State Investigative Commission Calls Out Hoboken

HOBOKEN, NJ — A state investigative commission recently released a report detailing financial "waste and abuse" in 16 towns. The report particularly delved into employee benefits in the towns, saying that the benefits violate state and local regulations that limit excessive perks and compensation.

The report noted that some cities and towns allow their employees to take their birthdays as paid days off. It briefly mentioned Hoboken, saying that the town eliminated a lot of questionable perks in recent years, but still gives employees a paid day off for donating blood or participating in a wedding or bar mitzvah.

The report can be found here.

On Friday, Vijay Chaudhuri, a spokesman for Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, said, "The provisions cited in the SCI report were removed from union contracts for City Hall employees and no longer applicable. Unfortunately, the report’s utilization of outdated contracts provided inaccurate claims as it pertains to Hoboken."

He said that Police Chief Ken Ferrante told him that police are granted one day of paid time off when donating blood (down from five days previously). The other types of provisions cited in the report have been removed in recent contracts, he said.

Chaudhuri also said that Fire Chief Brian Crimmins said that paid days off for bar mitzvahs and weddings, and those types of events, have been removed from union contracts for firefighters and fire officers.

Chaudhuri could not say exactly when those provisions were removed, "as it’s not clear what contracts they’re looking at," he said.

To read more on the report, and the towns cited, click here.