State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver) called on Tiffany Williams Brewer, the newly named CEO of a state anti-corruption agency, to resign over reported residency issues.
The State Commission of Investigation announced on Monday that the agency had hired Williams Brewer as its CEO. But the Asbury Park Press reported Thursday that Williams Brewer recently claimed to live in a $660,000 home in Maryland and is scheduled to teach three days a week at Howard University in D.C., with experts calling into question her ability to perform two full-time jobs effectively.
The Legislature created the SCI in 1968 as part of a package of crime-fighting bills pushed through by Gov. Richard Hughes after allegations that a North Jersey assemblyman worked to cancel a Senate hearing on organized crime at the request of reputed mob boss Jerry Catena.
Williams Brewer took over as interim executive director after former Executive Director Chadd W. Lackey was killed in a July traffic incident. She had previously served as the commission’s chair.
O’Scanlon said “juggling” time with another job out of state should disqualify her from holding the role.
“The revelations surrounding Tiffany Williams Brewer’s conflicting out-of-state commitments and dubious/conflicting residency claims are an insult to New Jersey taxpayers and warrant her immediate resignation from SCI,” O’Scanlon said in a release. “When you’re tasked with leading an agency designed to root out corruption in New Jersey, at the bare minimum you should be living in the state and showing up to work.”
O’Scanlon said Williams Brewer’s promotion from interim executive director to CEO included a pay bump from $175,000 to $210,000 annually.
“We just became aware that her salary increased from $175k to $210k on January 1st,” O’Scanlon said in the release. “Her predecessor made less money, and was in the office much more than the one to two days Williams Brewer intends to put in.”
The Asbury Park Press article reported that Williams Brewer listed a recently purchased Maryland house as her main residence but voted in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.
Brewer has also served as chief counsel to the speaker of the General Assembly, deputy chief counsel to Gov. Jon Corzine, and deputy assistant secretary of state.