Brown, in a bombshell, says state leaders forced 14 'unqualified' workers on him
Star Ledger
May 4, 2005
RICK HEPP
In a stunning admission about political patronage, state Corrections
Commissioner Devon Brown yesterday told lawmakers he was forced
by the governor's office and legislative leaders to keep 14
employees even though he believed they were not qualified.
Brown said they include some top officials in his central
office whom "if given the chance I would not have hired."
All were appointed to their current posts during the tenure
of former Gov. James E. McGreevey, who hired Brown in April
2002.
They include a division director in charge of inmate rehabilitation
services before their release; an assistant supervisor at
Northern State Prison in Newark; a construction manager, and
a specialist working to get the department's 14 institutions
accredited. Others include a chaplain, a researcher, a translator,
a legal specialist, a welder and two administrative assistants.
Altogether, the 14 earn about $866,000 in annual salaries,
according to state records.
"These are patronage positions," Brown said during an Assembly
Budget Committee hearing, noting that he recently reviewed
the department's personnel files. "There have been both legislative
and executive placements. I understand that's the way it's
done here."
Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Burlington) called it "the most
profound admission I have heard in the 13 years I've been
here that the administration is saddled with political patronage.
I think we have finally broken through on the way business
has been done around here."
Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald, however,
laid the blame on Brown, saying he should have refused to
retain the employees or quit in protest.
"It falls on the commissioner," Greenwald (D-Camden) said
while talking to reporters after the meeting. "In any department,
you serve at the pleasure of the governor, but that doesn't
mean that the governor can tell you how to fill your positions."
The four Republicans on the committee later asked acting Gov.
Richard Codey to investigate political patronage jobs in all
state departments.
"There is simply no excuse for the taxpayers of this state
to be funding unnecessary political patronage positions --
particularly at a time when vital property tax relief programs
have been cut," the Republicans wrote in a letter to Codey.
Codey spokeswoman Kelley Heck said the governor's office had
no knowledge of "any so-called political patronage jobs" and
discounted the call for an investigation as "nothing more
than political gamesmanship."
Brown's admission comes at a time when lawmakers are combing
through state spending in an effort to find savings that could
be used to restore more than $1 billion in property tax rebates
that Codey eliminated to help balance the upcoming state budget.
Corrections has 9,500 employees and a budget of around $1
billion.
The commissioner dropped the bombshell about halfway through
the four-hour hearing under questioning from Malone, who had
received complaints that Corrections had employees duplicating
efforts by doing the same jobs at both its central office
and its various prisons.
"If you were king, how much of them would you get rid of?"
asked Malone.
"All of it," the commissioner replied.
"These are not light salaries."
In a follow-up question, Greenwald said he assumed the patronage
employees were not qualified to do their jobs and that Brown
would not have hired them had he the choice.
"That's exactly what it is," Brown said.
After the committee pressed him for details, Brown provided
a list of 14 names. He did not specify whether they were backed
by the governor's office or legislators, or make any comments
about their individual qualifications.
Flordeliza Medel, an assistant superintendent at Northern
State Prison whose name appeared on the list, acknowledged
that McGreevey's office was helpful in her getting a job because
they were aware of her work as founder of the Asian American
Civic Association.
"I stand on my credentials," said Medel, who has master's
degrees in public administration and business and spent five
years as training coordinator at the Hudson County Correctional
Facility. "I learned a lot in my profession. You can work
so hard, but if you don't have any public relationship, you
cannot be promoted."
Theodore Bradley, who advocates for inmates as an assistant
ombudsman, said McGreevey recommended him for the corrections
job because the two are "long-time friends" and Bradley campaigned
for the former governor in Gloucester County.
"I was recommended by Governor McGreevey," Bradley said. "It
was a job that had a vacancy in it. I applied for it, I interviewed
and I was accepted. I think I've done an exemplary job."
Another employee on the list, construction manager John Brunini,
was stunned to learn that his name was forwarded to lawmakers.
Brunini said he has been with the department since being hired
in 1996 by former Gov. Christie Whitman after 28 years as
an electrical contractor.
"I'm not going to go against anything the commissioner said.
He's my boss," said Brunini, who describes himself as a political
independent. "I would defend my qualifications against anybody."
Others on the list could not be reached yesterday for comment.
Carolyn Wade, president of Communications Workers of America
Local 1040, which represents about 2,500 Corrections employees
in clerical and supervisory jobs, said it is no secret that
the department has been filled with political patronage hires.
"Brown came in and found a lot of patronage jobs there and
could not do anything about them," Wade said. "There is no
shortage of managerial workers. But the effect is that there
are shortages of people who do the hands-on work."
