Harry Peek: Poster Boy of Government Handouts
Sunday, March 7th, 2010Careful eCache readers will remember the run-in I had with Harry Peek on the telephone last June. Good ol’ Harry is back in the news.
Harry Peek was appointed to the Cumberland County Board of Elections in 1969 by the governor of New Jersey.
For the part-time post, the nephew of former Millville Mayor Rulon Peek was given a salary and was offered a health benefits package.
Forty years later, Peek still serves on the county board of elections as chairman.
He receives a $15,287 salary and continues to receive health benefits paid for by the county, which the over 70-year-old man relies on to help pay for his prostate cancer treatment.
A part-timer for 40 years, Mr. Peek is one of those who Freeholder Director Lou Magazzu claims has a $20,000 health benefits package. It’s not like running the Board of Elections is a full-time job. Joe DeMarco, also a paid Board of Elections official and the proprietor of the DeMarco-Luisi Funeral Home, spends quite a bit of time in Florida at his home in The Villages.
Why does DeMarco receive health benefits? His wife was a longtime employee of a school district. Her benefits should have covered her husband. Is this a double-dipping affair?
How well served are the voters of Cumberland County served by Mr. Peek? He is pulling down ~$35,000 of county money. I believe that is higher than the median income in the county. Obviously, these guys are only working a little bit as each election comes up.
And shoot, even then, voters are not served by Mr. Peek’s reign since he wants to stifle enthusiasm in the electoral process.
Why do we pay citizens to sit on this board? I will gladly volunteer to serve for no salary and no health benefits. Is anyone else willing to pledge his service to the county gratis?
