Some of the old posts made reference to council members being "part time".
I went to one of the neighborhood meetings that Stephen Fulop does out of his district a while back. He actually advocated for full time council members. I thought that was odd, because my instinct said part time was less cost than full time.
Then he pointed out that if council members were full time, they could not hold another full time (i.e. City or County government job).
When I thought it over, it sure made a lot of sense to me. Unless I am mistaken at least 3 of our current council people would have to give up their council seat or give up their government job if the council were full time.
Long term JC would be a better place IMHO.
Best!

If I am not mistaken Fulop only keeps $1 of his council salary and donates the rest to charity. He is also the only council member who has not made use of a city car.

Incomes for mayoral candidates, no matter what the source, should be disclosed as should their tax returns. I'm sure that Steve Fulop wouldn't object. I have no problem with him having a private sector job because the council is a part time gig. And he is not double-dipping on public-funded pensions and benefits.

IMHO, you can't even put Mr. Fulop and some of the rest of the societal dregs on the council in the same league. He's the only voice that I'm hearing that endorses full-disclosure with government, publicly decries non-labelled city vehicles and no-bid contracts, and denounces all of the good-old-boy politics that are killing this city. When he's mayor, he's going to be a full-time mayor. I've never even met the guy but I like what he's doing and where he wants Jersey City to go.

In the heat of the Reublican primary we all heard plenty about candidate dosclosing their tax information. Should candidates that run in municipal or state elections be required to do the same?

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Clearly you need to read up on your Gordon Gekko. Greed is what made this town!

I don;t know how to use the quote function here, but to the question about double pensions.....

That is the whole point to all of this double dipping. THe more jobs you have, the more your pension will be. That is why these people can't hold enough positions. Once they become a "good ole boy", they bounce around from position to position, county to city to parking authority...and since it is their own "fraternity" (funded with our tax dollars) they are hesitant to kick anyone out (or ask them to resign) when they do something that is questionable. The pension is also a strong reason why those who are caught with their hand in the cookie jar, won't do the right thing and resign.

It is all about greed. Greed is the downfall of all civilizations.

no doubt.

I think you'd have a stronger case if "serving the public" didn't consist of silly make-work such as "confidential aide (drinking buddy?) to Tom DeGise or liason to the jail.

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i'm pretty sure it's one public pension,

but (one might suggest) that there is something to be said for the fact that it's a part-time job, even steve f. has another job. granted, steve f. isn't on the public payroll, but if he were director of the HEDC, would his supporters really mind that? someone could argue that there's nothing wrong with having your "full-time" job also be a public job. i mean, it's supposed to have some virtue, serving the public, no?

I could be totally wrong. But isn't it true that they collect a city pension for every job? So if you have two jobs you get 2 pensions? just curious.

"they save tax payers money..."

the old adage is true, you get what you pay for...

Before Mariano Vega in corruption probe-Jersey City pols' history of double dipping with admin jobs

BY Karen Angel
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Monday, September 21st 2009, 3:15 PM

Even before Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega was arrested in last summer's federal corruption sting, the council had its share of issues.

Newly elected Councilwoman Nidia Lopez (D-Journal Square), the council's first Hispanic woman, came under fire for claiming her Florida home as her primary residence on tax returns.

Councilwoman-at-Large Willie Flood was criticized for hiring her son Phillip - who was arrested in 2007 for selling marijuana out of his mother's Mercedes - for both a city and a county post.

And then there's the fact that six of the nine council members also hold county jobs.

Vega is director of parks, engineering and planning for the county; Flood is the county register; Viola Richardson is the liaison between the county government and the jail; Peter Brennan is the confidential aide to County Executive Thomas DeGise; William Gaughan is the chief of staff to DeGise, and Philip Kenny is the secretary to the board of freeholders. All are Democrats.

According to the think tank Jersey Policy Perspective, Jersey City is one of the state's worst offenders when it comes to elected officials also holding administrative government jobs.

Although New Jersey banned the holding of dual elected offices in 2007 (but grandfathered in current dual officeholders), state law is silent on officials combining elected and nonelected government positions.

"When the state-appointed superintendent of the Jersey City public schools spends two days a week in Trenton as an assemblyman, he is spending less time as superintendent," said Tom O'Neill, a consultant who co-authored the Policy Perspective report.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy countered that because council positions are part time, they save taxpayers money and attract qualified people who don't want to be full-time politicians.

"All city council members in Jersey City are likely to have a secondary income, whether by working in the public or private sector," Healy said.

Several council members did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/b ... bledip.html#ixzz0SnkZGQSt