Freeholder's airport job was "patronage," ex-authority chief says

Ban sought on "waive-out" cash

Asbury Park Press, Thursday, May 8, 2008

Political connections played a key role in helping Republican congressional candidate John P. Kelly land two patronage jobs that paid him more than $327,000 in salary over five years, said James A. Crawford, the man who hired Kelly.

"If you're asking was there any patronage involved in this, the answer is yes," said Crawford, former executive director of the South Jersey Transportation Authority.

The authority runs Atlantic City International Airport, where Kelly was hired first as an "airport analyst" and later as a "business manager." He lacked the college degrees and prior experience that were required for both positions.

But Kelly - who is an Ocean County freeholder - did an "excellent job," said Crawford, who said he hired at least a dozen other people for patronage positions during his 11 years as executive director.

During his employment from 1999 to 2004, Kelly's salary rose from $57,304 to $74,662.

Kelly said he had no idea that he owed his jobs to politics - jobs that were not advertised or made available to the general public.

"When I spoke to Jim Crawford, never did he say to me, "This is a patronage job.' If I had been told told it was a patronage job, I would have said, "No thank you,' " Kelly said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "I certainly did not say, "I want a patronage job. Will you give me this job?' "

Kelly's work history has become an issue in the 3rd District congressional race, where Kelly and Chris Myers of Medford are vying for the right to be the Republican nominee. Whoever wins the June 3 GOP primary election will go on to face Cherry Hill state Sen. John H. Adler, who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

"Unethical' and "immoral"

Myers, who has a master's degree in public administration from Cornell University, has said he finds Kelly's acceptance of patronage jobs "unethical" and "immoral."

In an interview, Crawford was asked if it was fair to the public to give lucrative, unadvertised jobs to political insiders.

"I think there are a lot of things in life that are not fair," Crawford said.

Asked why the authority did not give all people an equal chance to compete for jobs at the airport, Crawford said that he preferred to hire "people who are more of a known entity who come with high recommendations."

Crawford said he thought that Ocean County Clerk and Stafford Mayor Carl Block or Republican Party Chairman George Gilmore had recommended Kelly for the job. Block interrupted a family vacation in Florida to say that he supported Kelly but had "nothing to do" with getting him the job.

Gilmore said he did not remember writing a letter to the authority about Kelly.

"I probably sent Jack's resume up to the Governor's Office," said Gilmore, adding that he has "put in a good word for literally hundreds of people."

Under bylaws established by the state Legislature, the authority is not required to publicly advertise jobs, Crawford said.

Seton Hall University political science professor Joseph Marbach said the increasingly heated attacks between Myers and Kelly shows that the race is close.

"When you get this kind of mudslinging, it shows that the candidates are really in a close heat, and they're looking for something to push them over the top," said Marbach. "It also shows that they're in agreement on most of the major issues, so the candidates are going after each others' character."

GOP mudslinging

Kelly and Myers both portray themselves as cost-cutting fiscal conservatives. Both say the U.S. cannot pull out of Iraq in a way that would embolden terrorists to attack America.

Both candidates have raised nearly $350,000, and will spend most of it fighting each other. Adler has raised more than $1 million and will be able to take most of that into the general election in November.

Last week, Myers criticized Kelly for taking $71,000 in "waive-out" payments from the authority for not accepting a second, government-financed health insurance plan that he could not use anyway. At a Statehouse news conference in Trenton on Wednesday, Myers stood with three Burlington County state lawmakers who said they would introduce a bill to make the sort of waive-out payments Kelly receives illegal.

State Sen. Philip E. Haines, Assemblywoman Dawn Marie Addiego and Assemblyman Scott Rudder, all R-Burlington - who are all supporting Myers in the election - said their bill would stop waive-out payments from going to public officials who held two or more jobs.

They did not make a copy of the bill available, saying it is still being written by the Office of Legislative Services. Asked how much money their narrowly drafted legislation would save, Rudder, referring to Kelly, said it would save "at least $71,000."

The proposed bill would not apply to teachers or other publicly funded employees whose families often take advantage of waive-out payments offered by school districts, they said. Addiego said she was looking for suggestions from the public on how to broaden the scope of the legislation to save more money.

"Hard-earned" benefits

In the meantime, Kelly said he would continue to accept the waive-out benefits from the authority because they are part of the "hard-earned benefits" he has received as a public employee. If the Burlington County Republicans' bill ever becomes law, he'll stop taking the payments, said Kelly.

Prior to landing his patronage jobs, Kelly worked for 15 years in Eagleswood at Tip's Hardware, an Ocean County landmark where a statue of a deer stands on the roof of the store. Kelly said he also worked as a recreation leader for the Ocean County Parks Department and as a confidential aide for the county clerk.

He had also served, for three years, as executive director of the Ocean County Republican Party.

His jobs - as an "airport analyst" and "business manager" - required a college degree and experience in the aviation field. Kelly has neither. He has a high school diploma and a real estate license.

But Kelly said Myers' work record should also be examined. Myers is a part of the "culture of corruption" in Washington, D.C., because he has lobbied to win contracts for his employer, defense contractor Lockheed Martin, Kelly said.

Myers said that, as a vice president for the defense company, he helped explain his company's weapons systems to members of Congress and reporters. He said Wednesday that he has never worked as a lobbyist.