Published in the Courier News, Friday, October 26, 2007
[Editorial Endorsement]
Storch in Plainfield
Plainfield has two City Council seats up for election this year -- and only one contest. Incumbent Linda Carter is running unopposed for an at-large seat representing Wards 1 and 4 after the withdrawal of her Republican opponent.
That leaves Democratic Councilman Cory Storch defending against Republican Deborah Dowe in the 2nd Ward.
Dowe is a sharp, fresh thinker with an extensive volunteer background in the city who ran unsuccessfully for City Council a year ago. She is also an eloquent champion for social reform, advocating for new approaches to engaging youth and providing incentives for achievement.
Dowe actually seems best suited for a school board position; she was recently appointed by Gov. Jon Corzine's administration to serve on the New Jersey Mathematics and Science Coalition promoting improvements in those subject areas. We believe, however, that Dowe would also provide a strong and welcome voice on the city council. She is a quality candidate.
Storch, however, is one of the best of the incumbent council members and deserves re-election.
Storch rode into city government on the New Democrats wave spearheaded by the late former mayor, Al McWilliams. He retains much of that independent spirit while reminding everyone that much of the city's progress was set in motion under McWilliams, such as greater attention to roads and infrastructure.
Storch has emerged as one of the City Council's more hawkish fiscal watchdogs, and believes the city should continue with McWilliams' vision to focus economic development on bringing jobs into the city. He also brings some practical environmental sensibility to the table; he explains, for example, that any transit village development near the train station must heed green design initiatives to remain competitive in the long run with similar projects in other communities.
We endorse Storch.
Online story here. Archived here.
(Note: Online stories may be taken down by their publisher after a period of time or made available for a fee. Links posted here is from the original online publication of this piece.)
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
Friday, October 26, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Jerry Green - APP - Alman resignation effective Monday
Published in the Asbury Park Press, Friday, October 12, 2007
Assemblyman giving up job at Westfield lobbying firm
BY MICHAEL DEAK
GANNETT NEW JERSEY
Assemblyman Gerald B. Green, D-Union, will resign Monday from his part-time job with the Alman Group, a Westfield-based lobbying firm, to avoid any possible conflict of interest.
He is the firm's vice president for local affairs.
Green's decision was made Oct. 2, a day after Gannett New Jersey reported on his relationship with the firm as part of an eight-day series on government ethics called "Profiting from Public Service: Four years later."
The eight-term lawmaker from Plainfield said he took the action to "eliminate any gray areas" and because he wants to concentrate on major issues in the Legislature if he is re-elected next month.
"I've done everything above board," Green said.
Green, 68, also said he is in line to assume a leadership role next year in the Assembly as deputy speaker pro tempore.
The legislator said he did not want questions about his employment "to take away" from his work on issues such as health care and housing.
"I don't want there to be questions every time I take a stand," he said.
Green sits on the Assembly's Health Committee. He also heads the committee that oversees housing rules.
Among the Alman Group's clients are at least 18 hospitals. In 1999, Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield hired the firm to help win state approval to perform cardiac surgery.
But Green's support of Muhlenberg started before that and continued even after the hospital and Alman parted ways.
Green told Gannett New Jersey that questions about his involvement with Muhlenberg and the city of Plainfield, where he advises Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, are two reasons he previously has backed away from projects with Alman.
For the past two years, the assemblyman said he has concentrated full time on government, advising Robinson-Briggs without being reimbursed.
"We hope to move the city in the right direction," he said.
Many of his clients at the Alman Group were nonprofit organizations, Green said.
In the past, Green said he has taken other action to avoid conflicts, such as selling two liquor licenses he said he owned.
Online story here. Archived here.
(Note: Online stories may be taken down by their publisher after a period of time or made available for a fee. Links posted here is from the original online publication of this piece.)
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
Assemblyman giving up job at Westfield lobbying firm
BY MICHAEL DEAK
GANNETT NEW JERSEY
Assemblyman Gerald B. Green, D-Union, will resign Monday from his part-time job with the Alman Group, a Westfield-based lobbying firm, to avoid any possible conflict of interest.
He is the firm's vice president for local affairs.
Green's decision was made Oct. 2, a day after Gannett New Jersey reported on his relationship with the firm as part of an eight-day series on government ethics called "Profiting from Public Service: Four years later."
The eight-term lawmaker from Plainfield said he took the action to "eliminate any gray areas" and because he wants to concentrate on major issues in the Legislature if he is re-elected next month.
"I've done everything above board," Green said.
Green, 68, also said he is in line to assume a leadership role next year in the Assembly as deputy speaker pro tempore.
The legislator said he did not want questions about his employment "to take away" from his work on issues such as health care and housing.
"I don't want there to be questions every time I take a stand," he said.
Green sits on the Assembly's Health Committee. He also heads the committee that oversees housing rules.
Among the Alman Group's clients are at least 18 hospitals. In 1999, Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield hired the firm to help win state approval to perform cardiac surgery.
But Green's support of Muhlenberg started before that and continued even after the hospital and Alman parted ways.
Green told Gannett New Jersey that questions about his involvement with Muhlenberg and the city of Plainfield, where he advises Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, are two reasons he previously has backed away from projects with Alman.
For the past two years, the assemblyman said he has concentrated full time on government, advising Robinson-Briggs without being reimbursed.
"We hope to move the city in the right direction," he said.
Many of his clients at the Alman Group were nonprofit organizations, Green said.
In the past, Green said he has taken other action to avoid conflicts, such as selling two liquor licenses he said he owned.
COMMENT
You have to be kidding. How long did it take this idiot to find out that this wasn't right. Or did someone just catch up to him. You know did it get to hot in the frying pan. This guy shouldn't hold an office anywhere let alone here in corrupt New Jersey..
Posted by: shadoh12 on Sat Oct 13, 2007 2:45 pm
Online story here. Archived here.
