other goals.

"I feel it's my job to make sure Jersey City students get into the schools, and to make sure Jersey City residents get jobs," Dabney said.

North Bergen school district Superintendent Peter Fischbach has served on the board for roughly 16 years, and he said the board is independent and critical.

"We are a professional board; lately we have been voting together, but we have our debate in caucus meetings," said Fischbach.

Board president Craig Guy, who serves as deputy chief of staff to DeGise, did not return numerous calls seeking comment. Neither did board members Anthony Vainieri, Anthony Comprelli, Christopher Irizarry and Robert Van Zanten.

Reward is a voice - and influence
DeGISE: POLLS WANT IN

Wednesday, April 25, 2007
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

They are not elected, but the seven-member Hudson County Schools of Technology Board of Education is certainly political.

Just ask the man who appointed them.

Since becoming Hudson County executive in 2002, Tom DeGise has appointed or reappointed all seven members to the HCST board, which now features three school district superintendents, a former cop, a politician, a funeral director and a mayoral aide.

The appointments are important to local politicians - especially to the 12 mayors of Hudson County - who view the seats as a means of access and influence in the school district.

"There are only seven seats, and each mayor would like someone on the board so they can have a voice, but that's not possible. It's tough to make everyone happy," said DeGise, who noted that four of his seven appointments came directly from local mayors' recommendations.

DeGise said there is no exact formula for selecting board members, nor are there any requirements. Like other school boards, the members meet once a month and generally oversee spending, hiring and school policy.

The most recent appointment came from Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who recommended Jersey City Incinerator Authority Executive Director Oren Dabney for the seat.

"I knew Oren, and he's competent, and it was who Mayor Healy wanted," said DeGise.

Dabney said his primary mission is to provide the greatest educational opportunity for local residents, but he also noted other goals.

"I feel it's my job to make sure Jersey City students get into the schools, and to make sure Jersey City residents get jobs," Dabney said.

North Bergen school district Superintendent Peter Fischbach has served on the board for roughly 16 years, and he said the board is independent and critical.

"We are a professional board; lately we have been voting together, but we have our debate in caucus meetings," said Fischbach.

Board president Craig Guy, who serves as deputy chief of staff to DeGise, did not return numerous calls seeking comment. Neither did board members Anthony Vainieri, Anthony Comprelli, Christopher Irizarry and Robert Van Zanten.

DeGise: Staff 'entrenched'
'It's tough'

Jersey Journal
Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Yes, there are patronage positions at the Hudson County Schools of Technology, Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise says. And yes, it's a problem. And yes, he says, he doing something about it.

DeGise says when he was elected in 2004 he was "shocked" at the number of patronage jobs at the HCST, saying the payroll was "padded" with as many as "five or six" principals in the district, along with a host of "nebulous" job titles that bear little resemblance to the actual work performed.

Today, there are two principals, one for each of the high schools, along with a principal for the adult school, Harrison Councilman James Doran. There are still a number of job titles - like school to career facilitator and chief school coordinator - that defy definition.

"As a politician, it frustrated me to see all the political names there. It wasn't like they owed anything to me," said DeGise.

"I think the residue of the patronage is a problem, but that budget is so choking on our budget that we can't afford to dump people there these days. . It is not perfect over there, and we have made good strides in improving it."

However, DeGise said that gutting the system of patronage jobs, which he acknowledges he has doled out himself, is difficult because employees are "entrenched" at the district and often have support in the form of local mayors.

"It's tough. These nebulous titles are being eliminated through attrition, and we have even tried to make people's work life miserable, switching them to different jobs to send the signal that maybe it's time to leave," DeGise said.

DeGise said that last year he froze all salaries of nonunion employees in the county, asking all other county agencies to follow the lead. Only the administration at HCST ignored the request, providing its administrators with annual cost-of-living increases.

"It disappointed me. I was negotiating contracts with several unions, and I wanted to show solidarity," said DeGise.

The district did not want to offer a response, district spokesman Craig Schmalz said.

JARRETT RENSHAW

'POL-TECH' TOPS IN SALARIES
Half of HCST administrators top $143G a year

Tuesday, April 24, 2007
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Hudson County Schools of Technology administrators and support staff are among the highest paid in the state, when compared to the payrolls of the state's other 20 vocational school districts, according to state Department of Education figures.

A Jersey Journal analysis of the district's 441 full-time employees shows that a number of these administrators and support staff also have political ties to powerful politicians, or are elected officials themselves.

School officials defend the salaries, saying the employees are qualified for the positions and point to the district's long record of academic success.

They also note that, with only nine employees classified as administrators, they have the highest student-to-administrator ratio in the state, with one administrator for every 279 students, according to state figures. The state average is one administrator for every 118 students, according to state figures.

