Reductions in Force

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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/201...ley_sewer.html

Embattled Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission chief quits $313K-a-year job
By The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
February 12, 2010, 8:14PM

NEWARK -- The head of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, who has been under scrutiny for his $313,000-a-year salary, plans to resign effective March 1, according to a report on NorthJersey.com

The Newark-based commission has been criticized by Gov. Chris Christie for the salary of Bryan Christiansen and the size of the agency with 600 employees on its $46 million payroll, the report said.

The commission includes some of the state’s highest-paid public employees, including 82 staff members with pensionable salaries over more than $100,000

Sewage humor

Posted by G-TROOP54
February 12, 2010, 8:45PM
A perfect example of why N.J. is broke.

Posted by reelfangs
February 12, 2010, 8:49PM
Let's get 'em outta the way...

...career down the toilet...his job 'stunk' any way...he dealt with alot of crap...

Someone else wanna chime in?

Posted by brandegee
February 12, 2010, 9:20PM
....his career got backed up...he took the plunge for the good of the state...his lucky streak dried up....Christie really opened the lid on this one

Posted by Hal
February 12, 2010, 9:24PM
Let's get him out with one clean wipe.

Posted by mayanprophet
February 13, 2010, 8:31AM
You can bet your ass that he got that job because of his politics and not on merit. NJ needs a good colon cleanse and Christie is the one to do it. Think of these high paid appointees as polyps. They gotta go

.

Posted by pinoykase
February 13, 2010, 7:58PM
luv the analogy....

Posted by lynne1
February 12, 2010, 9:10PM
It just shows how corrupt NJ is - go Chris Go - 1 down - thousands more to go! YES!!!!!!!

Posted by guido666
February 12, 2010, 9:14PM
Now all they have to do is get rid of Czaplicki and all his relatives who work there.

Posted by lynne1
February 12, 2010, 9:27PM
guido who is Czaplicki

Posted by suchajoke123
February 12, 2010, 9:30PM
Funny how there are only a few comments but there would be 100's if they were county or state workers, just too funny. Ever see a truck parked with 5 PV employees just sitting in it? Figure what, average salary around 75,000 a year, bennies, pension, vacation and sick days, you really have to be kidding me? And pretty much every person that works there has a political connection of some sort. Time to wake up and realize that the majority of county or state workers don't make nearly that amount.
If you're going to b*tch about govt waste, go after ALL of it!!! This bunch is the laziest of the lazy!!!

Posted by Football
February 12, 2010, 9:35PM
ED NORTON NEVER MADE $300,000.

GO CHRISTIE KICK THESE BUMS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SCHOOLS NEXT

Posted by cohill
February 12, 2010, 9:42PM
Christiansen has 31 years in the state pension system, beginning as a $5,000/yr town council member in Edgewater. 31/55=.55 as his pension multipler. $313,000 x .55= $172,000/yr pension for the rest of his life. He'll get more in a monthly pension check that he made in annual salary sitting on his town council. He is the poster child for all politicans who use the state pension system to rip off us taxpayers and career gov't employees.

Posted by rufords
February 12, 2010, 10:49PM
Right on!!! Brotha...

Posted by gvbjr
February 12, 2010, 9:50PM
Love to see the rats bailing out. But just eliminating them isn't enough. There has to be a mechanism to get them off of the back of the taxpayers forever, meaning NO PENSION.

Posted by guido666
February 12, 2010, 9:52PM
Carl Czaplicki is the Jersey City Housing and Economic Development Director. He makes $100K in Jersey City and pulls down another salary at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission. He also has his wife working at the PVSC as well as other relatives.

Posted by localbro
February 12, 2010, 10:13PM
The guy is making twice what the GOVERNOR makes and he is leaving on his own terms; this is not exactly a victory for Christie; I would prefer to have seen the guy in HANDCUFFS on his way to federal court to explain how a public servant can reach this kind of salary. There has to be SOMETHING illegal about this. If there isn't then laws need to be passed to make these obscene salaries illegal. I am 100 percent behind Christie in stopping these abuses if he can. Fortunately he was the US Attorney and has thick skin. Only someone like this can potentially make a change.