(Note: Online stories may be taken down by their publisher after a period of time or made available for a fee. Links posted here is from the original online publication of this piece.)
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
Jerry Green - Courier - Undisclosed work for Alman Group
Published in the Courier News, Monday, October 1, 2007
Lawmakers still finding ways to hide conflicts
Four years ago, New Jersey embarked on a sweeping government ethics reform program. In the second part of an eight-day series, Gannett New Jersey looks at how major conflicts of interest still can be hidden by lawmakers.
By JONATHAN TAMARI
GANNETT NEW JERSEY
TRENTON -- Like many Trenton lobbying firms, the Westfield-based Alman Group offers a staff with years of government experience that can help clients shape laws and win state aid.
But the firm also boasts a seemingly unique quality: a sitting lawmaker on its marquee.
Assembly Deputy Speaker Gerald B. Green, D-Plainfield, also is vice president for local affairs at the Alman Group. In the Legislature, Green chairs the committee that oversees housing rules and sits on the Health Committee. Both panels vet laws that could impact Alman clients, which include major developers and at least 18 hospitals.
Green's job is one example of how Trenton's rules and culture allow lawmakers' public roles and private work to come tantalizingly close.
Even though many lawmakers with private jobs say they painstakingly avoid any direct conflicts, including Green, the Legislature's current financial disclosure requirements allow officials to keep their clients secret.
That gives lawmakers the ability to hide relationships with clients or partners who might have a vested interest in new laws. There is no way to tell if a lawyer or consultant who, for example, helps craft environmental regulations also is working with a major housing developer.
And at least one member of the Legislature's ethics committee believes the existing conflict-of-interest restrictions come with built-in loopholes.
In Green's case, he has received legal opinions that say he is in the clear.
While legislative rules bar lawmakers from accepting gifts, jobs or anything of value worth more than $250 from lobbyists, two ethics opinions issued by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services in 1998 and 2006 say Green's consulting work at Alman doesn't violate that restriction, as long as his work at the firm is unrelated to his "official duties."
Green said he requested the opinions and makes sure to keep his private job and public role separate, although he declined to say what Alman clients he has worked with.
In addition to lobbying, Alman offers consulting on issues such as development, land use and permitting, according to the firm's Web site.
The 2006 advice to Green notes that the Legislative ethics committee has traditionally interpreted conflict-of-interest rules to allow the "the widest possible participation" in voting by lawmakers -- meaning, essentially, that only the most blatant conflicts are explicitly barred.
The opinion concludes by referring Green to an ethics tutorial on the Legislature's Web page.
When questioned by reporters about potential conflicts, several lawmakers noted their actions are allowed under current rules because they won't directly profit. Lawmakers said their jobs in the Legislature are part time and that they have to be allowed to make livings elsewhere.
Retired Superior Court Judge Herbert Friend, the acting chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards, is planning to set up a subcommittee to recommend the first major update to the Legislature's ethics code in 25 years.
"There are holes in the code of ethics that you could drive a truck through," Friend said.
Conflicts seem obvious
The existing conflict rules did not stop Sen. Wayne R. Bryant, D-Camden, from overseeing the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, which steered tens of millions of dollars to two universities that hired him, or getting his law firm work through legislation he crafted to send $175 million to Camden city's economic recovery. Bryant remains on the Senate Education Committee.
They also did not prevent Sen. Sharpe James, D-Essex, from pushing through a law that gave him additional power over land sales in Newark, where he was mayor.
Prosecutors now claim that the law helped James sell city properties to friends at cut-rate prices. James remains on the Senate Community and Urban Affairs and Budget and Appropriations committees.
Sen. Joseph Coniglio, D-Bergen, another member of the budget committee, got a $5,500-per-month job as a plumbing consultant at the Hackensack University Medical Center from 2004 to 2006, while the hospital received more than $1 million in state grants during those years.
Both Bryant and James face federal corruption charges for their actions, although both have proclaimed their innocence. Coniglio is the target of a federal investigation and recently dropped out of a re-election bid. He said he would fight the "false accusations" that his work at the hospital was connected to state grants.
"I am quite confident that my name and reputation -- which has suffered immeasurable damage -- will, with time, be restored," Coniglio said in a statement he issued when he dropped out of the race in mid-September.
[Green] defends consulting work
In Green's case, his position at Alman is described on the firm's Web site, but the arrangement is not apparent on Green's state financial disclosure form, where his income from consulting is listed under a company simply called "Jerry Green Enterprises."
That company, which Green said he uses for his private ventures, earned at least $50,000 in 2006.
Green, who has not been accused of any illegality, would not say what other clients he works with, saying he did not want to draw private firms into a story about his public work.
But Green said he makes sure his outside projects, which he said involve consulting, not lobbying, don't involve state government. He said he has worked with Alman for roughly 10 years but has done little with the firm in the past 18 months, in order to avoid any potential conflicts, though he still is a part of the firm.
"I try to make sure that anything I do does not interfere with what I consider my job as a legislator," Green said. He said he is not salaried at Alman, earning money on only a per-project basis. "There's a whole lot of gray areas there, and I don't want to take a chance."
Ten of Alman's hospital clients split nearly $26 million in state grants in the 2006-07 state budget, for which Green voted yes.
Alman also works with several developers, including housing builder K. Hovnanian Companies in Edison. Green, who made much of his money in real estate, chairs the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee.
Green also has consistently offered support for a hospital in his hometown, Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center, which in 1999 hired Alman to help win state approval to perform cardiac surgery.
Green's advocacy dates to before that contract and continued even after the hospital and lobbyists parted ways.
Green and Alman's president, George Albanese, said the lawmaker did not help the lobbying firm on either the hospital grants or any other issues involving state government. Green said questions about his involvement with Muhlenberg and the city of Plainfield are two reasons he has backed away from projects with Alman.
