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Joseph D'Arco to be named Town Clerk Tuesday


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K,

1) the Chief and Deputy Chiefs are not retired yet, so nix the pension there...

2) the Chief and Deputy Chiefs pay their own pension.... The state and Towns haven't paid into the pension for ages

3) the PD and FD get less the a 1/4 of a 1/4 of you taxes, 3/4s goes to the county for education and other county needs, and the other 3/16's go to the town for upkeep and paying other town employees.... Joe D'arco

I'd blame Joe D'Arco for his insanely high salary before I'd blame the PD and FD who are out there to help us

1) Neither is the Administrator retired.

2) Wrong. Both employees and the employer split the pension cost. Just for the police and fire pension, Kearny taxpayers paid $4million in 2008. Yes, $4 million. Police/Fire get 75% of their salary on retirement with the required years from police/fire system.

3) Right. So spend $1million a year for just 4 employees and that's okay to you?

4) D'Arco is not among the top 5 in salary for the town. If his is insane, what about the others?

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No, not one class three @ 1,500 per class

x 5 classes = 7,500

Then lifetime classes to maintain licenses for four people to have a clerks license in one office!

I guess the Administrator does not care how he spends our tax money!

Isn't it a good thing that three in-house employees are being given the opportunity to advance themselves by getting the certification and title of Clerk? Isn't D'Arco being fair by giving each an equal opportunity? Or are you saying that no one else should be certified and D'Arco should be the permanent Clerk?

Do you know how much those lifetime education classes cost ? Some of them are free, you just have to drive to them. And aren't continuing eduction courses a legal requirement of all Municipal Clerks?

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Isn't it a good thing that three in-house employees are being given the opportunity to advance themselves by getting the certification and title of Clerk? Isn't D'Arco being fair by giving each an equal opportunity? Or are you saying that no one else should be certified and D'Arco should be the permanent Clerk?

Do you know how much those lifetime education classes cost ? Some of them are free, you just have to drive to them. And aren't continuing eduction courses a legal requirement of all Municipal Clerks?

Three employees are not being given the opportunity to advance themselves, they are being sent to school so they can do the job of the Clerk without the title. D'Arco is now the clerk for three years.

You are missing the point.

A good manager plans ahead.

Why in such tight economic times is the taxpayer paying for four people in one office to have the same certification and then paying to maintain it? Why wasn't one of these three employees sent to school sooner? It was common knowledge for the past three years that the Deputy Clerk, Acting Town Clerk, was retiring and there was no certified clerk on staff. Clerk courses can be completed in two years. One of the three could have been certified by now and given the opportunity to be the Clerk. One employee is and has been doing all the work for the past three years?

Obviously the plan was always to make D'Arco the clerk so he can go home to his wife and say I have the same title as you now!

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1) Neither is the Administrator retired.

2) Wrong. Both employees and the employer split the pension cost. Just for the police and fire pension, Kearny taxpayers paid $4million in 2008. Yes, $4 million. Police/Fire get 75% of their salary on retirement with the required years from police/fire system.

3) Right. So spend $1million a year for just 4 employees and that's okay to you?

4) D'Arco is not among the top 5 in salary for the town. If his is insane, what about the others?

Get your own name. This post was not authored by "Fact"

1) Unfortunately that is true

2) State pension system not Kearny policy

3 + 4) If it is a fact that he is not the top 5 in salary could it be because he has not been an employee of this town for over twenty five years!

D'Arco negotiates contracts if he had a problem with salaries he should have done something about it for the last seven years. Under D'Arco's watch when a person leaves a position the new person filling that position gets the existing salary. Good management would lower the starting salary since department heads are non contractual employees. For the past seven years replacement department heads walked right in to the current salary of the prior department head or higher. What is insane is that a person with such poor management skills is still employed.

He is costing the town $1 million is lawsuits and legal fees a year and that's okay with you!!!

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Get your own name. This post was not authored by "Fact"

1) Unfortunately that is true

2) State pension system not Kearny policy

3 + 4) If it is a fact that he is not the top 5 in salary could it be because he has not been an employee of this town for over twenty five years!

D'Arco negotiates contracts if he had a problem with salaries he should have done something about it for the last seven years. Under D'Arco's watch when a person leaves a position the new person filling that position gets the existing salary. Good management would lower the starting salary since department heads are non contractual employees. For the past seven years replacement department heads walked right in to the current salary of the prior department head or higher. What is insane is that a person with such poor management skills is still employed.