Figures show that the district has the highest median salary among the state's 21 vocational school districts, with more than half of the administrators making more than $141,372 per year. The same goes for the district's support staff, with more than half making more than $99,000 a year.

School district spokesman Craig Schmalz said that the median salary is misleading, since the district employs fewer administrators and support staff than other vocational school districts, creating an "inflated" median salary.

"If we added 10 employees, that number would come down dramatically, but we have been financially responsible," said Schmalz, who works for Vision Media, a public relations firm that has contracts with numerous Hudson County municipalities and the Hudson County Democratic Organization.

However, in a straight comparison of salaries, a number of administrators at HCST rank at the top, pulling tens of thousands more than their peers, according to a Jersey Journal analysis.

Superintendent Frank Gargiulo's salary of $191,728 ranks only behind the Salem County Vocational school district's superintendent, according to a comparison of administrative salaries at the state's vocational school districts.

Gargiulo's salary figure does not include the $65,759 he received over the last three years for cashing in his unused sick and vacation time, an addition that makes him the state's highest paid vocational school superintendent.

Assistant Superintendent Joseph Saringelo's annual salary of $180,875 makes him the highest paid assistant superintendent among the state's 21 vocational school districts; a majority do without the position.

Saringelo, a former business administrator, was promoted to assistant superintendent in order to make room for Nicholas Fargo, a former business administrator in Jersey City and a close friend of Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise.

Meanwhile, Fargo's salary of $145,000 makes him the highest paid vocational school district business administrator in the state, according a comparison of salary figures.

===============================================

Myrlak's connection was Bobby J himself

Tuesday, April 24, 2007
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

In 1988, Richard Myrlak left his job in the athletic department at Ramapo College to join the staff of his childhood friend, Robert Janiszewski, who had just been elected Hudson County executive.

Myrlak initially served as county director of parks, then assumed the role of Janiszewski's chief of staff. He was later promoted to county business administrator.

In 1998, roughly three years before Janiszewski's public fall from grace in a corruption scandal, Myrlak left county government, but not before he was appointed by his boss and pal to become president of the Hudson County Schools of Technology Board of Education, a move that eventually landed him a lucrative position with the district.

Today, he pulls in nearly $180,000 in the dual role of board secretary and athletic director for the district, a figure that several local officials say outweighs his responsibility, while becoming a symbol of the patronage that fills HCST's payrolls.

Most school districts combine the roles of board secretary and business administrator, and Myrlak outpaces that group by tens of thousands of dollars in salary, according to a Jersey Journal analysis.

"That's a lot of money," said Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise, who declined to provide more clarification of his statement.

"I think that's a little steep," said Hudson County Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons.

One insider who was part of Janiszewski's administration said: "Richard got the biggest golden parachute in county government. He saw a cozy job, and he was childhood friends with Janiszewski, so there was political support, so he jumped on it."

Myrlak did not return repeated phone calls made to his office in the district over the past week.

As board secretary, Myrlak provides public notice of board meetings and contracts, along with record keeping of the board's activities. He also serves as the conduit between the board and the administrative staff, ensuring they are aware of the actions taken by the board.

By way of comparison, the much larger Jersey City school district pays Joanne Gilman $132,528 to serve as the business administrator and board secretary. The Hoboken school district pays $32,000 for a part-time board secretary, David Anthony.

This one really jumped out at me --

"*Philip Flood earns $32,724 as a technology support assistant. Flood, the son of Jersey City Councilwoman Willie Flood, was arrested by Jersey City Police on charges of selling marijuana earlier this year. He is currently suspended without pay, according to school officials."

Politically connected admins, staff abound at Schools of Technology

Journal -- April 23 -- JARRETT RENSHAW

Some have several college degrees, while others have never stepped foot in a college classroom, but a number of administrative and support personnel employed at the Hudson County Schools of Technology share a common bond: They have graduated from the school of Hudson County politics.

A Jersey Journal review of the 441 full-time employees at HCST reveals political ties up and down the salary rolls, from the superintendent who doubles as an elected official in North Bergen to secretaries related to people at the upper echelon of the county's political establishment.

The maintenance department is run by a mayor; an assistant dispatcher is the driver of the mayor of West New York; a former Jersey City acting mayor and the director of special projects is a former Jersey City council president.

These administrators and support staff are among the highest-paid employees when compared to the employees at the state's other 20 vocational school districts, according to state Department of Education statistics.

However, the political connections appear to stop at the classroom door. There is nothing to suggest that these so-called patronage jobs have spilled over into the faculty, who have produced some of the best and brightest students in the state.