"He does nothing with the state of New Jersey," Albanese said. "I wouldn't put him in that position to even suggest or ask him."
"As long as I don't benefit financially, then there's nothing I have done wrong," Green said, referring to the OLS opinions.
Touting technical expertise
Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, D-Somerset, made a similar argument after recently sponsoring a law that gives Verizon Communications the chance to compete for cable television customers in New Jersey. Verizon also is a client at the consulting firm where Chivukula is chairman, and it is expected to invest $1.5 billion in New Jersey as a result of the law.
As with Green, the association is not apparent on Chivukula's disclosure form, which lists the consulting job but not clients.
Chivukula also has sponsored bills (currently pending before Corzine) to give tax breaks to companies producing digital media, a field he said could lead to more work for his firm, Rangam Consultants, and to forbid the state from regulating services that provide phone calls over the Internet. Rangam's Web site touts its work in the telecommunications field.
Chivukula, chairman of the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, said there is no conflict because he doesn't own Rangam. His firm is unlikely to benefit from the cable bill because Verizon's investments involve laying new fiber optic cables, an area in which Rangam is not involved, he said.
"State laws are clear. If you don't have any ownership in a company, you don't have any conflicts. If I had ownership in Rangam, then it's a different story," Chivukula said. "I'm just an employee. Tomorrow they can fire me."
Chivukula, a former engineer for AT&T, said it only makes sense that he would sponsor bills in the area of his expertise.
"The reason I'm in the Legislature is because I have something to offer in the telecommunications field," Chivukula said. "When you are making public policy, you need expertise. If I work in the agricultural committee, I have no expertise. What kind of contribution can I make?"
Verizon and other cable companies waged an expensive advertising and lobbying battle over the cable competition bill. Verizon and its lobbyists have contributed $6,200 to Chivukula's campaigns in the past three years.
Rangam might be hired to produce software for the digital media providers that would benefit from another of his bills, Chivukula said, but it's no sure deal.
In the wake of several scandals and investigations in the Legislature, Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, has called for a review of the code of ethics. But the work has not yet begun, and Codey has given few details on potential changes. One idea he floated was to require lawmakers to meet with a lawyer once a year, at which time they could request legal opinions on whether their private work created conflicts.
"That accrues to the legislator's benefit. So that when someone raises an issue, you can say, 'Hey, I asked this question, and here's the opinion,' " Codey said.
Gannett New Jersey writers Jason Method, Jean Mikle and Gregory J. Volpe contributed to this report.
Online story here. Archived here.
(Note: Online stories may be taken down by their publisher after a period of time or made available for a fee. Links posted here is from the original online publication of this piece.)
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
Lawmakers still finding ways to hide conflicts
Four years ago, New Jersey embarked on a sweeping government ethics reform program. In the second part of an eight-day series, Gannett New Jersey looks at how major conflicts of interest still can be hidden by lawmakers.
By JONATHAN TAMARI
GANNETT NEW JERSEY
TRENTON -- Like many Trenton lobbying firms, the Westfield-based Alman Group offers a staff with years of government experience that can help clients shape laws and win state aid.
But the firm also boasts a seemingly unique quality: a sitting lawmaker on its marquee.
Assembly Deputy Speaker Gerald B. Green, D-Plainfield, also is vice president for local affairs at the Alman Group. In the Legislature, Green chairs the committee that oversees housing rules and sits on the Health Committee. Both panels vet laws that could impact Alman clients, which include major developers and at least 18 hospitals.
Green's job is one example of how Trenton's rules and culture allow lawmakers' public roles and private work to come tantalizingly close.
Even though many lawmakers with private jobs say they painstakingly avoid any direct conflicts, including Green, the Legislature's current financial disclosure requirements allow officials to keep their clients secret.
That gives lawmakers the ability to hide relationships with clients or partners who might have a vested interest in new laws. There is no way to tell if a lawyer or consultant who, for example, helps craft environmental regulations also is working with a major housing developer.
And at least one member of the Legislature's ethics committee believes the existing conflict-of-interest restrictions come with built-in loopholes.
In Green's case, he has received legal opinions that say he is in the clear.
While legislative rules bar lawmakers from accepting gifts, jobs or anything of value worth more than $250 from lobbyists, two ethics opinions issued by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services in 1998 and 2006 say Green's consulting work at Alman doesn't violate that restriction, as long as his work at the firm is unrelated to his "official duties."
Green said he requested the opinions and makes sure to keep his private job and public role separate, although he declined to say what Alman clients he has worked with.
In addition to lobbying, Alman offers consulting on issues such as development, land use and permitting, according to the firm's Web site.
The 2006 advice to Green notes that the Legislative ethics committee has traditionally interpreted conflict-of-interest rules to allow the "the widest possible participation" in voting by lawmakers -- meaning, essentially, that only the most blatant conflicts are explicitly barred.
The opinion concludes by referring Green to an ethics tutorial on the Legislature's Web page.
When questioned by reporters about potential conflicts, several lawmakers noted their actions are allowed under current rules because they won't directly profit. Lawmakers said their jobs in the Legislature are part time and that they have to be allowed to make livings elsewhere.
Retired Superior Court Judge Herbert Friend, the acting chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards, is planning to set up a subcommittee to recommend the first major update to the Legislature's ethics code in 25 years.
"There are holes in the code of ethics that you could drive a truck through," Friend said.
Conflicts seem obvious
The existing conflict rules did not stop Sen. Wayne R. Bryant, D-Camden, from overseeing the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, which steered tens of millions of dollars to two universities that hired him, or getting his law firm work through legislation he crafted to send $175 million to Camden city's economic recovery. Bryant remains on the Senate Education Committee.
They also did not prevent Sen. Sharpe James, D-Essex, from pushing through a law that gave him additional power over land sales in Newark, where he was mayor.
