Is There A Double Standard In Trenton??

Col. Joseph Santiago Was Fired By Governor McGreevey After Buying Furniture And Spending $2000 On A Trip To Minneapolis

Virginia Haines Was Rewarded By Governor Whitman With Huge Salary Increases, Lavish Retirement Benefits And Double Dip Health Coverages While She Spent $103,000 On 80 Out-Of-State Trips To Minneapolis, Las Vegas, 27 Other Exotic Destinations

OceanCountyPolitics•Com has learned that one of the final straws that led to the and downfall and firing of controversial State Police Colonel Joseph Santiago by Governor James McGreevey was a trip Santiago took to Minneapolis on the taxpayers tab.

The trip, a transparent vacation junket that had no value for the taxpayers, cost more than $2000 which Santiago charged to the State Police.

Three Lottery Queens Spent Almost $6000 On 1996 Minneapolis Vacation, Part Of A 100 Junket Binge Costing Taxpayers $103,000

Santiago’s Minneapolis trip is similar to a seven day Minneapolis autumn junket vacation taken in September and October of 1995 by $107,000 Lottery Department “Director” Virginia Haines, $90,000 Lottery Marketing “Director” Linda Melone, and Haines’ neighbor and crony, $103,000 Lottery Deputy “Director Carole Hedinger.

The trip had no value to the taxpayers who paid for it, just like Santiago.

But, unlike McGreevey, former Governor Christie Whitman, instead of firing Haines and the other two, gave them a series of huge salary increases and let Haines and Hedinger continue to rip off taxpayers by collecting expensive double dip health coverages and other ridiculous patronage perks including many more vacation junkets.

Betcha Can't Stop With Just One • •

In fact, Haines didn't stop with just one vacation junket raid on the public treasury: She and Hedinger went on vacation after vacation, compliments of the taxpayers, a total of more than 90 trips for the two of them, over the six years she was padding the lottery patronage payroll, at a total cost of more than $103,000, totaling more than 400 days out of state.

Then she put in a $9700 voucher for “unused vacation time,” and it was paid.

The vacation trips targeted Minneapolis, Las Vegas and more than 26 other domestic and international destinations, including a $5600 ten day extravaganza to Glasgow, Scotland in June of 2000.

None of these vacation junkets had any value to the taxpayers who paid for them; they had value only to Ms. Haines, Ms. Hedinger and Ms. Melone.

Deputy Lottery Flunkey Also Got Big Money

Ms. Hedinger is Haines’ neighbor in Toms River who was hired by Haines and Whitman at a $100,000 cost for a worthless job as “Deputy Lottery Director,” one of hundreds of phoney “jobs” handed by Whitman to Republican political flunkies all over New Jersey.

The hundreds of political flunkies, all hired at inflated salaries at taxpayers expense, wasted huge amounts of taxpayers’ money and were a big factor in the $2.5 billion state budget deficit left by Whitman after she resigned and left town to take a patronage job in Washington.

Santiago is a former Newark Police Chief who also bought $10,000 worth of furniture he didn't need.

(for 11/02/02) More on this in the fullness of time on OCPolitics•Com

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