Monday, August 29, 2005
County Candidate Fundraiser
Members of the Piscataway Republican Organization met Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Doug Forrester at the County Candidate Fundraiser at the Spain Inn on August 22.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Piscataway Poll Worker Blues
When hired to perform a job, one expects to get paid- and get paid within a reasonable and previously agreed-upon amount of time. The same is true of Piscataway Township’s poll workers.
Every time an election is held –the general election in November; the school board and budget vote in April; and for other items put up for public vote including the upcoming school construction vote on Sept. 27 -poll workers are hired by Board of Elections, poll workers who expect to get paid within a couple of weeks of the election being held.
The problem is, this isn’t happening in happening -at least not in Piscataway. Following the past seven elections held over the previous year, Piscataway poll workers waited an average of four weeks and four days to get paid –twice as long as expected and agreed upon in good faith when hired to serve as poll workers. The facts speak for themselves:
General Election (11/15/02) - Paid 12/30/04 (7 weeks, 6 days)
School Board Election (4/20/04) - Paid 5/24/04 (4 weeks, 6 days)
Primary Election (6/8/04) - Paid 6/30/04 (3 weeks, 1 day)
General Election (11/2/04) - Paid 11/24/04 (3 weeks, 1 day)
School Board Election (1/25/05) - Paid 3/10/05 (6 weeks, 2 days)
School Board Election (4/19/05) - Paid 5/21/05 (4 weeks, 4 days)
Primary Election (6/7/05) - Paid 7/15/05 (5 weeks, 3 days)
Another true and curious fact is other poll workers from other Middlesex County municipalities, including East Brunswick, Perth Amboy and Woodbridge, get paid in as little as two to three weeks time. So why is this? One potential answer might lie in how poll workers actually get paid and who is really in charge of doling out the paychecks.
Though hired by the county Board of Elections to serve as poll workers, these workers are actually paid through a long and convoluted 6-step process starting with the county, going through the Board of County Chosen Freeholders, and at last ending with individual townships -specifically with each municipal clerk who then sends out the checks. First, poll worker attendance records are reviewed with the county; next, payment approval are gotten from County Board of Chosen Freeholders; following this, the county receives approvals and the checks themselves; the checks are then issued to township; from there, the checks are processed through township payroll department; lastly, the checks are issued to poll clerks.
Despite the possible pitfalls of this process, Somerset County, in sharp contrast, gets its election funds, an expected appropriation in each case, pre-approved and pays their clerks directly in as little time as two to two-and-a-half weeks –a far better record then the average four weeks and four days Piscataway poll workers wait to get paid. So the question remains: Why the long delay in getting paid?
Besides the process itself, the answer might be, as political commentator and comedian Bill Maher used to say, ‘Politically Incorrect.’ Like or not, the fact is the Middlesex Board of Chosen Freeholders and the large majority of county municipalities are staffed and stocked with members of the Democratic Party, including in Piscataway where the municipal clerk is counted among its membership. While not a crime in and of itself, this can lead to actions, or in this case a lack of action, which, if not directly illegal, is, however, downright unethical and frustrating. Why is this an issue? Because the majority of Piscataway poll workers happen to be registered Republicans.
Another good question is why are these checks going through individual municipalities at all, which can lead to this unethical, if not corrupt, behavior, while making the process more of an independent procedure done by an accounting department –cut and dry- would avoid all of this and possible controversy? Well, one advantage of this mouse-trap-type set-up is by getting paid through individual municipalities, poll workers can earn up to $600 without being taxed. However, since getting this money in the first place, or at least in timely fashion, is dubious at best, Piscataway poll worker must weigh the cost-advantage factor of tax-free dollars against the ‘politically incorrect’ time period it takes them to actually get paid.
So what can be done going forward toward November’s general election? The answer, unfortunately, for Piscataway poll worker is: not much. Other than putting pressure on a pre-existing system over which they have no mechanical or, especially, and perhaps more importantly, political control, this same frustrating time-delay between working and getting paid will continue on indefinitely, ad infinitum.
One thing remains certain however, the amount of time it takes Piscataway poll clerks to actually get paid is problematic and shows a lack of respect for poll clerks everywhere, no matter where they are serving. The bottom line is, elections are known appropriated expenses; there is no justified excuse why funds should not be automatically pre-approved for doling out, no matter who is doing the doling or, in this case delaying. For Piscataway poll workers who have expenses to meet like everyone else, this remains a case of payment delayed is, in some very real ways, payment denied.