Prosecutors now claim that the law helped James sell city properties to friends at cut-rate prices. James remains on the Senate Community and Urban Affairs and Budget and Appropriations committees.
Sen. Joseph Coniglio, D-Bergen, another member of the budget committee, got a $5,500-per-month job as a plumbing consultant at the Hackensack University Medical Center from 2004 to 2006, while the hospital received more than $1 million in state grants during those years.
Both Bryant and James face federal corruption charges for their actions, although both have proclaimed their innocence. Coniglio is the target of a federal investigation and recently dropped out of a re-election bid. He said he would fight the "false accusations" that his work at the hospital was connected to state grants.
"I am quite confident that my name and reputation -- which has suffered immeasurable damage -- will, with time, be restored," Coniglio said in a statement he issued when he dropped out of the race in mid-September.
[Green] defends consulting work
In Green's case, his position at Alman is described on the firm's Web site, but the arrangement is not apparent on Green's state financial disclosure form, where his income from consulting is listed under a company simply called "Jerry Green Enterprises."
That company, which Green said he uses for his private ventures, earned at least $50,000 in 2006.
Green, who has not been accused of any illegality, would not say what other clients he works with, saying he did not want to draw private firms into a story about his public work.
But Green said he makes sure his outside projects, which he said involve consulting, not lobbying, don't involve state government. He said he has worked with Alman for roughly 10 years but has done little with the firm in the past 18 months, in order to avoid any potential conflicts, though he still is a part of the firm.
"I try to make sure that anything I do does not interfere with what I consider my job as a legislator," Green said. He said he is not salaried at Alman, earning money on only a per-project basis. "There's a whole lot of gray areas there, and I don't want to take a chance."
Ten of Alman's hospital clients split nearly $26 million in state grants in the 2006-07 state budget, for which Green voted yes.
Alman also works with several developers, including housing builder K. Hovnanian Companies in Edison. Green, who made much of his money in real estate, chairs the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee.
Green also has consistently offered support for a hospital in his hometown, Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center, which in 1999 hired Alman to help win state approval to perform cardiac surgery.
Green's advocacy dates to before that contract and continued even after the hospital and lobbyists parted ways.
Green and Alman's president, George Albanese, said the lawmaker did not help the lobbying firm on either the hospital grants or any other issues involving state government. Green said questions about his involvement with Muhlenberg and the city of Plainfield are two reasons he has backed away from projects with Alman.
"He does nothing with the state of New Jersey," Albanese said. "I wouldn't put him in that position to even suggest or ask him."
"As long as I don't benefit financially, then there's nothing I have done wrong," Green said, referring to the OLS opinions.
Touting technical expertise
Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, D-Somerset, made a similar argument after recently sponsoring a law that gives Verizon Communications the chance to compete for cable television customers in New Jersey. Verizon also is a client at the consulting firm where Chivukula is chairman, and it is expected to invest $1.5 billion in New Jersey as a result of the law.
As with Green, the association is not apparent on Chivukula's disclosure form, which lists the consulting job but not clients.
Chivukula also has sponsored bills (currently pending before Corzine) to give tax breaks to companies producing digital media, a field he said could lead to more work for his firm, Rangam Consultants, and to forbid the state from regulating services that provide phone calls over the Internet. Rangam's Web site touts its work in the telecommunications field.
Chivukula, chairman of the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, said there is no conflict because he doesn't own Rangam. His firm is unlikely to benefit from the cable bill because Verizon's investments involve laying new fiber optic cables, an area in which Rangam is not involved, he said.
"State laws are clear. If you don't have any ownership in a company, you don't have any conflicts. If I had ownership in Rangam, then it's a different story," Chivukula said. "I'm just an employee. Tomorrow they can fire me."
Chivukula, a former engineer for AT&T, said it only makes sense that he would sponsor bills in the area of his expertise.
"The reason I'm in the Legislature is because I have something to offer in the telecommunications field," Chivukula said. "When you are making public policy, you need expertise. If I work in the agricultural committee, I have no expertise. What kind of contribution can I make?"
Verizon and other cable companies waged an expensive advertising and lobbying battle over the cable competition bill. Verizon and its lobbyists have contributed $6,200 to Chivukula's campaigns in the past three years.
Rangam might be hired to produce software for the digital media providers that would benefit from another of his bills, Chivukula said, but it's no sure deal.
In the wake of several scandals and investigations in the Legislature, Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, has called for a review of the code of ethics. But the work has not yet begun, and Codey has given few details on potential changes. One idea he floated was to require lawmakers to meet with a lawyer once a year, at which time they could request legal opinions on whether their private work created conflicts.
"That accrues to the legislator's benefit. So that when someone raises an issue, you can say, 'Hey, I asked this question, and here's the opinion,' " Codey said.
Gannett New Jersey writers Jason Method, Jean Mikle and Gregory J. Volpe contributed to this report.
COMMENT
Reporter Jonathan Tamari’s October 1 article (“Lawmakers hide conflicts by keeping clients secret”) contained some notable omissions of fact and several distortions of the public record regarding my actions as an Assemblyman and my position with Rangam Consultants, an information technology consulting firm.
Moreover, the article takes alarming liberties with the role I played on telecommunications measures in the state Legislature, most notably the 2006 state law that allows Verizon and other phone service providers to provide cable television services to New Jersey consumers.
Here are the unvarnished facts:
• I earn $2,000 a month by Rangam Consultants. I do not own the company; I am an employee. I am neither directly involved with the company’s clients nor its operations.
• Verizon has not been a client of Rangam for seven years. This includes the time that the Legislature considered and acted upon the 2006 statewide cable television franchising law. Frankly, Rangam is too small by Verizon’s standards to be a preferred vendor for the company.
• Rangam does not stand to reap new business from Verizon because of the new cable franchising law. Rangam’s business is providing information technology programmers. It is not involved in cable services or fiber optics, the fields that stand to gain from Verizon’s entry into the cable television marketplace.
