NJ law allows Paterson schools to pay Benjie Wimberly for time away in Trenton

PATERSON — Benjie Wimberly didn’t report for work for his six-figure Paterson Public Schools job on seven days in June, but he still got paid for all that time, according to district records.

Wimberly, a state assemblyman, was in Trenton on those days performing his duties as a New Jersey legislator, officials said. Those absences didn’t affect his Paterson school paycheck because of a longstanding state law, district officials said.

That law, which was enacted in 1966, says a school employee who also serves in the Legislature “shall be entitled to time off from his duties as such employee, without loss of pay, during the periods of his attendance at regular or special sessions of the legislature and hearings or meetings of any legislative committee or commission.”  

New Jersey also has a similar law, enacted in 1979, that covers legislators who work in municipal and county governments.

Paterson Board of Education members said they don’t think the district is getting shortchanged by paying Wimberly for time he spends doing something else.

“Benjie has done a tremendous amount of work for this city and its children over the years,” said school board Vice President Manny Martinez.

“The law is the law,” Martinez added. “He’s not breaking the law, he’s adhering to the law.”

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Officials said it’s been almost 10 years that the district has been paying Wimberly for time spent on legislative business.

Wimberly said the district time records don’t fully reflect the hours he puts in as Paterson’s director of recreational activities, a position that also puts him in charge of city government youth programs.

“There’s lots of times I come back from Trenton and then I go to a game or a tournament at night,” Wimberly said. “That’s included in my time sheets.”

Wimberly said nights and weekends tend to be the most demanding times for his recreation position.

“My weekends are not weekends,” he said. “I’m working. My clock runs 24-7.”

A former high school football and baseball coach, Wimberly has served in the Assembly since 2012. He has worked for the Paterson school district since 1989 and earlier this year received a $22,600 raise in conjunction with a promotion that boosted his salary to $169,778.

District payroll records list Wimberly as being on “school business” when he is doing legislative work. For the 2020-21 year, Paterson Public Schools identified 38 days on which Wimberly was on “school business.”

“It’s the law,” said school board member Emanuel Capers. “What can you do about it?”

Capers said the city’s recreation programs run fine, even when Wimberly is busy with legislative business in Trenton.

“There’s other recreation staff,” Capers said.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.

Email: editor@patersonpress.com