newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

City employees in Paterson have received 602 checks in overtime pay for working during the damage done by Hurricane Irene.

The Record reports that Paterson Mayor Jeffery Jones received $6,144 in overtime, while Jones' chief of staff Charles Pettiford received $4,446; Business Administrator Charles Thomas got $5,623; and former Technology Director Kenneth Sumter, took home $4,290. Jones and the city employees who are salaried are normally ineligible for overtime.

NJ.com reported that Paterson police officers, firefighters and some city employees earned overtime pay because they have collective bargaining agreements that design rules of overtime pay.

Jones’ annual salary is $119,017, Pettiford earns $105,000, and Thomas receives $114,000. Earnings for Sumter were not known.

Jones said he didn't know whether he deserved the overtime pay. He has not cashed the check yet.

The Trentonian reports the overtime amounts issued were determined by the Paterson Office of Emergency Management, which keeps track of who is working and how much time they put in during disasters, according to Jones. The totals are then given to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is supposed to reimburse the expenses.

A reporter placed a call to Glenn Brown, Paterson’s office director, and he responded, "Call me during business hours. Don’t call me on my home phone." No municipality has yet received FEMA aid for expenses caused by Irene. Jones admitted that he didn’t totally understand the FEMA process.

The overtime was disbursed without approval from the City Council, said Councilman Kenneth Morris Jr., chairman of the finance committee.

NJ.com reports that FEMA personnel are in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties explaining how to register for available programs and how to apply for federal assistance from the estimated $1.5 billion in damages brought by Hurricane Irene.