Police union raps Edison mayor over post-election promotions

Even an election doesn't stop the political mud-throwing in Edison.

Officials from the town's police union are angry with outgoing Mayor Jun Choi over promotions made in the police department one day after a new mayor was elected.

They've slammed Choi and Edison's outgoing police director, calling them "spiteful" and disregarding the troubled finances of the state's fifth-largest town.

"It looks like (Choi) is hellbent on wasting as much taxpayer money as he can before he leaves office," Keith Hahn, the state delegate for Edison's PBA, said in a statement -- the latest in a series of clashes between Choi and the police union.

Choi, who will leave office in January, declined comment, referring all questions to Police Director Brian Collier.

Collier fired back. The director said he -- not Choi -- made the promotions. Choi, he said, simply swore in a second deputy chief, three more police captains and three lieutenants in a ceremony at town hall Wednesday.

"I was hellbent on one thing: bolstering the integrity of this police department," Collier said. "The mayor had nothing to do with it."

Choi appointed Collier last year to clean up a police department that has been plagued with problems for decades. But the police union protested his appointment and has since clashed with Collier as well.

Collier has announced he will also leave in January.

It's common for outgoing mayors to make promotions in the closing months of their administration. Choi's predecessor, George Spadoro, promoted 12 police officials, including a deputy chief to chief and another insider to deputy chief.

But Wednesday's promotions came the morning after Councilwoman Antonia Ricigliano was elected Edison's mayor. Ricigliano beat Choi in a bitter Democratic primary in June to gain the party's nomination.

Police union officials publicly supported Ricigliano throughout the election.

Ricigliano could not be reached for comment yesterday.

"I think it's sour grapes," Hahn said yesterday about the promotions. "(Choi is) tyring to cripple the new administration, budget-wise."

Hahn said the promotions bump the number of captains in the police department to 10 and the number of lieutenants to 16. Now, Hahn said, the police department has 13 superior officers earning over $180,000 per year at a time when town officials are working to close a budget gap. Months ago, Choi asked union officials to make concessions.