Monmouth tax commissioner paid $1,600/hr

From the Asbury Park Press:

Low-show jobs: Here’s exhibit A

Monmouth County Tax Board Commissioner Annie Grant logged a total of 12 hours in tax board meetings last year for the political patronage job that pays her $20,250 a year. Her cohorts logged a somewhat less paltry 31 to 59 hours apiece.

For Grant, last year’s pay worked out to more than $1,600 an hour — not counting the full health and pension benefits that accompany the position. Grant missed the first meeting of 2007 and blamed the Valentine’s Day storm, saying, “I wasn’t going out there in the ice and snow.”

People in the private sector who don’t show up for work get fired. Grant should be, too. When asked about her poor attendance for a story in the Sunday Press, Grant replied, “I can’t tell you why I missed meetings and hearings. I don’t remember. Maybe I had doctor’s appointments, or other things came up.”

Grant is a perfect example of what’s wrong with politics in New Jersey. She said she got the tax board job because she “campaigned for Jim Florio.” Her husband, Avery, who defends her in today’s letters section, notes her background included income tax preparation for 33 years. What do income taxes have to do with real estate appraisals? And his wife spent more time taking “educational” trips last year than doing actual work.
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He also said his wife’s “minimal expenses” of $5,100 were due to her “advance reservations and using economy airlines.” Does he think she deserves a parade for not grabbing a seat in first class when she spent taxpayer money jetting off to Wisconsin and Alaska?