Community Corner
Retired Superintendents, Police Chief in '$100K Club'
New Jersey Watchdog recently released pension figures of more than 1,200 retired public employees who brought in more than $100,000 in retirement funds in 2011.
Two former school administrators with Gloucester Township ties and the township's retired police chief are members of what one New Jersey watchdog group is calling the "$100K Club."
Former Black Horse Pike Regional School District superintendent Ralph E. Ross and former Gloucester Township Public Schools superintendent Robert Suessmuth are among more than 1,200 retired public employees in New Jersey who collected pensions of more than $100,000 in 2011, according to a report by New Jersey Watchdog.
Ross' 2011 pension number was $143,028, while Suessmuth brought in $108,895 in retirement funds.
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Ross retired as BHPRSD superintendent following the 2010-11 school year.
Suessmuth left the local K-8 district in 2004. He held the interim superintendent position in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, for two years (2008-09 and 2009-10) before retiring.
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Retired police chief Edward S. Smith collected a pension of $101,385 in 2011. Smith retired in 2010.
In all, 1,244 former state employees collected more than $100,000 in retirement benefits in 2011, according a list compiled by New Jersey Watchdog.
That number has increased by 28 percent since 2010, New Jersey Watchdog reported.
The top pension in 2011 went to former Essex County College President A. Zachary Yamba, who collected $195,000. In total, the pensions paid out to those drawing at least $100,000 came to $138,723,987 in 2011.
Other Camden County public retirees on the list:
- James F. Chapman, Pennsauken schools: $121,512
- Wilma Farmer, Camden schools: $121,349
- Robert F. Ellis, Camden County Board of Social Services: $114,885
- Barry R. Ersek, Haddonfield schools: $114,458
- Joseph A. Marini, Camden: $112,714
- Richard S. Haldeman, Camden County Tech. Schools $107,868
- Clarence S. Jones, Cherry Hill: $107,625
- Edwin Figueroa, Camden: $106,465
- Michael H. Kantner, Camden County: $105,416
- James J. Gallagher, Cherry Hill schools: $104,107
- Leslie B. Dicker, Camden County: $103,341
- Robert E. Allenbach, Camden: $103,004
- Kevin C. Hailey, Camden: $102,988
- Edward G. Hargis, Camden: $102,561
- Roy J. Dawson, Camden schools: $100,284
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