Jackson agrees to
permit domestic partner benefits
BY JOYCE BLAY,
Tri-Town News from the Web, February 2, 2006
JACKSON, NJ -- Township
employees may soon have a benefit not granted to them in the past.
Following in the footsteps of some corporations and on the heels of the Ocean
County Board of Freeholders, domestic partners of township employees will be
eligible to receive pension and health benefits if the Township Committee votes
to approve a resolution that is expected to be on the agenda at the Feb. 13
meeting.
If the resolution is approved, the committee’s action will be due in no small
part to the Jackson PBA, which represents most township police officers and
championed the initiative.
“This is the right thing for the township to do,” said Christopher Parise,
president of the union. “The decision they made (Jan. 23, to place the
action on the agenda) was prompted by a letter I prepared and the committee
reviewed. As a result, they put it on the floor for a vote. I’m
happy they acted so quickly. It was a fair, correct decision.”
The vote was unanimous.
No less influential in swaying committee opinion and votes toward a change in
public policy was Lt. Laurel Hester.
Hester is not a township resident or employee. However, the critically ill
officer, who is retired from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, has embarked
on a crusade for human rights that has captured local and national attention,
according to her former fellow detective, Dane Wells of Jackson.
“It’s been close to 20 years since I’ve stood at this microphone,” Wells, a
former Jackson employee and elected school board member, said during the Jan. 23
public forum. “I’m here to praise all five of you to the hilt. I
want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.”
Wells said he had told Hester of the committee vote and that she had gained
strength from the news. He then placed a call to Hester on a cell phone
that was amplified so the entire room could hear her tell the committee how
grateful she was for Jackson’s support.
“When other people see what Jackson has done tonight, other committees will
follow their lead,” Hester said over the cell phone that Wells held up to the
microphone. “You’ve taken a giant step forward in terms of justice and
human rights. I wish you all the best.”
Audience applause reverberated throughout the room.
Just a week earlier, Hester won her battle to have the county freeholders act on
a resolution enabling domestic partners of county employees to receive the
pension and health benefits of their publicly employed partner. The move
is expected to permit Hester, who has cancer, to assign benefits to her domestic
partner.
If the committee votes to provide the same benefits for township employees,
Jackson would be the first municipality in Ocean County to do so, according to
Wells, who spoke to the Tri-Town News on Jan. 29. He said Committeeman
Mark Seda had been the first member of the Jackson governing body to tell Wells
he supported such a change.
Committee members indicated at last week’s meeting that they would all join Seda
in support of such an action.
After Hester thanked the committee, Committeeman Michael Kafton in turn thanked
her for standing up and fighting for what she believed in. Other committee
members expressed their support for Hester as well.
“You’re an inspiration,” said Mayor Sean Giblin. “God bless you.”
“The best to you and God bless,” said Committeewoman Ann Updegrave.
Wells said that granting domestic partners who are not a married spouse the same
pension and health benefits as married couples may receive was a controversial
step in Toms River, the location of the county’s government offices, as well as
Ocean County as a whole. He said the committee’s action made him proud to
be a Jackson resident.
Deputy Mayor Josh Reilly also saw the committee’s action as significant.
“We had not planned to take action this evening, but we all were in agreement
that it was the right thing to do,” Reilly said after the meeting. “And
that’s nice in Jackson, isn’t it?”
|
