Newark drops bid to give outgoing councilman health benefits for life

The Newark City Council today pulled a resolution that would give outgoing Councilman Carlos Gonzalez lifetime taxpayer-funded health benefits and returned it to Mayor Ras Baraka.

The move came hours after the New Jersey Globe first reported a bid to create a special benefit for Gonzalez, who leaves office on June 30 after 20 years; Newark city employees receive lifetime health benefits after 25 years of service.

The proposal sought a “one-time rule relaxation” for Gonzalez in recognition of his “long and faithful service” as an elected official — something referred to in the resolution as a “fringe benefit arrangement” and an “entitlement.”

This morning, a group of Republican assemblymen asked the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ Office of Local Government Services to investigate and block a special pension resolution.

By the time the council met privately in advance of today’s public meeting, support for Gonzalez’s golden parachute had faltered, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.

The measure has not been rejected and could return to the council agenda in the future.

Gonzalez did not seek re-election in last month’s election to the at-large council seat he first won in 2006.