HOBOKEN — Mayor Dawn Zimmer said in press conference today that Police Lt. Angelo Andriani should not have been receiving pay during his suspension over the last two years, and that the city effectively wasted $360,000 by paying Andriani his salary while administrative charges against him were being heard by a judge.
Zimmer released legal updates from the last two years regarding Andriani’s dragged-out administrative hearing on mismanagement with the since-disbanded SWAT team.
The city also said the determination that Andriani could have been suspended without pay two years ago was not connected to the most recent investigation into misconduct by Andriani at a Tampa airport.
Ex-Mayor David Roberts’ administration said in the past that Andriani was receiving pay because the police superior officers’ labor contract requires “felonious” activity in order to suspend an officer without pay.
Andriani was originally suspended without pay by the city, but after the Hudson County Prosecutor’s office found no criminal actions, the city conceded payment and tried to expedite the administrative hearings.
Unfortunately the proceedings took much longer than expected, and Roberts’ city attorney, Steven Kleinman, said before he left the city that the dragging pace of those hearings was one of his regrets during his tenure.
State civil service law regarding suspension without pay is less stringent than the requirement in the police contract, and would have allowed for Andriani to be suspended.
City attorney Michael Kates is now claiming now that the city did not need to heed the contract clause.
“State law takes precedence over the contract,” he said, although a source familiar with the case said several legal opinions sought by the former administration disagreed with Kates’ claim.
The city will attempt to recoup the suspension pay from Andriani if he is found guilty of the administrative charges, which themselves carry a penalty of termination.
For more, read www.hudsonreporter.com this weekend.