June 26, 2007 - The Cliffside, New Jersey school board plans to reduce the salary of the board treasurer from $28,500 a year to $7,000. It's a part-time job that usually pays $6,256 a year in comparably-sized districts.
Former board President Martin Murtagh has said that the board had typically approved raises on the recommendation of the superintendent, and that board members had assumed the raises were routine cost-of-living increases.
The adjustment is one of a number of changes the district has made after the discovery of financial malfeasance involving ex-Superintendent Robert Paladino.
In April, Paladino was sentenced to three years' probation and forced to resign after pleading guilty to funneling more than $110,000 to two borough clerks, as well as taking more than $26,000 in unapproved business meals at two eateries.
Since the scandal broke, the district has hired a separate a business administrator, a post formerly combined with the superintendent's job. The district has also reined in the number and cost of special student award dinners, which used to include tens of thousands of dollars in free meals for district employees and parents.
