One of the most powerful Democrat politicians in the state in Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo. And one of the ways you measure power is by the number of special privileges a pol has that are unavailable to the rank and file.
"Joe D", it turns out, has been retired for several months, but to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of his retirement have been greatly exaggerated. Turns out that by an act of the legislature, DiVincenzo can retire, start collecting his pension (over $5600 a month) and yet still keep his job and collect his salary.
When asked about it, DiVincenzo pulled out the dictionary and asked "how can it be unethical if it is legal?" This is a slightly different variation on the standard legal defense of indicted NJ pols: "hey, how can it be illegal if everyone does it?"
Note that no one asked if it was "wrong."
