School district paid city rec director thousands in 'error,' seeks money back

https://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... director_in_error_se.html

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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School district paid city rec director thousands in 'error,' seeks money back

By Terrence T. McDonald - The Jersey Journal

JERSEY CITY — Jersey City's recreation director collected thousands of dollars earlier this year for a job with the public-school district he was not performing, records obtained by The Jersey Journal show.

The district, where Williams was a supervisor before he became rec director, paid Williams for up to 24 days after he joined Jersey City's payroll in January, according to copies of his paychecks The Jersey Journal received after filing a public-records request.

Williams makes $121,165 annually for his city position. His district job — he is on a one-year leave of absence to work for the city — paid him $150,400.

Posted on: 2018/10/18 3:39

jerseymom

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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N.J. A.G. looking into timesheet issue at Jersey City rec department: sources

By Terrence T. McDonald tmcdonald@jjournal.com
The Jersey Journal

JERSEY CITY ? Officials with the state attorney general's office arrived at Jersey City's recreation department headquarters on Friday to interview city workers about accusations of fraudulent pay records, sources told The Jersey Journal.

The Jersey Journal wrote about the allegations last month, citing sources saying a mid-level recreation official adjusted payroll records so the official's friends and family could get paid for work they did not perform.

More

Posted on: 2018/5/26 1:03

light12v

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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A MORE FITTING THREAD TITLE SHOULD LOSE THE WORD RECREATION....& read:
Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City

Posted on: 2018/4/30 18:30

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
Quote:

jcneighbor wrote:
Quote:

psyop wrote:
Quote:

jcneighbor wrote:
Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
What is the total number of city employees?

Sheesh, it's an xls spreadsheet and it even shows the count in the left hand column. The answer is 3,336.

What did you expect, she doesn't even read the nonsense links she posts other than the title?

Everybody knows that. But so far she hasn't twisted this into a religious or parking rant or shared her homophobic views. And repeated them and repeated them...

Your comment is that of a bully. You hide behind phony names pretending your are knowledgeable. At least I have the courage to have my real name on my comments. By the way, homophobic is not a real word. As written - I do not have the fear of mankind. Some person, created a word and stupid people start using it without understanding what is means. Define homo: any of a genus (Homo) of hominids that includes modern humans -A phobia is an excessive and irrational fear reaction.) By the way, I do not have a fear of gay people either. Nor stupid people either.

Try again, Yvonne. Straight from the dictionary:

ho?mo?pho?bic
?h?m??f?bik/
adjective
adjective: homophobic

having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against homosexual people.

And wow, you must have had a slow day yesterday and nothing better to do than pull up a post I made over a year ago.

Posted on: 2018/4/30 10:12

Yvonne

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

jcneighbor wrote:
Quote:

psyop wrote:
Quote:

jcneighbor wrote:
Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
What is the total number of city employees?

Sheesh, it's an xls spreadsheet and it even shows the count in the left hand column. The answer is 3,336.

What did you expect, she doesn't even read the nonsense links she posts other than the title?

Everybody knows that. But so far she hasn't twisted this into a religious or parking rant or shared her homophobic views. And repeated them and repeated them...

Your comment is that of a bully. You hide behind phony names pretending your are knowledgeable. At least I have the courage to have my real name on my comments. By the way, homophobic is not a real word. As written - I do not have the fear of mankind. Some person, created a word and stupid people start using it without understanding what is means. Define homo: any of a genus (Homo) of hominids that includes modern humans -A phobia is an excessive and irrational fear reaction.) By the way, I do not have a fear of gay people either. Nor stupid people either.

Posted on: 2018/4/29 14:33

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... t_jersey_citys_rec_d.html

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Accusations of fake pay records rock Jersey City's rec department

By Terrence T. McDonald - The Jersey Journal

Jersey City's recreation department is reeling from accusations that a mid-level official there adjusted payroll records so the official's friends and family could get paid for work they did not perform, sources have told The Jersey Journal.

The official was moved to a different recreation department office after an internal review of pay records raised questions about pay given to at least 11 people, the sources said.

City spokeswoman Hannah Peterson dismissed the accusations as "gossip" from a disgruntled employee.

Posted on: 2018/4/29 4:39

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2 ... e_to_run_a_rec_depar.html

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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How many directors does it take to run a rec department? | Morgan's Corner

By Earl Morgan - For The Jersey Journal

State Civil Service rules and regulations are explicit about certain things.

For instance, a municipal department cannot have two serving directors earning the same pay and in the same title. However, until just the last few weeks, that's what was happening in Jersey City's Department of Recreation, where its former director, Kevin Williamson, and new department head, Arthur Williams, were both listed on the payroll as director, both earning $118,000 annually.

When questioned were raised about this possible infraction of Civil Service rules, there was some scrambling around City Hall and Williamson's title was changed to "management aide" but he retained his $118,000 annual salary.

Asked about the situation, Jersey City mayoral spokeswoman Hannah Peterson said Williams, the new director, is getting a salary increase to $121,000 a year. That still left Williamson, the former director, being paid -- albeit in a lesser title -- the same salary he earned as director.

