John Corea, the former head of the Hoboken Parking Utility, tendered his resignation to the city on Thursday, Sept. 10 after his pay was drastically reduced and Corea was removed from his parking post.
He never consented to a transfer to the Department of Environmental Services, Corea said today, where Acting Mayor Dawn Zimmer had reappointed him in the same program monitor position he held in the Parking Utility. Zimmer appointed a new director of parking and seeks to expanded the role of the parking utility to include transportation, traffic, and parking planning.
Corea had initially been hired by former Mayor David Roberts during a hiring freeze, and the city was sued for discrimination by former Parking Authority Executive Director JoAnn Serrano over the hiring. She was awarded $400,000.
Roberts snuck Corea in under the City Council-enforced $25,000 hiring cap, then moved the coffers of the Parking Authority into the general ledger of the city and gave Corea a pay increase.
Zimmer reduced Corea’s salary from $114,000 to $50,000 before he resigned. He said he still may contest the pay cut, and will consult with his lawyer in the interim. He said his lawyer recommended Corea not consent to the new salary.
Before coming to City Hall, Corea was banned from the New York Stock Exchange for improper trading. He later ran and lost a City Council race. — TJC
Additional reading: missing money at the HPU.