'NEWSIES!' The Paper Mill Playhouse premiered "Newsies!' over the weekend, and Bea Smith was there to review the production. Page 22 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 LOCALSOURCE.COM VOL. 94 NO. 39 50 CENTS | j Linden council 'Holes' in the system Union County representatives continue to 'double dip' at odds By Cheryl Hehl Democrat Joseph Cryan earns county, he also must be in Trenton two to three Staff Writer times a week when the legislature is in session. By Cheryl Hehl Gov. Chris Christie thinks all the loopholes $65,333 as assemblyman, but Which means he is not working full time for the Staff Writer should be closed when it comes to publicly also pulls in $111,773.64 as a county during those weeks. LINDEN — A blow up last financed jobs, but it would appear some in full-time Union County under- This practice, though, is straining local and week between two city council Union County prefer to continue jumping state budgets according to Gato Institute, a members resulted in a harassment through them. sheriff. Washington, D.C. based group that focused on complaint being filed and the A year ago Christie put forth a reform agen- the study of local, state and federal govern- mayor suggesting it's time one da that would overhaul ethics laws in the state states such as California and Utah have no laws ments. council member step down. and close all the loopholes allowing legislators banning double dipping by public officials. In "State and local governments face large On Sept. 20 Seventh Ward and public employees at every level to ""double addition, elected officials can aiso hold multiple budget deficits as revenues have stagnated and Councilman Jack Sheehy, 52, Hied dip," or receive two public paychecks. The prac- public sector positions at the same time. Public spending has remained at high levels," Cato harassment charges against Third tice allows politicians and public employees to workers can also '"retire" early and then either wrote in 2010, noting that ""large savings can be Ward Councilman Peter Brown receive two public salaries, or, in many cases, a resume their existing job or take a new iob while found in the generous compensation packages alter the 29-year old council mem- pension and a salary. receiving a pension tor the first position. of the nations 20 million state and local work- ber allegedly shoved him after a Tor some it means retiring from one job. And in Union County, Democrat Joseph ers." caucus meeting Sept. 19 at city waiting six months as required under present Cryan earns $65,333 as assemblyman, but also In 200S politicians were banned from serv- hall. state pension law, and getting rehired under a pulls in SI 11,773.64 as a full-time Union Coun- ing in more than one elected office, but this leg- Mayor Rich Gerbounka said he different public title. But this is not against the ty undersherifF, islation did not address those holding more than was "embarrassed for Linden" law. That means that although Cryan has the one public position. because of what took place after In fact, in addition to New Jersey, other responsibility of a full-time position with the See DOUBLE-MINING, Page 6 the caucus meeting. "1 think 3rd Ward Councilman Peter Brown should step down because he does create problems Welcome back and conflict at caucus and city gov- ernment public meetings," Mayor Rich Cferbounka said Friday. According to the Linden Police Department incident report obtained by Union County Local- Source, the alleged altercation occurred after the Linden Council Caucus meeting ended and council members were leaving. The incident report, filed by Police Officer Robert Sanchez later that evening, provides both Sheehy's and Brown's version of what took place in addition to Police Chief Salvatore Bivona's statement as a witness. According to the incident report, Sheehy reported to police on Sept. 20 that he was standing off to the side of the doorway after nk K. llehntv Klementan School the caucus meeting, talking with Students at Frank K. Hehniy Elementary School in Clark participated in their annual Welcome Back to School the police chief, when he over- Assembly. Each child received an American Flag courtesy of Clark American Legion Post 328 to honor the See ALTERCATION, Page 10 heroes of Sept. 11, 2001, on the 10-year anniversary of the tragic events that occurred. LIKE US & r-N FOLLOW US facebook.com/UCLocalsource twttter.com/UCLocalsource PAGE 2 — THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 LOCALSOURCE.COM UNION COUNTY LOCALSOURCE Big Bank Services, Small Bank Friendly. "My family has been banking at spencer Savings Bai %0 years. I know •» all the gilts at my branch. I wouldn't In! *** anywhere else." Lorraine Mazza Saddle Brook Customer Come experience the Spencer difference. Servicing the community since 1893 • Local leadership and decision making One of NJ's strongest community banks • Employees involved in community service Experienced bankers that know their customers • Investing