Should Hazel Gluck just go away?

New Jersey Public Officers Salary Review Commission was created in 2000 as a creative way of giving state legislators some cover when it came to granting pay hikes for the Governor, cabinet officials, judges and prosecutors. That way legislators wouldn't be held accountable to the voters -- or the Judges and Prosecutors -- because they could claim they were just following the guidance of the blue ribbon commission. Richard Codey sponsord the legislation in the Senate; Leonard Lance in the Assembly.

Yesterday, Governor Jon "Zero Tolerance" Corzine announced his two appointments: former state Supreme Court Justice James Coleman and lobbyist Hazel Gluck. This puts Gluck in the position of suggesting pay hikes for people she lobbies -- perhaps giving the appearance that this violates the intent of the Codey/Lance bill, which says no one should be appointed who "are in positions that would be affected by the commission's recommendations." The same thing could be said about Codey's appointment, Michael Critchley, a criminal defense attorney from Essex County who often represents allegedly corrupt public officials in court.

Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts and Minority Leader Alex DeCroce each named a retired Superior Court Judge (Alan Vogelson and Robert Muir, respectively). That means three of the seven commission members so far are ex-Judges. If retired Judges want to give their formr colleagues pay raises, few political insiders will view that as shocking news.

The final member of the New Jersey Public Officers Salary Review Commission will be named by the new Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Stuart Rabner, who has already advocated judicial pay hikes. While the Governor who wants to be held accountable won't benefit from his appointments -- Corzine only takes a salary of $1-per-year -- the highly ethical Rabner could personally benefit from the vote of the commission member he appoints, unless he decided not to accept his own salary increase.

A comment from a powerful political insider on the Gluck appointment: "Isn't it time for lobbyists to decide if they want to be in government or not?  I always questioned their involvement with transition teams, etc.  And that was at a time when lobbyists did more than serve as conduits for campaign cash.  Think of it this way:  We can't buy anyone in government a cup of coffee but we can sit on a panel that controls their pay.  Only in New Jersey!"

52:14-15.115 "Public Officers Salary Review Commission."
13. a. There is hereby established a commission to be known as the "Public Officers Salary Review Commission." The commission shall consist of seven members: two members appointed by the Governor, no more than one of whom shall be of the same political party; one member appointed by the President of the Senate; one member appointed by the Senate minority leader; one member appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; one member appointed by the Assembly minority leader; and one member appointed by the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. In appointing members to the commission, the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly, the Senate and Assembly minority leaders, and the Chief Justice shall not appoint members who are in positions that would be affected by the commission's recommendations. The appointments shall be made no later than September 1 of each year in which the commission is to review salaries and submit a report with proposed recommendations. The appointments shall expire upon the submission of a report to the Governor and Legislature.
b. The commission shall review the salaries of the Governor, cabinet officers, members of the Board of Public Utilities, members of the Casino Control Commission, Workers' Compensation judges, members of the Legislature, members of the State Commission of Investigation, Justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the Superior Court, judges of the Tax Court, administrative law judges and county prosecutors and shall submit a report to the Governor and Legislature with proposed recommendations, if any, concerning changes in these salaries. In reviewing these salaries, the commission shall consider: the responsibilities of each office; the number of hours per week required to perform the responsibilities of each office; comparable positions in the public and private sectors within and outside of the State; the current state of the State and national economies; projections of future economic growth or decline; and past, and projections of future, cost of living increases or decreases. The commission shall submit its first report with proposed recommendations, if any, on or before December 1, 2003, and then on or before December 1 of every fourth calendar year thereafter.
c. The commission shall organize as soon as possible after the appointment of its members and shall select a chairperson and a vice chairperson from among its members. The chairperson shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the commission. Vacancies in the membership shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments.
d. Commission members shall serve without compensation. The commission shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency as it may require and as may be made available to it for its purposes. The commission shall further be entitled to employ stenographic or other clerical assistance and incur traveling and other miscellaneous expenses as it may deem necessary in order to perform its duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for its purposes.
L.1999,c.380,s.13.