NJ "Public Servant" Lands Sixth Government Job, Total Salary Approaching $300,000
"Public service" is good work if you can get it
The city of Highlands, New Jersey hired Patrick DeBlasio to be its chief financial officer, a part time job for which he'll have no minimum hours and won't have to show up at the office, paying him $40,000 a year. It's no mere double dip for DeBlasio, it's actually his sixth government job. He was paid $244,606 last year, nearly $70,000 more than the state's governor. He holds five other jobs in four municipalities, including full time work as CFO of Carteret, NJ, as well as a part time job with the town's school district.
"N.J. public servant gets 6th public job, among highest-paid in the state," read the Star-Ledger's headline, yet stories like this punctuate what a joke the term "public servant" is and why it belonges in quotes. For people like DeBlasio, it seems a lot more like a well-paying racket than anything approaching "service."
Related: Moody's downgraded NJ's debt outlook to negative over concerns about its ballooning government pensions obligations.