• The statewide cable franchising legislation had been in existence for two years before I even signed onto it. I frequently was accused of slowing down action on that legislation as a member and as chairman of the Telecommunications and Utilities Committee. Your article is the first time anyone ever intimated (and I might add wrongly) that I somehow facilitated that measure’s passage.
• As for my sponsorship of legislation to provide tax breaks for companies producing digital media and to prohibit state regulation of Internet phone companies, there is no direct benefit for Rangam. The company is in the business of providing information technology programmers to other companies. Conceivably, they could be hired to produce software for digital media companies. But this would be a stretch. As Rangam’s chairman, I do not direct how or where company programmers are placed and I do not exercise jurisdiction on the company’s operations.
• On the occasions that arise when my profession in the information technology field intersects with my role as a state legislator, I have made it a policy to seek guidance and counsel from the Legislature’s non-partisan lawyers. I have been advised on multiple occasions that I may work for companies in my field of expertise and that conflicts most often arise when you are an owner of a private company and not when you are an employee – as is the case with me.
I have long sought to conduct myself in an ethical and professional manner. And while I take issue with the treatment I received in Mr. Tamari’s article, I acknowledge that his report does raise some valid questions about the current financial disclosure standards for state legislators.
If there are any shortcomings in the area of financial disclosure requirements, they should be thoroughly examined and addressed. At a time when increasing numbers of New Jerseyans are concerned about corruption in government, it’s imperative that we do all that we can to ensure high ethical standards and maximum public accountability.
Sincerely,
Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:07 am"
Online story here. Archived here.
(Note: Online stories may be taken down by their publisher after a period of time or made available for a fee. Links posted here is from the original online publication of this piece.)
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Corruption - Bergen Record - Chris Christie's Catches, 2002-2007
Chris Christie's catches - 2002-2007
http://northjersey.com/dngmedia/media_server/tr/2007/09/24hitlist/Cases are sorted by year, then name. Click any asterisk (*) for the press release on that development.
| Year Charged | Last Name, First Name | Office | Party | Municipality | County | Hometown | Guilty Plea | Convicted at Trial | Charges | Payoff ($) | Sentence (months) | Fine ($) | Restitution ($) |
| 2002 | Auriemma, Joseph | Township Administrator & Director of Operations for the Municipal Utilities Authority | North Bergen | Hudson | Bloomfield | Y | accepting contractor bribes | 33,792 | 36* | 7,500 | 33,792 | ||
| Barnes, Martin G | Mayor | D | Paterson | Passaic | Paterson | Y* | accepting vendor gifts | 200,000-350,000 | 37* | 1,000 | |||
| Bost, Sara B. | Mayor (freeholder) | D | Irvington | Essex | Irvington | Y* | witness tampering in kickback probe | 8,500 | 12 | 2,000 | |||
| Braker, William C. | Freeholder (former Deputy Director of the Jersey City Police Department) | D | Jersey City | Hudson | Jersey City | Y* | extorting county vendor | 3,000 | 41* | ||||
| Bridgeforth, Michael | information officer, Immigration & Naturalization Service | Newark | Essex | Yonkers, NY | Y* | embezzling checks | 4,300 | 1,500 | |||||
| Condos, James | Councilman | R | Asbury Park | Monmouth | Asbury Park | Y | accepting a liquor license from developer | 35,000 | 15* | ||||
| Davila-Colon, | Freeholder | D | Jersey City | Hudson | Jersey City | N | Y* | abetting extortion | 10,000 | 30 | |||
| Gibson, Robert E. | director of public utilities and superintendent of water and sewer for the City of Camden | Camden | Camden | Cherry Hill | Y* | extorting vendor | 20,800 | 13 | |||||
| Gomez, Miladys | assistant director Perth Amboy Housing Authority | Perth Amboy | Middlesex | Edison | Y | embezzling federal housing subsidies | 407,603 | 24 | $407,603 | ||||
| Hernandez, Joseph | purchasing agent, Municipal Utilities Authority | North Bergen | Hudson | Y | accepting gifts, rigging quotes | 30* | 18,500 | ||||||
| Janiszewski, Robert* | County Executive, Hudson and former assemblyman | D | Jersey City | Hudson | Y* | extortion, tax evasion | 100,000 | 41* | 40,000 | ||||
| Mangullo, Conway | director of public works | Paterson | Passaic | Y* | extorting contractor | 7,500 | 7,500 | ||||||
| Nixon, Kenneth E. | Executive Director of the Asbury Park Housing Authority | Asbury Park | Monmouth | Y* | bribing officials to reappoint him | ||||||||
| Perez, Peter | Board of Commissioners member | D | North Bergen | Hudson | North Bergen | Y* | accepting cash and gifts from vendor | 26,000 | 6 | 5,000 | 26,000 | ||
| Richardson, John F. | Superior Court Judge | Somerset | Y* | failed to maintain records for client | 2,500 | ||||||||
| Rodriguez, Ismael | sheriff's officer | Newark | Essex | Y* | defrauded federal housing program | 63,600 | |||||||
| Russo, Dominick | depurty U.S. Marshal | Newark | Essex | Ocean Township | N | Y* | conspiracy, mail fraud, embezzlement of public funds | ||||||
| Turner, Andrea | service representative, Social Security Administration | Elizabeth | Union | Linden | Y | conspiring to sell social secuirty cards | 30 | ||||||
