NJ Dems accuse GOP mayor of misleading city employees by claiming they won’t get paid during shutdown

The mayor of Neptune City, N.J., ordered a memo be sent out to all employees telling them they will not be paid due to the ongoing partial government shutdown.

Republican Mayor Robert Brown and his wife Tamara Brown, the clerk for the borough of Neptune City, sent the memo to employees on New Year’s Day telling them they won’t get paid, according to the Asbury Park Press.

The borough’s Democratic Party said the memo is “misleading” and is “creating havoc.”

{mosads}”There is no reason for anyone to not get paid,” Neptune City Council President Pamela Renee (D) told the local news outlet.

Renee said the Browns sent the memo after a measure at the City Council’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 1 to prepay several bills was tabled.

She noted that the resolution was not necessary and had nothing to do with borough employees getting paid, but Tamara Brown wrote in the memo that payroll could not be processed without the resolution.

“This was done either due to possible ignorance or ill intent,” a Facebook post by the Neptune City Democrats reads. A press release containing the language of the post accused the Browns of “playing politics” after Democrats took the majority on City Council in last year’s election.

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Renee said the measure was postponed for additional discussion and that council members spoke with officials to make sure the resolution was not needed for the borough to be able to operate.

The ongoing partial government shutdown is in its third week and impacts thousands of federal employees, who are currently working without pay and thousands of others who are furloughed. Back pay goes to federal employees who worked during the shutdown when a new spending bill is passed.