He is costing the town $1 million is lawsuits and legal fees a year and that's okay with you!!!

2) Yes, the State sets pension policy but it's Kearny's decision on how many chiefs to have. We've got four, at $1 miilion a year, when 1 would do!

3 + 4) And D'Arco has over 25 years as Municipal Administrator, serving the last 8 in Kearny. So, is it your position that it's not okay to spend that kind of money on any municipal official in any department, or are you limiting it to the one (D'Arco) you have a personal issue with?

Your new point: We need to do a before and after for whoever you mean. So, which Department heads left in the last seven years?

Lawsuits: Wrong. The insurance fund no longer runs a deficit. That would be a big point in D'Arco's favor!

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Three employees are not being given the opportunity to advance themselves, they are being sent to school so they can do the job of the Clerk without the title. D'Arco is now the clerk for three years.

You are missing the point.

A good manager plans ahead.

Why in such tight economic times is the taxpayer paying for four people in one office to have the same certification and then paying to maintain it? Why wasn't one of these three employees sent to school sooner? It was common knowledge for the past three years that the Deputy Clerk, Acting Town Clerk, was retiring and there was no certified clerk on staff. Clerk courses can be completed in two years. One of the three could have been certified by now and given the opportunity to be the Clerk. One employee is and has been doing all the work for the past three years?

Obviously the plan was always to make D'Arco the clerk so he can go home to his wife and say I have the same title as you now!

That's totally nonsensical. Becoming a registered municipal clerk is a rigorous process. It is a difficult certification to get and maintain because of the number of subjects you have to know. But it's not an expensive certification to maintain. Again, some of the continuing education courses are free. As to getting the certification, I think it's a good thing that THREE in-house employees are being given the opportunity to advance themselves! As for D'Arco's certification, Kearny didn't pay for it, he got it long before coming to Kearny.

No, it was not common knowledge "for the past three years" that the former Clerk was retiring. I can assure you that, if it were known, you or someone else would have posted it on this board and have begun the 'conspiracy' theories about the Administrator much sooner.

You also said that "one of the three would have been certified by now." Which one of the three employees would you have sent to classes and which two would you have told, "tough luck" to?? Otherwise, you wouldn't be saving any money in certification costs.

Your last comment was unwarranted. Only proves my point that it's a personal/spiteful thing against the guy.

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Guest Not So Factual Sparky
1) Neither is the Administrator retired.

2) Wrong. Both employees and the employer split the pension cost. Just for the police and fire pension, Kearny taxpayers paid $4million in 2008. Yes, $4 million. Police/Fire get 75% of their salary on retirement with the required years from police/fire system.

3) Right. So spend $1million a year for just 4 employees and that's okay to you?

4) D'Arco is not among the top 5 in salary for the town. If his is insane, what about the others?

#2 No YOU are Wrong. the MAXIMUM that plice or fire can get is 70% of their BASE SALARY, not the Yearly if they do 30 years the MAJORITY of Police and Firemen retire at 25 years which works out to 65% pension..Not the 75% you are alying about. 2008 the Town STARTED paying back into the pensions, which they DID NOT DO for almost a decade. the reason the Pension costs are so high is because the money they OWED has come due. During the time the Town was NO MAKING THEIR PAYMENTS, the employees WERE making their payments, whcih by the way are the highest in the nation for pension contributions.

Before you post facts you might want to actually have some.... douchebag

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#2 No YOU are Wrong. the MAXIMUM that plice or fire can get is 70% of their BASE SALARY, not the Yearly if they do 30 years the MAJORITY of Police and Firemen retire at 25 years which works out to 65% pension..Not the 75% you are alying about. 2008 the Town STARTED paying back into the pensions, which they DID NOT DO for almost a decade. the reason the Pension costs are so high is because the money they OWED has come due. During the time the Town was NO MAKING THEIR PAYMENTS, the employees WERE making their payments, whcih by the way are the highest in the nation for pension contributions.

Before you post facts you might want to actually have some.... douchebag

Fact: the pension holiday ended in 2003 for municipalities. (There's a pending bill in Trenton to create a "half" pension holiday in 2009.) Taxpayers in Kearny paid over $4million last year for employee pensions.