Posted on: 2018/3/22 22:18

Ralph_Abutts

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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The count is high as it includes seasonals (p/t summer help). IIRC the # of full timers is roughly 2,600

Resized Image

Posted on: 2017/2/7 17:39

Hamparkvet

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Enos Jones Park with the blaring P.A.system so that some douche can pretend he's John Sterling while 8 parents watch. The fields there are then locked and neighborhood kids can't use them unless they're "connected". That time I saw an off duty fireman turn on all the lights at the baseball field so he could run laps all by himself. Don't worry though, you're paying for it.

Posted on: 2017/2/7 5:24

bodhipooh

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

KOCTEP wrote:
Quote:

jcneighbor wrote:
Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
What is the total number of city employees?

Sheesh, it's an xls spreadsheet and it even shows the count in the left hand column. The answer is 3,336.

That means for every 10 Jersey City resident's we have a municipal employee. Wonder how it compares to other cities.

Math is not your strength. Based on the current estimate of 258K residents, the ratio of city employees to residents 1:80. Doesn't sound too bad, but I'm not well versed on how other cities stack up.

Posted on: 2017/2/3 4:40

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

KOCTEP wrote:
Quote:

jcneighbor wrote:
Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
What is the total number of city employees?

Sheesh, it's an xls spreadsheet and it even shows the count in the left hand column. The answer is 3,336.

That means for every 10 Jersey City resident's we have a municipal employee. Wonder how it compares to other cities.

Um, I think you missed a digit. I see 100:1

Posted on: 2017/2/3 1:19

KOCTEP

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

jcneighbor wrote:
Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
What is the total number of city employees?

Sheesh, it's an xls spreadsheet and it even shows the count in the left hand column. The answer is 3,336.

That means for every 10 Jersey City resident's we have a municipal employee. Wonder how it compares to other cities.

Posted on: 2017/2/3 1:14

psyop

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

psyop wrote:
Quote:

jcneighbor wrote:
Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
What is the total number of city employees?

Sheesh, it's an xls spreadsheet and it even shows the count in the left hand column. The answer is 3,336.

What did you expect, she doesn't even read the nonsense links she posts other than the title?

Soon enough.

Posted on: 2017/2/3 1:14

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

psyop wrote:
Quote:

jcneighbor wrote:
Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
What is the total number of city employees?

Sheesh, it's an xls spreadsheet and it even shows the count in the left hand column. The answer is 3,336.

What did you expect, she doesn't even read the nonsense links she posts other than the title?

Everybody knows that. But so far she hasn't twisted this into a religious or parking rant or shared her homophobic views. And repeated them and repeated them...

Posted on: 2017/2/3 0:48

psyop

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

jcneighbor wrote:
Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
What is the total number of city employees?

Sheesh, it's an xls spreadsheet and it even shows the count in the left hand column. The answer is 3,336.

What did you expect, she doesn't even read the nonsense links she posts other than the title?

Posted on: 2017/2/3 0:37

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
What is the total number of city employees?

Sheesh, it's an xls spreadsheet and it even shows the count in the left hand column. The answer is 3,336.

Posted on: 2017/2/3 0:15

Yvonne

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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What is the total number of city employees?

Posted on: 2017/2/3 0:10

terrencemcd

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

iGreg wrote:
Terry, kudos

Thanks! And what the hell here's the county payroll too, as of last week:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/41pv5p2honikrks/Hudson%20Co%2C.pdf?dl=0

Posted on: 2017/2/2 21:32

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Terry, kudos

Besides penning the whole printed content of the daily Jersey Journal you're still able to pull thru with reliable stats.

*** The hockey program is great but the terrible limited public hours at the skating rink are not.

Quote:

terrencemcd wrote:
I OPRA salaries a few times a year. Here's a link to them as of December.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3nqyqp5rjreo ... es%20Dec.%202016.xls?dl=0

Posted on: 2017/2/2 20:35

terrencemcd

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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I OPRA salaries a few times a year. Here's a link to them as of December.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3nqyqp5rjreo ... es%20Dec.%202016.xls?dl=0

Posted on: 2017/2/2 19:01

Mao

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Forget about the water temperature at Pershing?! Never! And actually for the first time ever, it is consitently appropriate at about 83 degrees. Who cares if the showers have peeling paint- at least the pool can be used for its purpose now.

I don't know, I don't see a big slide in the Department. There are some things that are great- the youth hockey program. The age group swim team is in its early stage but shows promise. There are no doubt hacks but also good. Berry Lane Park is a big new asset for example.

Posted on: 2017/2/2 18:51

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Good link Bill but :

List of Jersey City Public Employees with titles, hire date and salaries. The data is as of February 20, 2014

Quote:

bill wrote:
That info was last updated for 2014.
https://data.openjerseycity.org/dataset?tags=Salary&_tags_limit=0

An interesting link to someone's analysis of the data,
http://reyale.github.io/jc_salaries.html

Posted on: 2017/2/2 18:06

bill

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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That info was last updated for 2014.
https://data.openjerseycity.org/dataset?tags=Salary&_tags_limit=0

An interesting link to someone's analysis of the data,
http://reyale.github.io/jc_salaries.html

Posted on: 2017/2/2 17:41

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

You can get the list of employees and salaries from the Open Data portal. Or, it used to be possible. I will have to check. If not, OpenJC should have the data. Really interesting info in the XLS.