Instead, critics say, local politicians have used HCST as a patronage mill, padding the payrolls with staff and administrative jobs with "nebulous" job titles like school-to-career facilitator and school coordinating chief - in order to retain a strong political base that makes them untouchable come election time.

"Providing quality education should be the standard, not addressing the needs of political fiefdoms," Hudson County Freeholder Bill O'Dea said. "There are certainly a number of instances that people would be hard pressed to say that they went out, did a search, and by coincidence found a person with a long political history for the job."

Defenders of the payroll point to the strong academic achievements of the district's two high schools, County Prep and High Tech High, whose students and faculty have won numerous awards over the years.

And they say there's nothing wrong with politicians finding jobs for qualified constituents.

"The district hires qualified people, regardless of their political affiliations, and there is a long track record that supports that," district spokesman Craig Schmalz said.

However, most of these jobs come with large salaries, asking taxpayers to unknowingly support a system that some say helps the county's machine politicians retain power.

In addition, the political connections are not limited to just employees, they extend to vendors as well. For example, Jersey City Assemblyman Lou Manzo's company, Metro Insurance Group, has a lucrative no-bid contract with the district to serve as a broker for the employees' dental insurance plans.

However, Manzo says that he subcontracts out the work to another person, for a lesser price, instead of fulfilling the contract himself.

"I am a full-time assemblyman, and I can't handle all the work myself," he said.

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Roll call of the politically connected
Monday, April 23, 2007

Here's a list of employees at the Hudson County Schools of Technology who are politicians or have political ties:

*North Bergen Commissioner Frank Gargiulo earns $191,728 as the district superintendent. Records show that he also cashed in 50 unused sick and vacation days at the end of the past three years, allowing him to pocket an additional $65,759.

*Natalie Gargiulo, the daughter of superintendent Frank Gargiulo, earns $45,015 as clerk/secretary. Hired in 2004, she makes a higher salary than several other clerk/secretaries with more experience, as well as a number of teachers.

*Kathleen Sacco, the wife of North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco, earns $36,873 as school-to-career facilitator. However, school officials say she actually serves as a secretary. With her husband's salaries as mayor, state assemblyman and assistant superintendent in the North Bergen School district, the pair receives a combined public salary of $278,431.

*Marilyn Roman, former Jersey City Council president and acting mayor, earns $122,531 as the director of special projects for the district. She also earns an annual pension of $115,113 for her years at the Jersey City School District.

*Richard Myrlak, former chief of staff to disgraced Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszweski, earns $179,869 as the board secretary/athletic director for the district. He was allowed to cash in 50 days of sick and vacation time last year, collecting an additional $20,344 in salary.

*Guttenberg Mayor David Delledonna earns $89,300 as the district's custodial coordinator.

*John Delledonna earns $89,300 as school law enforcement officer. He is the uncle of Guttenberg Mayor David Delledonna.

*Mario Real earns $71,865 as an assistant dispatcher for the district's bus system. In his spare time, Real earns another $18,000 as confidential aid and driver to West New York Mayor Sal Vega.

*Carl Czaplicki, chief of staff to Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, earns $4,000 as a "mentor" at the school and as a chaperone on an annual trip to Boston.

*Philip Flood earns $32,724 as a technology support assistant. Flood, the son of Jersey City Councilwoman Willie Flood, was arrested by Jersey City Police on charges of selling marijuana earlier this year. He is currently suspended without pay, according to school officials.

*Martha Stack, sister-in-law to Union City Mayor Brian Stack, earns $33,148 as secretary/clerk. Brian Stack recommended her for the position.

*Harrison Councilman James Doran earns $152,392 as a principal/supervisor at the Adult High School.

*Richard Ryglicki earns $162,000 as an HCST hearing officer. He earns another $21,144 as an attorney for North Bergen and Weehawken School Districts.

*Guttenberg Planning Board member Brian Guaschino earns $62,370 as a school coordinating chief. He is also listed as an employee of the state's General Assembly.

* Melvin Johnson, an aide to Freeholder Jeff Dublin, earns $51,889 as an employee in Employment Special/Community & Minority Business.

*Nicholas Fargo, former chief of staff to Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler, earns $145,000 as the school business administrator.

*Eric Van Zanten, son of HCST board member Dr. Robert Van Zanten, earns $45,000 as an art teacher.

*Hudson County Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons has four relatives on the payroll: his cousin, Frances Kerns, earns $31,025 as a HCST security guard; his nephew, Adam Fitzgibbons, makes $27,507 as a pool substitute; the freeholder's sister-in-law, Linda Fitzgibbons, is paid $4,600 as part-time summer staff; and his brother, Thomas Fitzgibbons, earns $7,920 as an educational advisor.