Acknowledgement: okay 70%, not 75%, my bad. So 70% times $200,000 salary = $140,000 a year pension, with an actuarial life expectancy of 20+ years at retirement, which would mean a pension valued at $2.8 million dollars for one person! That goes a long way in explaining why the New Jersey pension system is going broke.

The name calling is pathetic.

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Fact: the pension holiday ended in 2003 for municipalities. (There's a pending bill in Trenton to create a "half" pension holiday in 2009.) Taxpayers in Kearny paid over $4million last year for employee pensions.

Acknowledgement: okay 70%, not 75%, my bad. So 70% times $200,000 salary = $140,000 a year pension, with an actuarial life expectancy of 20+ years at retirement, which would mean a pension valued at $2.8 million dollars for one person! That goes a long way in explaining why the New Jersey pension system is going broke.

The name calling is pathetic.

i understand your point, but again your numbers are way off. you only get 70percent if you do 30 years which barely is done. and when it is done the employee is so high in age that upon retirement they are not collecting pension for a long time.

Everyone, no matter which side you are on should pray they dont allow the cities to not pay pension payments again.In a perfect world it would work out for everyone, but i think the one thing we can all agree on is, if the state told kearny they did not have to pay pension payments for the next 5 years, instead of saving the money kearny would spend it, and then find them in an ever bigger hole then they started in.

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i understand your point, but again your numbers are way off. you only get 70percent if you do 30 years which barely is done. and when it is done the employee is so high in age that upon retirement they are not collecting pension for a long time.

Everyone, no matter which side you are on should pray they dont allow the cities to not pay pension payments again.In a perfect world it would work out for everyone, but i think the one thing we can all agree on is, if the state told kearny they did not have to pay pension payments for the next 5 years, instead of saving the money kearny would spend it, and then find them in an ever bigger hole then they started in.

Most officers start their jobs in their 20s. Which means they'd get to thirty years in the pension system in their 50s. Which means with actuarial age expectancies, the average is 20 to 25 years of collecting a pension at 70% of highest salary. If the office retires at 25 years, the pension is less than 70%, but the time period collecting a pension is longer.

I don't see how the State of New Jersey's taxpayers can sustain those pension levels -- for senior officers, you're looking at $2 to $3 million for just one person. Multiply that by the number of senior officers and the hundreds of municipalities in the State. It can't sustain itself.

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Most officers start their jobs in their 20s. Which means they'd get to thirty years in the pension system in their 50s. Which means with actuarial age expectancies, the average is 20 to 25 years of collecting a pension at 70% of highest salary. If the office retires at 25 years, the pension is less than 70%, but the time period collecting a pension is longer.

I don't see how the State of New Jersey's taxpayers can sustain those pension levels -- for senior officers, you're looking at $2 to $3 million for just one person. Multiply that by the number of senior officers and the hundreds of municipalities in the State. It can't sustain itself.

The simple fact is that on average Cops and Firefighters only live about 5 years after retirement. That's not to say Some live longer and some less time..but it averages out to that 5 years. But hey...go ahead.. screw with their pensions and benefits..you know the things that make people actually want to Do that crappy, thankless job. Go ahead and make war on your Police.. But dont complain down the line when you cant get quality people to take the crap they have to deal with. After reading this board for a while, I realize i Couldnt BE a cop..because if it was me, and I had to put my life on the line for anyone...it Certainly wouldnt be for any of you Dolts here in Kearny. It's real easy to complain and whine..but when you hear glass breaking at 3 am, how many of YOU would be willing to find out what it is yourselves??? or would you be calling the PD to come do it?

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The simple fact is that on average Cops and Firefighters only live about 5 years after retirement. That's not to say Some live longer and some less time..but it averages out to that 5 years. But hey...go ahead.. screw with their pensions and benefits..you know the things that make people actually want to Do that crappy, thankless job. Go ahead and make war on your Police.. But dont complain down the line when you cant get quality people to take the crap they have to deal with. After reading this board for a while, I realize i Couldnt BE a cop..because if it was me, and I had to put my life on the line for anyone...it Certainly wouldnt be for any of you Dolts here in Kearny. It's real easy to complain and whine..but when you hear glass breaking at 3 am, how many of YOU would be willing to find out what it is yourselves??? or would you be calling the PD to come do it?

