While payouts for unused sick and vacation time for high-ranking public officials in Bayonne are normally reported, repeated requests for Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis' expected payout have been unsuccessful.
In January, The Jersey Journal reported that the state approved a pension board's decision to let Davis, a retired police captain, collect his annual $120,000 police pension while he is still in elected office.
City spokesman Joe Ryan had said that Davis would not be receiving any payout for unused time until his pension was approved. Now, at least eight months after that approval, no information about Davis' payout has been provided.
In an email yesterday, Ryan said that Davis has not yet received the payout for his unused time from when he worked in the police department. Unused time can include sick hours, vacation hours, holiday hours, terminal leave hours and personal leave hours.
On April 21, Davis told The Jersey Journal that the amount of his unused time payout would be released soon. Asked at that time why it hadn't been released yet, the mayor said "I just never asked for it."
"I meant to do it when (former Bayonne Fire Chief Greg) Rogers retired, but I just never got around to going upstairs and telling them 'Just calculate it, give me the paper,'" he said.
Davis said some people have made a "big hullabaloo" about his unused time.
"People have asked about it, and I said 'Listen, it's something that's in my contract for police and fire.' I said 'Everybody takes advantage of it.' It's like benefits...You don't see anybody who says 'No, I don't want benefits,'" he said.
Asked at the time for his thoughts on unused time payouts from a policy perspective, Davis said "when the next contract comes up, it's going to be addressed."
"We make good money as police and fire. We make decent money. And cities really can't afford to be paying this money out," he said, while noting that he still intends to collect his own unused time payout.
Asked yesterday for clarification on Davis' position and whether anything has changed with police and fire contracts since April, Ryan said "nothing has changed since then."
Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.