deposits into our communities Understanding and exceeding customer expectations • A better banking experience - every time! SPENCER SAVINGS BANK SLA 19 Offices throughout North Jersey • Headquarters: 611 River Drive, Elmwood Park, NJ 07407 • www.spencersavings.com • 1-800-363-8115 Member FDIC UNION COUNTY LOCALSOURCE LOCALSOURCE.COM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 — PAGE 3 Power outrage: JCPL fails for Springfield By Cheryl Hehl Irene, this area suffered no loss of power. Staff Writer Township Administrator Anthony Cancro sent a letter to the After the Hurricane, though, the township SPRINGFIELD — The township joined BPU on behalf of Mayor Hugh Keffer, the township commit- administrator and governing body had seri- the long line of municipalities complaining ous concerns about the company supplying to the Board of Public Utilities about the lack tee and residents citing 'the unreliable, poor maintenance and power to Springfield. of response during and after Hurricane Irene. service response times of Jersey Central Power and Light' "We lost power in several sections of Almost a month after the hurricane town, but not town-wide, for four days," he slammed the state, the New Jersey Board of Township Administrator Anthony Cancro service territory power would not be disrupt- explained, noting that although residents Public Utilities began a series of public hear- sent a letter to the BPU on behalf of Mayor ed, Cancro explained, but power in Spring- called and asked Cancro for help, he could ings to gather information about how New Hugh Keffer, the township committee and field would go out intermittently throughout not get through to JCPL. Jersey utility companies responded to the residents citing "the unreliable, poor mainte- the township. '"I still have not heard from my contact storm. nance and service response times of Jersey The response from JCPL, the administra- even though I called and emailed him," the More than I million New Jersey electric Central Power and Light." tor said, would be that the power system was administrator added. "They have never customers lost total power during and after The township administrator points out old and substantial upgrades were needed. returned any of my many calls even though the storm. That included 670,000 of Jersey that he fully intended to send this letter Unfortunately, though, the utility company they said they would." Central Power and Light's 1.1 million cus- before Hurricane Irene's significant disrup- said they could could not make those This is a serious situation, Cancro said, tomers who lost power. tion and loss of power, but the storm made it upgrades and the best they could do was to because during the hurricane there was a JCPL, owned by the Akron, Ohio based even more imperative. restore power. medical situation with a quadriplegic that First Energy, noted publically after the storm "But the lack of preparedness, respon- Cancro illustrated how serious the prob- needed electricity for medicines and other that it had 1,700 permanent and temporary siveness and follow-up to our repeated calls lem was in the township by pointing to one support systems but even that failed to raise employees on the ground in New Jersey. On to JCPL during the storm has pushed us all instance on Lyons Avenue, when two dozen JCPL's attention. At least until the township the other hand, PSE&G, with 2.2 million cus- over the brink with their lackadaisical residents experienced very poor electric reli- contacted its legislative district office. tomers in New Jersey, had 6,000 employees approach to electric power production," Can- ability, even during mild storms. "To sum it up, JCPL's response to the hur- and additional temporary staff working after cro said in the letter. "Outages would last days and calls to ricane was dismal," Cancro said. the storm. Prior to the hurricane, the township had a JCPL were not addressed promptly," the The township requested that the BPU BPU president Lee Solomon said this laundry list of complaints that included the administrator said, adding that the utility conduct a public hearing of JCPL's lack of week the purpose of these hearings is to dis- fact that JCPL failed to invest in the electric company always failed to explain the reason preparedness and unresponsiveness to local cover what transpired during the storm and grid servicing the township. This, he said, for the system failure and what steps were governments during the hurricane, investi- after, especially in areas where there were "resulted in frequent, prolonged power out- being taken to correct the problem. gate JCPL's lack of preventative investment major outages. Solomon said the board wants ages." Although residents on Lyons Avenue did in the township of Springfield infrastructure, to know what worked, what did not, what Also frustrating residents were the incon- their best to get JCPL to respond to their and require that the utility company make went right and what went wrong.