The New York Law Journal by Daniel Wise - April 13, 2011
The Appellate Division, First Department, needed a year-end cash infusion after replacing 44 of 46 employees who took early retirement last fall. The Office of Court Administration's budget office averted a projected $400,000 shortfall by March 31, the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year, by transferring surplus funds from the Second Department. Presiding Justice Luis A. Gonzalez of the First Department took responsibility for the decision to fill the vacated positions. "We are a busy court and took a big hit" when 46 employees accepted the court system's early retirement offers in November, he said in an interview yesterday. "I made the decision that we needed the personnel to serve the public." Justice Gonzalez said he had never received "a memorandum or oral communication" limiting his authority to hire needed personnel. "I am a team player, and had I received any intimation about not being able to fill those positions, I definitely would have gone along with it," he said. There are about 300 non-judicial employees in the First Department. The OCA confirmed that among those hired was Vivian Gonzalez, whom the New York Post reported is Justice Gonzalez' former wife, on Dec. 23, 2010, as an associate appellate court clerk at an annual salary of $65,000. Judge Lawrence K. Marks, the court system's administrative director, sent a memorandum in July 2010 to district executives throughout the state and chief clerks in New York City advising that in order for the court to realize savings through the early retirement program "the number of positions that can be refilled and timing of refilling the positions is critical." Ultimately, 1,560 of the court system's 14,200 non-judicial court employees took early retirement. Judge Marks in September told the Law Journal that the court system expected to save about $10 million through early retirements, and that priority would be given to filling courtroom positions: court clerks, officers and stenographers. Hiring for other positions, such as analysts and middle managers, he said, could be delayed or the jobs could remain unfilled (NYLJ, Sept. 28, 2010). Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau said yesterday that under the state Constitution, the four Appellate Division departments retain responsibility for running "their own shops" and remain independent of the OCA's jurisdiction, which is limited to trial courts. On the other hand, she said, it was widely known that, as a condition of being able to participate in the statewide early retirement program, the courts were required to realize savings as a condition of participating. "Every court" throughout the state was expected to participate, Judge Pfau said. Susanah Rojas, the First Department's clerk, said it was unclear why hiring replacements ended up driving the First Department's expenses over budget. "Even when people received promotions to fill vacancies," she said, "their increased salaries were not anywhere near what was being earned by the people who left." Sources suggested that one reason the First Department may have come up short is that it replaced retirees shortly after their departures in November while they were still owed pay for various reasons, such as unused annual leave. OCA reported that in contrast to the First Department, the Second Department filled 24 of 39 positions left vacant by the early retirements and the Fourth Department filled seven of 12. The Third Department, during the last four months of the last fiscal year, hired 15 new workers, while it had only lost 13 to early retirements. Judge Pfau said those figures only reflect the fact that each department is "very individualized," with different case loads and a mix in the types of workers who took early retirement. The decision to fill so many vacancies makes the First Department more vulnerable to layoffs in the current fiscal year, Judge Pfau said. She explained that the court system must make hundreds of layoffs to achieve the additional $70 million in savings required in the 2010-11 budget adopted by the Legislature and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (NYLJ. April 8). The court system must trim a total of $170 million. In calculating the level of layoffs each court must absorb, she said, courts are given greater credit the larger the number of unfilled vacancies. In January, as the state's financial situation grew more perilous, the OCA imposed a hiring freeze on the 900 positions that remained open as a result of the job freeze. Daniel Wise can be contacted at dwise@alm.com.
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42 comments:
Of course Gonzalez is a target. Gonzalez moved the little rat Alan Friedberg out of the DDC. Rat Friedberg crawled back with his old spanking buddy Robert Tembeckjian at the CCJ. (Robert Tembeckjian is the wife, err husband, of Barbara Ross, a NY Daily News reporter who does his bidding.
Lippman wants his own person in at the AD1. Lippman and Pfau don't like having a Spanish guy in as PJ. Lippman doesn't want an Irish, Black or Italian either. Lippman wants a Jewish PJ at the 1st Department.
