Monmouth County Freeholder John Curley, right, has turned his sights on a raft of generous perks being paid to Brookdale Community College President Peter Burnham, according to a report in today’s Asbury Park Press.
It turns out that in addition to his annual $216,000 salary, Burnham gets a country club membership, a housing allowance, a car and up to $40,000 a year of tuition coverage for two his children.
Curley, a Republican who served as a Red Bank council member before moving to Middletown and in 2008, calls the package “an extravagance at a time and place when there’s no room for extravagance,” the Press reports.
From the Press:
The freeholders recently learned that Burnham, who has been college president for the past 20 years, also receives a country club membership, a $1,500 monthly housing allowance and a new vehicle “suitable to his office,” which most recently meant a 2010 Ford Expedition that the college purchased for $42,815.
Burnham’s contract also allows up to $40,000 annually in college tuition for his two children, for a total of $267,676 to private universities so far.
The Press reports that Burnham has also pocketed a total of $225,000 in performance bonuses during his 20-year tenure. The bonuses were paid in $10,000 and $15,000 increments almost every year.
The report doesn’t identify where Burnham’s kids go to school.
“The board of trustees must act in the proper vein and stop this waste,” Curley is quoted as saying. “If it’s not done, people are going to need to be replaced because the public won’t stand for this.” He’s threatening to vote against a proposed tuition hike for Brookdale students if changes aren’t made.
Curley was elected freeholder in 2009 on his second try. He’d previously lost a bid to be Red Bank mayor, losing to Pasquale Menna in 2006.
