Should Hackensack official return $93,000 to city?

Rush-hour traffic on the upper deck of the George Washington Bridge this morning. The Record continues to report on unannounced "temporary lane closures" in September that affected drivers entering tollbooths from Fort Lee (A-1), but its transportation reporters ignore the daily nightmare of commuting by car or overburdened mass transit.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

I'm sure I'm not the only Hackensack resident who hadn't heard of Agatha Toomey until last week, when the director of the city's Human Services Department made headlines for denying benefits to a formerly homeless man who was awarded $850 he found on the street.

On Wednesday, Record Staff Writer Hannan Adely reported Toomey is being paid $133,000 a year and has use of a city car  -- the kind of largesse residents have come to associate with Zisa family rule.

In a front-page story today, Adely reports Toomey received "a windfall of $93,000 in a payout for unused benefit time" in February 2011.

And, Adely reports, convicted former Police Chief Ken Zisa, who also served in the state Assembly, received a similar payout of $94,513 "just days before his arrest on fraud charges."

City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono said he didn't know why Zisa's name was on the list of employees who retired or were about to retire.

And Mayor John Labrosse claims Zisa's name was not on the list of retirees he was given (A-6). At the time, Labrosse was a member of a City Council dominated by Zisa allies, who were thrown out of office on July 1.

There has been no explanation for why Toomey makes so much money or why she still drives a city car weeks after officials pledged to review such use.

Should she return the $93,000? That question hasn't been addressed by city officials.

More sloppy work

As if The Record hasn't repeatedly smeared Richard Shoop's name, an A-6 caption on Tuesday "misidentified" his mother, Barbara, according to one of the two corrections on A-2 today.

Shoop is the troubled 20-year-old Teaneck pizzeria employee who went to the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus on Nov. 4 to commit suicide, firing random shots into the ceiling before killing himself in the basement.

Three columns by burned-out Staff Writer Mike Kelly associated Shoop with mass murderers. 

Furious back pedaling

What are readers to make of an editorial urging an end to all  "the talk" about the 2016 presidential election and whether Governor Christie will be the Republican nominee (A-20)?

It's Editor Marty Gottlieb and his gang of political columnists and reporters who have been feeding that media frenzy for more than a year.

Sensational stories

Also on A-1 today, Debra J. Feldman, 48, a Hackensack woman who disappeared in 2009, may have been the victim of a serial killer, the FBI said.

This sensational story is one of the many Law & Order stories in the paper today, especially in Local, which still had to use three filler photos of minor fires to fill its pages (L-2, L-3 and L-6).

Gee-whiz. A truck caught fire in Secaucus, and a car caught fire in Fair Lawn. And in other fire news, a short-circuit "destroyed" the facade of a Ridgewood building.

You can always count on Deputy Assignment Flunky Dan Sforza to be first with such major breaking news.

Pedal error?

More troubling is The Record's inability to report whether the driver of a car that hit a Trader Joe's employee in Westwood was elderly and mistook the accelerator for the brake pedal, a common problem for older drivers (L-1).

The story says the driver was "a woman who appeared to be elderly," and describes her Toyota Camry, one of the most recognizable cars on the road, as "a beige-colored sedan." 

Second look

The Road Warrior column on Monday was filled with errors, according to the concerned reader who maintains the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

All of the Motor Vehicle Commission issues Staff Writer John Cichowski mishandles "are clearly explained on various MVC website links or can be correctly answered by calling MVC customer service."

Cichowski also reported incorrectly the initial "inspection" of a new car is good for 5 years in New Jersey when no such inspection is required.

See the full e-mail to management and the editors:

Road Warrior skips correct MVC answers