PJ Gonzalez should realize that this is war.... the corrupt folks inside OCA have decided that you are gone. Good Luck!
Judge Gonzalez has the opportunity to now come out and address the court system low lifes. Maybe he made mistakes in some mortgage applications. But if you go over anyone's, including Tembeckjian's, Friedberg's, Cahill's, Sherry Cohen's or Lippman's, I bet someone would find something. Just like the DDC, people are set up to be set up anytime the thugs want to take you down. FIGHT BACK JUDGE GONZALEZ!!
Are you people out of your minds, gonzalez is a corrupt pervert who is hiring his entire unqualified children (bastard ones too) on the tax payers dime- he must step down now.
THEY ARE ALL CORRUPT. But we should let them attack each other out in the open. THEY ALL NEED TO GO !!
It's gotta get messy before anything good will happen. While OCA has targeted Gonzalez, hopefully he'll fight back. You are right 11:46am, Gonzalez must step down, like the rest of them: Lippman, Pfau, Prudenti... How many children does he have working in the court system? Do you know? And where are they?
Back after Sept. 11th, OCA for whatever sensless reason, imposed their typical "wage freeze" that Dec....allegedly.
Before it took place, OCA raised their exempt supervisory titles that were not earning grade levels that were in the $100,000 range ... to that highest grade level, on Dec 1st, 2001.
OCA'S wage freeze means.... civil servants that took exams for their positions and do most of the hard work...and never, ever includes their exempt or hack employees..like chief clerks, deputy clerks...and sadly the analyst titles.
The analyst Title was a handout from CSEA. CSEA told me personally, that they gave OCA that title to use for their exempts...meaning friends... but only for an entry level or slightly above, to allow non-tested employees to enter OCA as a favor to politicians. CSEA claimed that they were hoodwinked by OCA and OCA started using that title of analyst to convolute their many high level titles and throw off anyone checking the salaries of their exempts..which by the way OCA changes exempt titles often to keep the public and the media if they cared, from following the exempts career of pay to play.
Often for the women of the NY Courts who are in these high paying titles.. sexual relations with judges and administrators of the courts is the only method of promotion and upgrades for that sex.
CSEA has completely accepted OCA'S abuse of civil servants and future elimination of their testing, and that begs the question for court employees represented by them....WHY?
OCA is full of crap..never listen to anything they attempt to mouth about job positions and salaries for exempts...as salaries for their court clerks etc., have not changed in literally...30 yrs!
I want to see a battle of the corrupt. Lippman pulling people's hair like a girl, Pfau chewing on Gonzalez's leg as he punches Tembeckian (of course, Tembeckjian will have trouble moving with Friedberg's nose up his butt) Cahill and Cohen fighting over a half-full bottle of vodka, and of course Shelly Silver running around picking up the money that's fallen to the ground. LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!
We need a blood bath, figuratively speaking, or course.
that is funny!
Check out the last 10 AD1 PJs hiring of friends and family. It's legal. Lippman spends 23million on an Albany Shrine for himself and 8 other people and OCA bitches about hiring people in a courthouse where a large amount of people recently retired. If the PJs name didn't end in a Z but started with an O' or ended with a stein, we wouldn't be talking about this.
His daughter Nydia is in brooklyn, is mistress royall is in the bronx while their son is at the appellate division, his girlfriend is a "clerk" there as well, not to mention his ex wife and nephew are also in the system. And we didn't even talk susan hernandez's hirings, give me a break yes they are all corrupt but this swordsman is flaunting it in an arrogant manner.
Who knew there were Jewish swine, Latino swine, Irish swine, and Italian swine all fighting at the court trough. I thought all court swine stank alike.
what happened to the old corrupt ways....when everyone decided to stop fighting and work together to share the corrupt wealth.......
we miss the good ole days!