Info sure is not posted, need to file specific requests in seems.

Be some good fodder for the next mayoral run to explain who what when where and why.

Back in the day were also AdultEd classes
that were run in Ferris HS - Spanish, photography classes were offered in the evenings - be nice to see those programs offered again.

Posted on: 2017/2/2 17:36

Sam112

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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I have to agree with the original poster - The Recreation Dept. has become a major JOKE, and has only gone downhill under Fulop's administration. Forget about the water temperature at Pershing Field Pool -- how about the showers ?? They are dirty, disgusting, with paint that has been peeling for almost a year ... and their solution has been to put up a sign asking patrons for their patience. I guess patience is needed when the same blob of hair can sit in the floor drain of the shower day after day.

Fulop should be embarrassed and finally put someone in charge who is qualified and committed. I called the Recreation Department about different matters several times and Williamson is never there. One time the person answering the call seemed puzzled as to why I was calling with a complaint about Pershing Pool -- and I actually had remind them that the Pool comes under the Dept of Recreation. Seems like they don't even want to be bothered overseeing their own facilities / programs. Word is Williamson is spending more time selling insurance (his REAL job) instead of doing what the City is paying him $117,000 for. Not sure why he spent time looking for the City's car around his neighborhood except if he forgot where he parked it or lent it to someone else??

I'll add that many cities' Recreational program include services / classes for adults as well as youths. In this "6th Borough" of New York, forget about recreational programs for adults - they are almost non-existent.

Bottom line: Get rid of the incompetents in Recreation, hire people who truly want to improve the City (not just their own pockets), and get back to the job of creating and maintaining goods programs for your all JC Residents (youths and adults).

Posted on: 2017/2/2 16:51

bodhipooh

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

iGreg wrote:
Quote:

135jc wrote:
Quote:

iGreg wrote:
Quote:

Leo168 wrote:
I don't understand why the mayor can't seem to put someone in charge of recreation who is honest and cares about the department.
First it was Ryan Strother, a total disaster who took everything good and turned it bad.
Now it is Kevin Williamson who has done nothing to improve any program. I have seen him around town doing business that certainly is not related to recreation.
It seems the entire staff is clueless.

What do you propose ?

As a kid the schools had the gymnasiums open after school and
we had access to basketball and other facilities and it was run and staffed by JC Rec. people.

. Do you really think the city needs to pay someone 117k plus benefits to do that job?

I sure do not, but he is some sort of political kiss ass.

Where is a public list of city employee salaries ?

Betcha there are tons of similar 100k favoritism jobs on the roster.

You can get the list of employees and salaries from the Open Data portal. Or, it used to be possible. I will have to check. If not, OpenJC should have the data. Really interesting info in the XLS.

Posted on: 2017/2/2 12:55

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

135jc wrote:
Quote:

iGreg wrote:
Quote:

Leo168 wrote:
I don't understand why the mayor can't seem to put someone in charge of recreation who is honest and cares about the department.
First it was Ryan Strother, a total disaster who took everything good and turned it bad.
Now it is Kevin Williamson who has done nothing to improve any program. I have seen him around town doing business that certainly is not related to recreation.
It seems the entire staff is clueless.

What do you propose ?

As a kid the schools had the gymnasiums open after school and
we had access to basketball and other facilities and it was run and staffed by JC Rec. people.

. Do you really think the city needs to pay someone 117k plus benefits to do that job?

I sure do not, but he is some sort of political kiss ass.

Where is a public list of city employee salaries ?

Betcha there are tons of similar 100k favoritism jobs on the roster.

Posted on: 2017/2/2 5:13

135jc

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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Quote:

iGreg wrote:
Quote:

Leo168 wrote:
I don't understand why the mayor can't seem to put someone in charge of recreation who is honest and cares about the department.
First it was Ryan Strother, a total disaster who took everything good and turned it bad.
Now it is Kevin Williamson who has done nothing to improve any program. I have seen him around town doing business that certainly is not related to recreation.
It seems the entire staff is clueless.

What do you propose ?

As a kid the schools had the gymnasiums open after school and
we had access to basketball and other facilities and it was run and staffed by JC Rec. people.

. Do you really think the city needs to pay someone 117k plus benefits to do that job?

Posted on: 2017/2/2 5:02

TheBigGuy

Re: The Disaster that is Jersey City Recreation

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So what was so pressing in this Rec Director schedule that it took him 5 hours to report that a city SUV parked in front of his house on Sussex Street was stolen?

Are there no guidelines for these people to follow when an incident happens with a city vehicle?

You would think that @ 8:01, after finding the SUV missing @ 8:00am, he would be on his city phone calling the Police?

Posted on: 2017/2/2 4:53