Posted by squeakyfoot
February 12, 2010, 10:37PM
That's just terriffic. There goes my passes into the Wanaque Reservior

Posted by straightfwd
February 12, 2010, 10:54PM
1 down 82 staff members to go!!! Keep up the good work.. Where should he continue? State employees? Fire fighters? Police?

Posted by slider27
February 12, 2010, 11:07PM
My cousin works for this sewage comm. in Newark, and she BRAGS to us that she has basically pushed paper for years and will get a great pension for life !! No college education at all !!! I went to college and work to pay NJ taxes so sponges like her will have an easy life with taxpayer money !! NO PENSIONS EVER FOR ANYONE !!! SAVE FOR RETIREMENT LIKE THE REST OF US !!!!

Posted by Sewerage123
February 13, 2010, 12:21PM
Geez, who needs enemies with family like you slider? How can you talk about family like that... Don't think for one second that you wouldn't be happy about your future well-being for your family & yourself. You're full of the millions of gallons of S*** that the PVSC treats. How about trying to be happy for a family member, instead of disgustingly jealous..

http://www.northjersey.com/news/0212...n_March_1.html

Bryan Christiansen, the embattled chief of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, will step down from his $313,000-a-year post on March 1, according to a spokesman for the agency.

The 55-year-old Christiansen and his Newark-based agency emerged as prime targets earlier this month for Gov. Christie, who labeled the PVSC a house for “political hacks” with “obscene” salaries and promised reforms aimed at reining government spending in New Jersey. The agency employs more than 600 people and counts more than 80 employees with salaries in excess of $100,000 on its $46 million payroll.

“Bryan has had a spent a long and distinguished 27 years in this industry and he thinks its now time to go,” PVSC spokesman Rich Ambrosino said Friday afternoon. “Surely the stress and strain of what has been going on contributed to his reason for retiring a few years earlier, but it is not the only reason.”

With nearly three decades in the state pension system, the former Edgewater mayor is entitled to an early retirement pension estimated at roughly $140,000. According to a 2009 report by the State Commission of Investigation, which found the state pension system rife with special deals and other perks for some public officials, the PVSC arranged for special lump-sum departure payments to certain administrative employees. The SCI reported that under the terms of his current contract, Christiansen, if terminated, is guaranteed a cash severance benefit equal to six months’ salary for every year employed, up to a maximum of 24 months. Such a payment could be worth more than $600,000. Ambrosino said Christiansen will depart having put in place millions worth of savings and efficiencies at the agency, which serves 48 communities and 1.5 million people in Passaic, Bergen, Essex and Hudson counties. Despite a recent hike, Ambrosino said, rates remain among the lowest charged by any utility like the PVSC.

"Bryan has easily saved $100 million since coming here in 2004,” he said. The PVSC has also gained a reputation for unaccountability: It remains the only major agency in the state whose actions are not subject to gubernatorial review and veto. In 2006 and 2007, the PVSC spent more than $500,000 to lobby in Trenton. Its attempts to influence Christie’s transition team via paid lobbyists drew scathing criticism from the governor.

Christie is not the first governor to express frustration with PVSC. The McGreevey administration was so annoyed at the agency’s lack of transparency that it was forced to file requests under the Open Public Records Act for basic information. Christiansen, who served four terms as mayor of Edgewater, came to the PVSC in 2004 after a failed attempt to gain the Democratic nomination for State Assembly the 38th district. He also served as chairman of the Bergen County Utilities Authority and is the former executive director of the Joint Meeting of Essex & Union Counties, a wastewater treatment agency in Elizabeth. He began his career in sewerage at the Union County Utilities Authority.

Christiansen’s resignation is not likely to stanch the growing number of bi-partisan calls for reform of the PVSC. Some lawmakers, notably Republican Assemblyman Scott Rumana of Passaic County, have called for a state takeover of the agency. A spokesman for Christie hailed the resignation.

"Good news,'' said Michael Drewniak. "If ever there were a place that cried out for change, the PVSC is it. The patronage and other abuse of taxpayer dollars at PVSC was deplorable under his leadership. We can assure the public that our scrutiny of this and other authorities will continue."

E-mail: pillets@northjersey.com