______________________________

Dalton makes it official

Parking agency's chief says last day is Dec. 18
Thursday, November 30, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Robert Dalton, director of the Jersey City Parking Authority for the past 16 months, submitted a letter of resignation this week, citing "personal reasons" for his departure.

A lifelong Greenville resident and retired police lieutenant, Dalton, 53, is widely credited with bringing accountability and profitability to an agency that had lost its way. Dalton's last day on the job will be Dec. 18.

"It's very sad to be leaving," Dalton said yesterday, ticking off several accomplishments and initiatives he's put in the works, including plans to build a 450-space parking garage on Oakland Avenue near the State Highway.

"I'm grateful to the mayor (Jerramiah Healy) for giving me the opportunity to head this agency," Dalton added. "There's a lot of work to be done."

On Saturday, Jersey Journal columnist Earl Morgan suggested Dalton was leaving because he had tired of "certain staffers" using their influence with Healy "to obtain pay hikes and other perks," and recent changes on the agency's governing board, including Healy's appointment of former police chief Robert Troy to the body.

Dalton maintained yesterday he's leaving strictly for personal reasons, but declined to elaborate.

In an e-mail statement yesterday, Healy wrote of Dalton: "He has done an excellent job at creating a surplus for the first time in five years in the JCPA's budget."

The mayor declined to name candidates he's considering to replace Dalton.

"It is a big loss," Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop said about Dalton's departure. "Bob Dalton it is going to be a tough act to follow."

© 2006  The Jersey Journal
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

_________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________

 

SCRUTINY FOR JCPA
 

Earl Morgan _ Jersey Journal
Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Jersey City Parking Authority employees were jolted several weeks ago when the FBI began serving them with subpoenas to
appear before a federal grand jury in connection with an investigation into the authority's activities under the leadership of former Executive Director Jimmy King.

While neither the feds nor JCPA officials would comment on the subpoenas, sources say the probe is the latest event in the
ongoing investigation that began in June when FBI agents demanded and received the reports of a forensic accountant and a
lawyer hired by the JCPA during the short-lived administration of acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith.

Smith, as City Council president, took office as acting mayor when Glenn D. Cunningham died in May 2004; his administration
 ended in November of that year, when Smith was defeated in a special election by Jerramiah Healy to complete Cunningham's
term. Healy won a full term last June.

Early in Smith's term, several new commissioners were named to the JCPA. Those commissioners first suspended King, then initiated an investigation into activities allegedly involving JCPA spending, hiring a forensic accountant and an attorney. The investigation also probed allegations that King - who had the authority to hire and fire staff - handed out promotions to JCPA personnel who were members of his civic association.

King, who refused to comment for this story, has previously denied any wrongdoing. He also said he hadn't been questioned
by the FBI, nor received any subpoenas.

Soon after Healy took office, King resigned as JCPA executive director and received $12,000 from the agency. At the same
time, sources say, copies of the investigation - including reports by the forensic accountant and lawyer and depositions from employees - ended up in the hands of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

 
© 2006  The Jersey Journal
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
 
 

Tired of seeing red, parking agency tightens its belt

 
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

If the Jersey City Parking Authority was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, investors might be advised to sell, after
another year of record losses.

The JCPA collected just over $6 million in revenues last year, including more than $2 million in parking fines and the sale of a parking lot for $287,000.

Meanwhile, the agency had $6.6 million in expenses, creating a deficit of $526,072, according to an audit. The expenses
 included $5.2 million in salaries and benefits for 103 employees, or $50,963 per employee.

That marks the third fiscal year in a row that the JCPA has seen red when it closed its books. The 2003 budget year saw a $266,062 deficit and the 2004 fiscal year saw a $741,784 deficit, according to the audit.

"It's a problem, and it won't be fixed overnight," said JCPA Executive Director Robert Dalton, who came on board late last
year. "I was brought in to help get this place straight, and that's what I plan to do."

Dalton promised to get the deficit to less than $100,00 by the end of the current fiscal year on June 30 through stepped-up enforcement and booting, as well cuts in expenses.

In just a few months, Dalton said, he has taken aim at the agency's rising salaries and benefits, which rose to $5.2 million last year, a roughly a 20 percent increase since 2001, when those expenses were $3.8 million.

Dalton said the new contract negotiated with employees includes a 50 percent reduction of pay for sick days and a provision
that would pay employees who leave for their unused vacation and sick time not at the rate they're earning when they leave
but at the rate they were earning when the time was accrued.

"We need to get a handle on the salaries and expenses in order to get back to our mission, which is providing more parking
in the city," Dalton said.

On the revenue side, Dalton said the JCPA plans to put parking meters along Martin Luther King Drive and Monticello Avenue. However, Dalton said the move has more to do with promoting economic development.

Dalton said he hopes to put aside the $468,000 the authority received for the sale of a parking lot on King Drive this year to purchase property for parking.

"After all, that's the reason the agency exists," said Dalton.

© 2006  The Jersey Journal
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.