Editor’s note: Morris County Sheriff Edward Rochford and Undersheriff William Schievella made this New Jersey Watchdog list. According to the report, Rochford draws a $61,545 annual pension from his days as a Morris Township policeman, on top of his $139,293 sheriff’s salary.
Rochford was unavailable for comment on Monday, but his spokesperson, Susan Hunter, said the sheriff’s pension “was earned from his 27 years of service and would be paid out regardless of what job he took thereafter, provided it was a job that did not contribute to the same pension fund he was collecting from.
“The salary of sheriff is independent of the pension he receives, and the salary would be paid to anyone holding the position of sheriff anyway. They are not related,” Hunter said, adding that Rochford accepts $20,000 less than his authorized salary, to honor a campaign pledge.
Schievella said he does not consider himself a double-dipper, either.
He came to the Sheriff’s office after a changing of the political guard forced his retirement from the Prosecutor’s Office, he said. While many government employees hopscotch among low-paying jobs, landing plum positions at the very end to boost their pensions, Schievella said he made full payments into the state’s police and fire pension system for 28 years.
“Unlike many officials, I have paid into the full pension throughout my entire career,” he told MorristownGreen.com.
Schievella said he earns less than other undersheriffs, and less than he probably would earn in a private-sector security job. Nor, he said, will he receive any additional pension benefits for working for the sheriff.
“I have returned to law enforcement because that’s where my passion is,” Schievella said. “It’s not like I was here [the sheriff’s office] one day and then came back. I worked someplace else and came here, for less money. I never served here before, so it’s not double-dipping.”
For the past quarter century, Armando Fontoura has been looting a New Jersey state pension fund. But it won’t do any good to call the cops. Fontoura is sheriff of Essex County. A dean among double-dippers, he draws $207,289 a year from public coffers — $144,896 in salary plus $62,393 from…
