New housing boss makes $167k on top of $163k pension ... in same city

UNION CITY ^[1] — Stanley Sanger's retirement didn't last long.

Neither did his time away from Union City, where he was born and raised, then worked for 41 years as a teacher, school principal and, not quite finally, as superintendent of schools.

After being credited with leading a turnaround of Union City's largely working class, urban district, Sanger retired after the 2013-14 school year ^[2], intending to live off his $167,000 school pension, and devote more time to his family and his fishing pole.

But then came some unexpected personal demands — which Sanger preferred to keep private — and when the executive director position at the Union City Housing Authority opened up with the retirement of Virgilio Cabello ^[3], Sanger applied for the job and got it.

"Just some life changes with my family, and I decided I ought to come back," Sanger said in an interview this week.

After his hiring was approved by the UCHA Board of Commissioners on March 17, Monday was the 64-year-old veteran administrator's first day back on the public payroll in Union City, this time with a federally funded housing authority salary of $163,000, on top of his school pension.

His new desk will be at the UCHA offices on Kennedy Boulevard, at the base of the agency's Hillside Terrace apartment complex. The housing office is just a few blocks from Sanger's old digs at the Union City Board of Education office on Bergen Turnpike. Sanger will attend his first housing board meeting ^[4] at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the Kennedy Boulevard office.

Mayor Brian Stack, who appoints six of the seven seats on the board with the consent of the city's governing body, is a strong supporter of Sanger, and defended his qualifications to lead the housing agency after a career in education.

"Stanley Sanger, whatever he's appointed to, I know he'll do a good job," Stack said. "He did a terrific job with the school district. He's one of the best administrators I've known in my lifetime."

Sanger, who moved to Paramus 25 years ago, said his personal background in the city and his experience at multiple levels of the school district were directly relevant to his new job.

"You're dealing with the relationships built in the community, knowing the community, knowing the people," said Sanger, who speaks passable Spanish, the primary language of many of the housing authority's tenants. "Many of the people who live in public housing I know from the schools."

Sanger's simultaneous salary and pension, which totals $330,000 a year in taxpayer dollars, was criticized by Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax group.^[5]

  "We're always concerned about what's known as double dipping, whether it's superintendents like this, or other segments of the public sector that then retire and get exhorbitant pensions, and then take second government jobs," said Mike Proto, a spokesman for Americans for Prosperity's New Jersey chapter. "Taxpayers have a right."

Stack dismissed the concern.

"I don't think it should depend on who's got a public pension," said Stack. "I think (the executive director's job) should go to the best qualified person. I understand public perception, but I also understand there's a cost savings."

By that, Sack was referring to Sanger's decision not to accept health insurance, a car, a phone and other benefits from the housing authority, which the mayor valued at $25,000 or so.

The housing authority's legal counsel, Krystle Nova of the firm Scarinci Hollenbeck, said Sanger had the lowest salary demand of the four finalists for the position chosen following "a national and global" search.

Sanger was an increasingly rare schools superintendent without a doctorate, having earned a bachelor's in Social Studies from William Paterson and a master's in administration and management from Seton Hall. He started as a social studies teacher, later became principal of Robert Waters Elementary School, was assistant superintendent for two years, then landed the district's top job in 2003.

He was among the state's highest-paid public officials, with a salary of $255,000 in his last year as superintendent, and attracted some attention upon his retirement when he received a lump sum payment of $188,000 ^[6] for unclaimed sick days.

Sanger is unapologetic about the payment, or, for that matter, his pension or current and former salaries.

"Everything was by my contract that I had for many, many years," he said.

But rather than his earnings, Sanger may be best remembered for his leadership ^[7] of the district, which included presiding over construction of seven new schools, bringing in millions of dollars in additional state aid and federal and private grants, and implementing education technology and early childhood programs. The district was recognized under Sanger with the New Jersey Governor's School of Excellence Award and the Federal No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School Award, among other honors.

A 2013 book, "Improbable Scholars:^[8] The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for American Schools," by David Kirp of the University of California at Berkeley, focused on Union City as a district that, under Sanger's leadership, achieved a stunning turnaround, particularly in its graduation and college enrollment rates.

Apart from Sanger's qualifications, Nova said, the three other candidates all raised concerns: one was a housing authority official from elsewhere who was being investigated by the FBI; another was a South Jersey resident who was unwilling to relocate closer to the area and had clear lack of understanding for demographics of Union City; and the third failed to show up for their personal interview.

Nova also said the housing authority had cleared Sanger's eligibility for the job and its salary with state pension officials, and that, in accordance with state law, his selection was reviewed and approved by the Department of Community Affairs. Also by statute, Nova said, Sanger works under a contract good for one year, which must be renewed by the housing board.

As executive director, Sanger will be responsible for 456 units of public housing for seniors, veterans and low-income families and individuals in four complexes: Columbian Court at Bergenline Avenue at 4th Street; Hillside Terrace I and II, adjacent complexes at Kennedy Boulevard and 39th Street; and Palisade Plaza, across Palisade Avenue from City Hall.

The fiscal 2016 budget of $12.38 million ^[9] includes salaries and other costs of maintaining the UCHA-owned apartments, as well as 693 Section 8 vouchers, which subsidize the rents of low-income people living in private housing.

Sanger can relate to the experience of his tenants, having grown up in Union City without much money. He was raised by a single parent from the age of 10, when his mother died and his father, a restaurant worker, had to raise three sons alone.

"Part of doing a good job is caring," said Sandler, who has no agenda at this point, other than to get to know the job, the people that work for him and the residents he works for.

"Obviously, I'm just starting, and we're looking to assess," he said. "I'm looking to build relationships with the staff here, and all of our housing. How can we improve?"

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.^[10]^[11]^[12]