Every time an election is held –the general election in November; the school board and budget vote in April; and for other items put up for public vote including the upcoming school construction vote on Sept. 27 -poll workers are hired by Board of Elections, poll workers who expect to get paid within a couple of weeks of the election being held.
The problem is, this isn’t happening in happening -at least not in Piscataway. Following the past seven elections held over the previous year, Piscataway poll workers waited an average of four weeks and four days to get paid –twice as long as expected and agreed upon in good faith when hired to serve as poll workers. The facts speak for themselves:
General Election (11/15/02) - Paid 12/30/04 (7 weeks, 6 days)
School Board Election (4/20/04) - Paid 5/24/04 (4 weeks, 6 days)
Primary Election (6/8/04) - Paid 6/30/04 (3 weeks, 1 day)
General Election (11/2/04) - Paid 11/24/04 (3 weeks, 1 day)
School Board Election (1/25/05) - Paid 3/10/05 (6 weeks, 2 days)
School Board Election (4/19/05) - Paid 5/21/05 (4 weeks, 4 days)
Primary Election (6/7/05) - Paid 7/15/05 (5 weeks, 3 days)
Another true and curious fact is other poll workers from other Middlesex County municipalities, including East Brunswick, Perth Amboy and Woodbridge, get paid in as little as two to three weeks time. So why is this? One potential answer might lie in how poll workers actually get paid and who is really in charge of doling out the paychecks.
Though hired by the county Board of Elections to serve as poll workers, these workers are actually paid through a long and convoluted 6-step process starting with the county, going through the Board of County Chosen Freeholders, and at last ending with individual townships -specifically with each municipal clerk who then sends out the checks. First, poll worker attendance records are reviewed with the county; next, payment approval are gotten from County Board of Chosen Freeholders; following this, the county receives approvals and the checks themselves; the checks are then issued to township; from there, the checks are processed through township payroll department; lastly, the checks are issued to poll clerks.
Despite the possible pitfalls of this process, Somerset County, in sharp contrast, gets its election funds, an expected appropriation in each case, pre-approved and pays their clerks directly in as little time as two to two-and-a-half weeks –a far better record then the average four weeks and four days Piscataway poll workers wait to get paid. So the question remains: Why the long delay in getting paid?
Besides the process itself, the answer might be, as political commentator and comedian Bill Maher used to say, ‘Politically Incorrect.’ Like or not, the fact is the Middlesex Board of Chosen Freeholders and the large majority of county municipalities are staffed and stocked with members of the Democratic Party, including in Piscataway where the municipal clerk is counted among its membership. While not a crime in and of itself, this can lead to actions, or in this case a lack of action, which, if not directly illegal, is, however, downright unethical and frustrating. Why is this an issue? Because the majority of Piscataway poll workers happen to be registered Republicans.
Another good question is why are these checks going through individual municipalities at all, which can lead to this unethical, if not corrupt, behavior, while making the process more of an independent procedure done by an accounting department –cut and dry- would avoid all of this and possible controversy? Well, one advantage of this mouse-trap-type set-up is by getting paid through individual municipalities, poll workers can earn up to $600 without being taxed. However, since getting this money in the first place, or at least in timely fashion, is dubious at best, Piscataway poll worker must weigh the cost-advantage factor of tax-free dollars against the ‘politically incorrect’ time period it takes them to actually get paid.
So what can be done going forward toward November’s general election? The answer, unfortunately, for Piscataway poll worker is: not much. Other than putting pressure on a pre-existing system over which they have no mechanical or, especially, and perhaps more importantly, political control, this same frustrating time-delay between working and getting paid will continue on indefinitely, ad infinitum.
One thing remains certain however, the amount of time it takes Piscataway poll clerks to actually get paid is problematic and shows a lack of respect for poll clerks everywhere, no matter where they are serving. The bottom line is, elections are known appropriated expenses; there is no justified excuse why funds should not be automatically pre-approved for doling out, no matter who is doing the doling or, in this case delaying. For Piscataway poll workers who have expenses to meet like everyone else, this remains a case of payment delayed is, in some very real ways, payment denied.
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