Booker Mute On Double Dipping Driver

By Keith Brown

Newark Mayor Cory Booker appears to be putting some daylight between himself and a former employee outed for “double dipping’’ from the public payroll.

Newark police Detective Hector Rodriguez, one of Booker’s former drivers, retired from the city police department with a disability pension in April, but took a job as the Newark Housing Authority’s security director less than a month later, according to NJ.com.

Simultaneously collecting a public pension while receiving a paycheck from another public job is a phenomena known as “double dipping.’’

Rodriguez’s take-home pay between the new job and his disability pension is $143,000 according to public records and officials, the site says.

But Booker, the leading candidate in a field of four Democratic hopefuls competing for the U.S. Senate seat of late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, was mute Monday.

Booker’s Senate campaign spokesman, Kevin Griffis declined to comment on the Rodriquez matter, referring questions to the Newark mayor’s office.

And James Allen, spokesman for the Newark Mayor’s office, also declined, referring questions to the Newark Housing Authority.