| Vidal, Wilfredo | municipal code official & electrical inspector | Union City | Hudson | North Bergen | N* | Y | extortion, tax fraud | 41* | 2,750 | 980 | |||
| Weldon, Terrance D. | Mayor & city manager (Asbury Park) | D | Ocean Twp | Monmouth | Ocean Township | Y* | extorting bribes from developers | 60,000 | 58 | 20,000 | |||
| Zappulla, Vincent | mayoral aide | D | North Bergen | Hudson | North Bergen | Y* | insurance fraud with contractor | 20,000 | 12,264 | ||||
| 2003 | Colon, Cecilio | guard, Federal Correctional Insitution at Fort Dix | Burlington | Bronx, NY | Y* | accepting inmate bribes | 350 | 500 | |||||
| D'Agosta, Frank | detective, Jersey City Police Department | Jersey City | Hudson | Jersey City | Y* | extorting illegal gambling business | 13 | 15,000 | |||||
| DeMiro, Michael | aide to county executive | R | Verona | Essex | Verona | Y | conspiring to obstruct probe | * | |||||
| LaVilla, Peter | Mayor | Guttenberg | Hudson | North Bergen | Y* | false tax return, misappropriating campaign contributions | 5,000 | ||||||
| Lewis, Marcella | examination technician, New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission | Elizabeth | Union | Plainfield | Y | selling driver's licenses | 12 | 6,000 | |||||
| Malloy, Patrick G. | Mayor | New Hanover Twp | Burlington | New Hanover Twp | Y | obstructing justice in bid-rig probe | 6* | 30,000 | |||||
| Mathes Jr., James R. | Council President | D | Camden | Camden | Camden | N* | Y | accepting gifts from mob | 27* | 3,000 | |||
| Murphy, Peter | Passaic County Republican Party Chairman | R | Passaic | Y | mail fraud | 11 | 20,000 | 72,800 | |||||
| Nash, James J. | Township Administrator & treasurer of school funds for Bd of Ed | New Hanover Twp | Burlington | New Hanover Twp | Y* | missapplying federal funds in a bid rig scheme | 3* | 25,000 | |||||
| Rackley, Otis L. | special operation inspector, US Customs & Border Protection | Newark | Essex | Blakeslee, Pa. / formerly Perth Amboy | Y* | accepting bribes to smuggle aliens | 90* | ||||||
| Rivera, Elizabeth | customer service representative, Social Security Administration | Trenton | Mercer | Camden | Y | conspiring to sell social security cards | 26 | 6,000 | |||||
| Rivera Asencio, Rebecca | clerk, Social Secuirty Administration | Trenton | Mercer | Trenton | Y* | selling social security cards to aliens | 15 | 500 | |||||
| Russo, Anthony J. | Mayor | D | Hoboken | Hudson | Hoboken | Y* | accepting bribes from accounting firm | 317,000 | 30* | 30,000 | 317,220 | ||
| Saunders Sr., Kenneth E. | Mayor | R | Asbury Park | Monmouth | Asbury Park | N* | Y | conspiracy to bribe a council member | 30 | ||||
| Spedaliere, Nicholas | deputy U.S. Marshal | Camden | Camden | Marlton | Y* | stole cash from a fugitive | 11,778 | 6* | 11,778 | ||||
| Thompson, Stephen W. | Superior Court Judge | R | Camden | Camden | Haddon Township and Avalon | N* | Y | traveling to Russia to have sex with a boy | 120 | 25,000 | |||
| Treffinger, James W. | County Executive (U.S. Senate candidate) | R | Essex | Verona | Y* | obstruction of justice, mail fraud | 13* | 5,000 | 29,471 | ||||
| 2004 | Anderson, Jean | deputy registrar of the Hudson County Office of Vital Statistics | Hudson | Jersey City | Y | conspiring to sell birth certificates | |||||||
| Awan, Lori | customer service representative, New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission | Springfield | Essex | North Plainfield | Y* | selling driver's licenses | |||||||
| Bridges, Alfred W. | Mayor | D | Ewing Township | Mercer | Ewing Township | Y | possession of crack cocaine | * | 5,000 | ||||
| Carlo, Linda | customer service representative, New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission | Springfield | Essex | Newark | Y* | selling driver's licenses | 12 | 1,200 | |||||
| Feathers, Anita | customer service representative, New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission | Springfield | Essex | Sloatsburg, NY | Y* | selling driver's licenses | 1,500 | ||||||
| Harkins, Michael E. | Executive Director of the Delaware River & Bay Authority | R | Wilmington, Del. | Y | billing for personal expenses | 14 | 7,500 | 52,236 | |||||
| Haugabrook, Earl | acting chief financial officer and director of finance for Irvington Township | Irvington | Essex | Newark | Y | filing false tax returns | |||||||
| Horn, Tonya | customer service representative, New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission | Springfield | Essesx | Easton, Pa, formerly Scotch Plains | Y* | selling driver's licenses | 12 | ||||||
| Joyce, Lauren | customer service representative, New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission | Springfield | Essex | Union Township | Y* | selling driver's licenses | 12 | ||||||
| Kushner, Charles | Commissioner, Port Authority NY-NJ | D | Essex | Livingston | Y | tax evasion, witness tampering, illegal campaign contributions | 24 | 40,000 | |||||
| Lambert Sr., James R. | executive director of the Mercer County Improvement Authority | R | Trenton | Mercer | Hamilton Township | Y* | mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe mayor | 5 | 6,000 | ||||
| Love, Linda | examination technician, New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission | Mount Holly | Burlington | Willingboro | Y | conspiring to sell 750 driver's licenses | 30* | 1,000 | |||||
| Moore, Shelina D. | customer service representative, New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission | Mount Holly | Burlington | Clemington | Y | selling driver's licenses | 12* | ||||||