Whomever they go after, whether they deserve it or not, Tembeckjian is a thug. Right or wrong, Gonzalez is entitled to due process; Tembeckjian is incapable of giving anyone due process as he is controlled by mobsters. Before Gonzalez goes, Tembeckjian must go.
Would much rather hear about how the Feds are rocking the Court corruption or any change in the federal system and real results and real action rather than this attrition process thru budget cuts which represents NO fundamental change or resulting change in the level of justice provided in ny.
CJC has a history of going after minority (black and latino) judges in NYC!!!!
Gonsalez might have dirty hands but who that wears a black dress doesn't ?!?
Anyone know how long Tembeckjian has been in charge of the CJC? Why does he seem to have lifetime tenure?
Tembeckjian and Friedberg must go--REMOVE THEM!
Why is Alan Friedberg collecting a pension and working at the CJC, of counsel?
Hey Judge Gonzalez, order DDC to start an investigation against Tembeckjian and Friedberg. They're lawyers in 1st Dept, your dept., and they have engaged in plenty of misconduct. YOU KNOW IT!!!
Message to Judge Gonzalez--slam the SOB's with all your might, fight back, don't back down! You have the ammo you need, just use it!!!
Investigate Tembeckjian & Friedberg. Friedberg had no trouble finding a job after he was removed from DDC, thanks to his buddy Tembeckjian. Talk about NEPOTISM! Are you kidding me?
Judge Gonzalez, let the public know why Friedberg was removed as Chief Counsel from DDC. Slam them with all you got.
WE NEED A BLOOD BATH,,,,,LITERALLY OF COURSE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Judge Gonzalez don't forget to also mention how GROSSLY UNQUALIFIED Alan Friedberg was for the Chief Counsel position at DDC. By the way, who appointed Alan Friedberg as Chief Counsel at DDC? Could it have been the Chief Judge of the NY Court of Appeals? Was it the very honorable judge Lippman?
Another message to J. Gonzalez--DON'T TALK TO THE PRESS/MEDIA--they're trying to bring you down! Don't let them.
Judge Gonzalez is a very honorable, decent and extremely qualified judge unlike some judges with no judicial experience and rose through the ranks because of their childhood friends, i.e. Shelly Silver.
Judge gonzalez is a pig, idiotic political favor who fucks everything he sees. He had the same reputation in the Bronx and he's doing it again at the Appellate Division, and he shouldn't speak to the press because everytime he opens his mouth he just sounds like a moron.
It's time for Gonzalez to fess up to his evil ways, let go his and Lippmans newly and overpaid AD1 hires and step down. Say adios, señor
The Latino and Jewish courthouse Chief Swines will face off in front of the courthouse's private trough at high noon. May the most greedy swine win. The winner stays at the trough and the loser returns to scavenging in the sewer outside.
let the games begin!
Still cannot understand how in the face of lay offs and this piece of shit going on a hiring spree how is he still judging other peoples cases
This PJ has a target on his back. If I were the PJ I would be concerned with who ratted me out, because that's what happened. The PJ might remind everyone that people who live in glass houses should not thrown stone, if you know what I mean!
I work for OCA. I am waiting for my pick slip. I am hoping that His Highness Jonathan Lippman uses the letterhead that includes: State of New York, Unified Court System, $23Million Dollar Judge Hotel, Albany, New York. Lippman and Pfau, and their crew, have ruined a court system and ruined many peoples' lives. Everyone I know is ready to speak out against the corruption that has been written about- it's all true.
CALL THE HAGUE
FEDS AINT DOIN SHIT !!!!!!
To 1:51pm, so you think FEDS are not doing anything!
to 2:17
what are they doing ????
hey 2:17
justice delayed is justice denied
GONZALEZ FOR PRESIDENT!! SUSAN HERNANDEZ FOR VP!!
GONZALEZ FOR PRESIDENT!! SUSAN HERNANDEZ FOR VP!!
GONZALEZ FOR PRESIDENT!! SUSAN HERNANDEZ FOR VP!!
not only are they censoring and removing posts... they are swithing the times !!!!!
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