No, that's not true. The pension system uses an average which for police and fire is about 20 years.

Yes, it's a risky job. That's the job. But should any government job come with a $2 to $3 million dollar pension for one individual?

There are thousands who would like to do the job, even with the risk involved. I think in Florida this week, over 2000 applicants showed up to fill 30 openings in a Fire Department.

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Does it really matter? The Council will do as they please despite the public or public concerns.

The residents of Kearny should be more concerned about the complacency in this current government, the absolute control of the administration, and the hegemony of the Mayor over the town.

The lack of real progress over the past eight years should also be disquieting.

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Guest Kearnyite
Does it really matter? The Council will do as they please despite the public or public concerns.

The residents of Kearny should be more concerned about the complacency in this current government, the absolute control of the administration, and the hegemony of the Mayor over the town.

The lack of real progress over the past eight years should also be disquieting.

What would you do different?

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What would you do different?

Challenge the incumbents; whether in the primaries (where there is a greater chance of defeating an incumbent Democrat) or in November.

Be a bit more responsive to the residents of Kearny; be a bit more sensitive to the needs of my constituents. Listen to the public and not ignore there questions or problems.

Serve with less arrogance and without this aura of elitism or superiority.

Make decisions rather than defer to an army of consultants or bevy of attorneys.

Realizing that the public elected me and I am accountable to them; not to a Mayor or other contributors or benefactors.

That would be a start...

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Guest Kearnyite
Challenge the incumbents; whether in the primaries (where there is a greater chance of defeating an incumbent Democrat) or in November.

Be a bit more responsive to the residents of Kearny; be a bit more sensitive to the needs of my constituents. Listen to the public and not ignore there questions or problems.

Serve with less arrogance and without this aura of elitism or superiority.

Make decisions rather than defer to an army of consultants or bevy of attorneys.

Realizing that the public elected me and I am accountable to them; not to a Mayor or other contributors or benefactors.

That would be a start...

So you think running for office is all about method or style, and not about specific issues?? Taxes is the number one issue, so how would you address that?

By the way, the invective in your response only confirms my suspicion that you're harboring a whole lot of personal gripes. Hey, at least you got to vent.

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So you think running for office is all about method or style, and not about specific issues?? Taxes is the number one issue, so how would you address that?

By the way, the invective in your response only confirms my suspicion that you're harboring a whole lot of personal gripes. Hey, at least you got to vent.

Let's address some of the reasons taxes are as high as they are. Kearny should not have the tax issue, considering the large industrial area in South Kearny. Instead, the M&C have for years, and Numerous Administrations, treated South Kearny like the Sepchild no one wants. They complain that they cannot get businesses to move down there or invest...yet the Town neglects the roads and infrastructure. How can they expect anyone to run a business down there, when you can't drive on the roads with anything less than a Semi-trailer because the town streets look like washboards? Sellers St off of the belleville Tpk is another prime example of this Again, they want businesses to come here, yet they neglect the areas that they want those businesses to use. Another thing that the Town does, and again this goes back for years, not just the current crop of Politicians, is not make a decision about anything without multiple studies, tacking tens of thousands of dollars onto the cost of any project.

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Let's address some of the reasons taxes are as high as they are. Kearny should not have the tax issue, considering the large industrial area in South Kearny. Instead, the M&C have for years, and Numerous Administrations, treated South Kearny like the Sepchild no one wants. They complain that they cannot get businesses to move down there or invest...yet the Town neglects the roads and infrastructure. How can they expect anyone to run a business down there, when you can't drive on the roads with anything less than a Semi-trailer because the town streets look like washboards? Sellers St off of the belleville Tpk is another prime example of this Again, they want businesses to come here, yet they neglect the areas that they want those businesses to use. Another thing that the Town does, and again this goes back for years, not just the current crop of Politicians, is not make a decision about anything without multiple studies, tacking tens of thousands of dollars onto the cost of any project.

The factory on Passaic Ave looks like WWII Germany after a B24 raid.

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Joseph D'Arco is to be named the Town Clerk at this Tuesday's council meeting

So was he named Town Clerk. The minutes for the meeting are not up on the web. Isn't that the town clerk's job. Open government is Santos motto but not the reality.

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