| Pablo, Lyliana | customer service representative, New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission | Springfield | Essex | Newark | Y* | conspiring to produce bogus driver's licenses | 33 | ||||||
| Parkin, Harry G. | Chief of Staff to Mercer County Executive Robert Prunetti & member Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission | Mercer | Robbinsville | N* | Y | mail fraud, attempted extortion | 90 | 26,000 | |||||
| Peterson, Rita | customer service representative, New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission | Springfield | Essex | Newark | Y | selling driver's licenses | 12 | ||||||
| Turner, Zachary V. | Councilman | D | East Orange | Essex | East Orange | Y* | conspiracy, extortion, mail fraud | 90,000 | 30 | 84,800 | |||
| Van Berry, Clinton | Assistant Tax Collector | Atlantic City | Atlantic | Galloway Township | N* | Y | conspiring with wife to rob tax receipts | 46 | 5,000 | ||||
| Vuola, Richard | chairman Marlboro Township Municipal Utilities Authority | D | Marlboro Township | Monmouth | Marlboro | Y* | extortion, bribing official, false tax return | 35,000 | 50* | 25,000 | 15,000 | ||
| Walden, Terence | senior inspector, U.S. Customs & Border Protection | Newark | Essex | Piscataway | Y | accepting bribes to smuggle illegal aliens | 2,000 | 3,000 | |||||
| 2005 | Bethune, Peter K. | state trooper | Maple Shade | Y* | conspiracy to extort stock and money | 37 | 1000 | ||||||
| Broderick, Thomas | undersheriff, asst. supervisor Monmouth highway dept, ex councilman | R | Marlboro | Monmouth | Y | money laundering | 15,000 | 4 | |||||
| Coughlin, Paul | Mayor | R | Hazlet | Monmouth | Hazlet | Y | extorting contractor bribes | 3,000 | 24 | 5,000 | |||
| Cummings Jr., James M. | director of facilities Paterson school district | > | Paterson | Passaic | Sparta | Y | accepting contractor bribes | 50,000 cash, 28,000 in improvments | 43 | 750,000 | |||
| DeLisa, Joseph | Councilman | D | West Long Branch | Monmouth | West Long Branch | Y | extorting bribe | 1,500 | 15 | 5,000 | |||
| Desena, Robert | supervisor of emergency services, NJ Turnpike | D | Bayonne | Hudson | Bayonne | Y | accepting towing contractor bribes | 3,831 | 3,800 | ||||
| Greenwald, Thomas A. | Councilman | R | Far Hills | Somerset | Chatham | Y | conspiracy to launder illicit cash | 25,900 | |||||
| Hamilton Jr., John J. | Councilman | D | Asbury Park | Monmouth | Asbury Park | awaiting trial | accepting bribes | 6,000 | |||||
| Hyer, Robert L. | councilman | R | Keyport | Monmouth | Keyport | deceased | extorting contractor bribes | 5,000 | |||||
| Iadanza, Richard | Deputy Mayor | R | Neptune Twp | Monmouth | Neptune | Y | extorting bribes | ||||||
| Kessler, Stephen D. | chairman of the Ocean Township Sewerage Authority | Ocean Twp | Monmouth | Ocean Township | Y | accepting bribes | 15,000 | ||||||
| Larrison, Jr., Harry | Freeholder director, Monmouth County | Freehold | Monmouth | Ocean Grove | deceased | accepting bribes from developers | 8,500 | ||||||
| McCurnin, Joseph | Operations Manager, Monmouth Cty Div of Transportation | R | Monmouth | Y | extorting bribes | 1,000 | |||||||
| Merla, John J. | Mayor | R | Keyport | Monmouth | Keyport | Y | extorting bribes | 24,000 | |||||
| Milone, Louis | supervisor of maintenance and custodial services (schools) | R | Paterson | Passaic | Pompton Lakes | Y | accepting gifts | 10,000 | 3,000 | 10,000 | |||
| O'Grady, Raymond J. | Committeeman (former mayor) | R | Middletown | Monmouth | Middletown | N | Y | attempted extortion, accepting bribes, conspiracy | 10,000 | 43 | 5,000 | ||
| Palughi, Anthony | Superintendent of Bridges, Monmouth County (former Long Branch councilman) | R | Monmouth | Wall | Y | conspiracy to accept bribes | 12,500 | ||||||
| Scannapieco, Matthew V. | Mayor | R | Marlboro | Monmouth | Marlboro | Y | accepting bribes, tax evasion | 245,000 | |||||
| Senyszyn, Bohdan | revenue agent, Internal Revenue Service | Paterson | Passaic | Roxbury Twp | awaiting trial | preparing fraudulent returns, tax evasion | 336,000 | ||||||
| Townsend, Patsy R. | Monmouth fire marshal, emergency management & code enforcer | D | Neptune | Monmouth | Neptune | Y | attempted extortion of bribe | 1,000 | 6 | 2,000 | |||
| Young, Stanley | Planning Board member | D | Marlboro Township | Monmouth | Marlboro | Y | accepting bribes from developers | 7,700 | |||||
| Zambrano, Paul R. | Mayor | D | West Long Branch | Monmouth | West Long Branch | Y | extorting bribes from contractor | 15,000 | |||||
| 2006 | Abate, Frank G. | executive director Western Monmouth Utilities Authority | D | Marboro | Monmouth | Marlboro | N | Y | accepting contractor gifts | 4,800 home improv arch plans | 51 | 10,000 | |
| Callaway, Craig | council president | D | Atlantic City | Atlantic | Atlantic City | Y | accepting contractor bribes | 36,000 | 40 | $1,000 | |||
| Davidson, Connie | employee, General Services Administion, at Fort Monmouth | Monmouth | Red Bank | Y | arranging no-show jobs | 12 | waived | 395,710 | |||||
| Foy Sr., Joseph | mayor | Burlington Twp | Burlington | Burlington Township | Y* | tax evasion | 53,000 | 10,000 | |||||
| Hurt, Eric D. | accounting manager, Hoboken Housing Authority | Hoboken | Hudson | Jersey City | Y* | embezzlement | 111,083 | 41 | 268,168 | ||||
| Jones, Gibb | councilman | D | Atlantic City | Atlantic | Atlantic City | Y | extortion | 5,000 | |||||
