Politics

Cory Booker's Former Driver Retires from Police Force, Takes Job at Newark Housing Authority While Collecting Disability Pension

The double dip

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Newark police Detective Hector Rodriguez retired from the city police department with a disability pension on April 1.

By April 29 he was back on the public payroll as the Newark Housing Authority's director of security.

A former driver for Mayor Cory Booker, as well as for Booker's chief-of-staff Modia Butler and former chief-of-staff Pablo Fonseca, Rodriguez is just the latest public employee to exercise the time-honored Jersey practice known as "the double dip," collecting a public pension and public salary simultaneously.

Rodriguez's take-home pay between the new job and his disability pension is $143,000 according to public records and officials.