2 convicted ex-mayors' pensions get cut. ...It's a start!

Former Brick Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli must repay more than $20,000 he received in pension benefits, a state pension board ruled Wednesday.

The Public Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees also voted unanimously to strip the pension benefits Scarpelli accrued from 1998 until his resignation as Brick mayor at the end of 2006. The order reduces the 68-year-old Scarpelli's monthly pension check to approximately $333 from approximately $1,825, according to Tom Vincz, a state Treasury Department spokesman.

In another unanimous vote, the trustees revoked former Ocean Township (Monmouth County) Mayor Terrance D. Weldon's state pension. Weldon, who recently began a 58-month prison term at Texas' Beaumont Federal Correctional Complex, would have received roughly $1,667 each month beginning next year.

Weldon, 59, pleaded guilty more than five years ago to taking cash bribes in exchange for official favors. He was the first local official to fall in the FBI's Operation Bid Rig investigation.

Scarpelli, who began his tenure as Brick mayor in 1994, pleaded guilty in 2007 to accepting more than $5,000 in bribes to help a developer gain building approvals. He is currently serving an 18-month sentence at a federal prison at Fort Dix.

Current Brick Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis, a longtime opponent of Scarpelli, a Democrat, said he thought loss of pension was an appropriate penalty for officials who abuse the public trust.

"I think any elected official, if they're involved in corruption, they shouldn't get a pension from the state," Acropolis said. "We as taxpayers shouldn't have to pay twice."

Michael Blandina, chairman of the Brick Democratic Municipal Committee, also said he thought the reduction of Scarpelli's pension was fair.

"I think that's the most important thing; it sends a message to other elected officials, whether you're in Brick Township, the state of New Jersey or elsewhere, that they have to do the right thing or face the same consequences," Blandina said.

Repayment schedule

Scarpelli must pay back the $20,000 over a 10-year period, though the exact details of the repayment were still being worked out, Vincz said.

The PERS board also voted Wednesday to suspend a $5,000-per-month pension Weldon receives through the state Police and Firemen's Retirement System. Weldon is a former Asbury Park fire chief and city manager, and the suspension will last from April until the end of his incarceration, Vincz said.

Ocean Township Mayor William F. Larkin said he also thought the board's decisions were fair.

"I think it's certainly a correct ruling," Larkin said. "I feel, and I'm sure a lot of the residents in the community feel, that (Weldon) should not be awarded a pension based on his employment with the town."

Tristan J. Schweiger:
(732) 557-5734 or tschweiger@app.com