| Lukowiak, Anthony | manager Newark Division of Sanitation | R | Newark | Essesx | Belleville | Y | accepting corrupt payments | 24,000 | 45 | waived | 97,231 | ||
| Lynch, John A. | Senator | D | New Brunswick | Middlesex | New Brunswick | Y | mail fraud, tax evasion | 120,000-200,000 | 39 | 50,000 | |||
| Peterson, Mary Ann | manager, Picatinny Arsenal | Morris | Lake Hopatcong | Y | conspiracy to embezzle | 50,231 | 21,475 | ||||||
| Rosario, Ramon | councilman | D | Atlantic City | Atlantic | Atlantic City | Y | accepting bribes | 14,000 | 10 | $1,000 | |||
| Rzeplinski, Michael | programs director, General Services Administration, Fort Monmouth, and former Army supervisory engineer | Monmouth | Red Bank | Y | conspiracy to defraud US, tax evasion | 46 | waived | 872,710 | |||||
| Sloan El, Ali | councilman | D | Camden | Camden | Camden | Y | extorting bribes from contractor | 36,000 | 20 | waived | |||
| 2007 | Adams, Jayson | school board president | Pleasantville | Atlantic | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | |||||||
| Bryant, Wayne R. | Senator | D | Lawnside | Camden | awaiting trial | fraud, trading influence for no-show job | |||||||
| Callaway, Maurice "Pete" | school board member | Pleasantville | Atlantic | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | ||||||||
| Cortez, Marisol | Paterson Housing Authority Sect. 8 caseworker | Paterson | Passaic | Y | bribery | 200 | |||||||
| Cruz, Flora | Paterson Housing Authority Sect. 8 caseworker | D | Paterson | Passaic | Y | bribery | 200 | ||||||
| Griffin, Elisa | Paterson Housing Authority Sect. 8 caseworker | D | Paterson | Passaic | Y | bribery | 1,900 | ||||||
| Hackett Jr., Mims | Assemblyman & Mayor | D | Orange | Essex | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | |||||||
| Holland, Lee | Paterson Housing Authority Building Inspector | D | Paterson | Passaic | Y | accepting bribes | 600 | ||||||
| Hooks, Mark | Building Inspector | D | Passaic | Passaic | awaiting indictment | extortion | 500 | ||||||
| Jackson, Marcellus | Councilman | D | Passaic | Passaic | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | |||||||
| James, Sharpe | Senator and Mayor | D | Newark | Essex | awaiting trial | abusing credit cards, fraudulent land sales | 58,000 credit | ||||||
| Kaplan, Richard | construction inspector / asst. zoning officer | New Brunswick | Middlesex | Y | accepting contractor bribes | 30,000 | 30 | 30,000 | |||||
| Lane, Yolanda | Lead Paint Inspector | Paterson | Passaic | Y | extortion | 300 | |||||||
| March, Louis | Court Clerk | Newark | Essex | awaiting indictment | extorting bribes to fix records | 4,000 | |||||||
| McCormick, James T. | school board member | Pleasantville | Atlantic | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | ||||||||
| Morgan, George | Passaic Valley Water Commission employee | Clifton | Passaic | Y | conspiracy to extort | 200 | |||||||
| Nunez, Javier | Paterson Housing Authority employee | Paterson | Passaic | Y | conspiring to accept bribes | 500 | |||||||
| Ortiz, Victor | Building Inspector PHA | Paterson | Passaic | awaiting trial | conspiracy to extort | 4,750 | |||||||
| Pressley, James | school board trustee | Pleasantville | Atlantic | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | ||||||||
| Ramos, Benny | Deputy Director Paterson Housing Authority | D | Paterson | Passaic | awaiting indictment | bribery | 3,000 | ||||||
| Reaves, Princess | Deputy Court Administrator | D | Paterson | Passaic | awaiting trial | bribery | 2,500 | ||||||
| Reid, Keith O. | chief of staff to City Council president | D | Newark | Essex | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | |||||||
| Rivera, Samuel | Mayor | Passaic | Passaic | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | ||||||||
| Roach, Linda | supervisory clerk typist Dept Community, Planning & Eco Dev | D | New Brunswick | Middlesex | Y | extorting bribes from contractors | 5,000 | ||||||
| Rosa, Maria | Paterson Housing Authority Sect. 8 caseworker | Paterson | Passaic | Y | conspiring to accept bribes | ||||||||
| Scarpelli, Joseph C. | Mayor | D | Brick Twp | Monmouth | Brick Township | Y* | extorting bribes from developers | 5,000 | |||||
| Schweidereick, Robert | Passaic Valley Water Com employee | Clifton | Passaic | Y | attempted extortion | 830 | |||||||
| Soto, Jonathan | Councilman | D | Passaic | Passaic | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | |||||||
| Steele, Alfred E. | Assemblyman & Undersheriff | D | Paterson | Passaic | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | 15,500 | ||||||
| Vacca, Joseph | assistant to the director of facilities, Paterson Board of Education | Paterson | Passaic | West Paterson | Y | accepted bribe from contractor | 3,000 | 5 years probation | 12,000 | ||||
| Valvano, Matthew P. | building inspector | D | Linden | Union | awaiting indictment | extorting bribes from contractor | 10,500 | ||||||
| Velez, Rafael | school board trustee | Pleasantville | Atlantic | awaiting indictment | accepting bribes | ||||||||
| Walker, William | director of housing rehabilitation | New Brunswick | Middlesex | awaiting trial | extorting bribes from contractors | 112,500 | |||||||
| Williams, Standley | Building Inspector | Paterson | Passaic | Y | conspiracy to accept bribes | 6,750 | |||||||
| Woods, Darrell | supervisor, Federal Aviation Administration | Galloway Twp | Atlantic | Winslow Township | Y* | accepting bribes in a procurement fraud | 159,000 |
Posted 10/7/2007
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