As reported by nj.com, after days of playing defense, Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. apologized for the controversy surrounding his pension, which has drawn condemnation from public employee unions and the governor. DiVincenzo “retired” last year as county executive and started collecting his pension while continuing to hold office and earn his full paycheck. “To Essex County residents and to all the employees here, I want to apologize for what happened this weekend,” he said. He added, “I’m sorry that I put us in this position.” 

DiVincenzo did not say it was improper to collect his pension, according to his spokesman, Anthony Puglisi. “He’s not apologizing because he did anything wrong,” he said. “What he said was, this has been a distraction, and he apologized to the employees for taking their attention away from the job ahead.”

The apology, made during a groundbreaking ceremony in West Orange, came after increasing criticism since news of his pension broke. DiVincenzo has worked closely with Governor Chris Christie to reduce public employee benefits, and unions quickly criticized the county executive as a hypocrite.

“This exposes him as a fraud and just another politician who lies to the public,” State Policemen’s Benevolent Association President Anthony Wieners said. This week, Christie chastised DiVincenzo, a political ally, during a Statehouse press conference. “I made this really clear. I think it’s wrong,” the governor said. “And it’s not just for him. It’s wrong for all the other people who are doing it.”

DiVincenzo filed his retirement papers in August, three months before winning his third term as county executive. That added a $68,862 annual pension to his full salary, which was $153,207 last year.

State law allows public employees to retire while still holding elected office as long as they previously held a different public job. DiVincenzo held public jobs in Essex County for nearly three decades, working as a parks supervisor, teacher, athletics coordinator and freeholder before becoming executive in 2003.

Christie and lawmakers from both parties have advocated repealing the law, although the Democrat-controlled Legislature has yet to act on Republican-sponsored bills addressing the issue. Both the governor and DiVincenzo said the pension controversy would not affect their working relationship. “I’ve got to work with him. You think I have the luxury of stopping to work with public officials who do something I don’t agree with?” Christie said. “I’d be sitting in there by myself.”

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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.