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Hudson County Politics Message Board |
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Posted by Steven Glazer, Urban Times News on July 14, 2003 at 18:23:37:
By Steven Glazer, email: sglazer@urbantimesnews.com
The Hudson County Democratic Organization is highly organization, regimented, ordered in a hierarchy, and is even bureaucratic with many members and supporters and contributors holding public offices both elected and appointed. No doubt, HCDO is organized. No doubt its members systematically, and with careful planning, commit crimes As any kid in school can tell you, crime does not pay.
None of these guys pays for anything, with all perks and benes coming at taxpayer expense out of public taxpayer funds. In fact, not only does it not pay, Organized Crime gets paid, either receiving a government paycheck or payment of bills in the case of consulting work. This is often supplemented by additional payments from businesses outside the political organization seeking to do business with parts of the government controlled by Organized Crime members.
This type of Organized Crime is generally non violent, unlike the more glamorous and sensational old-fashioned Organized Crime known as the Mafia. This Organized Crime concentrates on white-collar crime such as fraud, extortion, bribery, and tax evasion leaving headline grabbing violent crimes to the Mafia. A recent corruption trial gave the public a rare glimpse inside Organized Crime as testimony detailed, step-by-step, how influence was systematically peddled for years influencing decisions by government to award many millions of dollars worth of contracts in just one minor incident. Though the former head of Organized Crime, Robert Janiszewski, is cooperating with an ongoing federal investigation, other members of Organized Crime are conducting operations in “business as usual” mode.
TAXING HOBOKEN
As you read this, the city of Hoboken is probably going to pay a little more than $3 Million a year for legal advice to two lawyers highly placed in Organized Crime ranks. Donald Scarinci is treasurer of Organized Crime and State Senator Bernard Kenny D-32 of Hoboken, is County Chairman of Organized Crime. Notice that Scarinci is treasurer, meaning that he controls the money and then remember “The Golden Rule.” The guy with the gold makes the rules. Scarinci is also treasurer of the Menendez for Congress committee. Each of their firms received as much as $70,000 a month from the City of Hoboken as General Counsel and Special Counsel, respectively for a total of $140,000 between them in the month of June.
They both also receive generous payments from the Board of Education of Hoboken. The board of education says that the payments scheduled for the year are “capped” at $75,000 each for Scarinci and Kenny. In fact the email from Scarinci’s office instructing board members to approve the contracts referred to the fact that Mayor Dave Roberts would be more comfortable with lowered cap amounts. Not to worry. These caps are purely cosmetic and mean nothing to a good lawyer with missile lock on some cash. Scarinci especially has a track record of blowing past caps like they were not even speed bumps. His contract with Union City has a cap of $500,000 and he is usually well past there by mid year. He showed that kind of performance in Jersey City as well at the Redevelopment Agency there. The annual amount, at that rate, between the two attorneys is equal to the entire burden placed on the City of Hoboken by a recent tax increase imposed by another member of Organized Crime, County Executive Tom DeGise.
DeGise issued a statement a few months ago saying there would be no tax increase in this year’s County Budget. But exactly seven days after the recent primary in which DeGise ran for the Organized Crime slot on November’s ballot, he released the “news” that there would be a tax increase after all. The total increase of $15 Million hits Hoboken for $3 Million. Just for a little perspective, that just happens to be the same amount as legal fees Scarinci and Kenny will “taxing” Hoboken: $3 Million.
Scarinci and Kenny did not want to leave the decision on their fees to chance, so Scarinci thoughtfully sent instructions by email to members of the school board instructing school board members to approve the contracts to pay himself and Kenny. The email from Scarinci also instructed the school board to approve a change of insurance provider from RAM insurance to BGIA insurance.
MANZO WINS THE PRIMARY, LOSES THE BUSINESS
You might miss this little bit of business if you did not watch closely. RAM insurance is a family business operated by relatives of Assemblyman apparent Lou Manzo. Manzo is an outspoken opponent of Organized Crime. In retribution, Scarinci took away the insurance contract from RAM so Manzo’s family would no longer get commissions and fees from the Hoboken
School Board’s insurance business. Instead Organized Crime directed the business to competitor BGIA. BGIA is an advertiser on www.politicsnj.com, a popular political website owned by Scarinci, and for which Scarinci writes a political commentary column under the pen name Wally Edge, though he stoutly denies being the author.
Kenny is also attorney for BGIA insurance and handles legal work related to workers’ compensation claims under the Hoboken Board of Education workers’ compensation insurance coverage. That closes the circle on one little loop of the HCDO daisy chain gravy train.
KENNY RAKES IT IN
It gets a lot better for Kenny, sticking close to big dog Scarinci, who last year hired key attorneys from Bergen County. After Scarinci’s strategic recruiting of Dennis Ferriero, former Bergen County Democratic Chairman, Kenny’s law partner Ed Florio was made counsel to the Bergen County Board of Freeholders, at an additional hefty annual fee. Florio, another longtime member of Organized Crime does reasonably well for himself also, representing the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders. If you were wondering what becomes of the tax dollars you pay to the County Government, you now know part of the answer: it largely goes to pay the fees of various members of Organized Crime. Estimates range as high as a mind-blowing $52 Million annually within Hudson County’s County Government alone.
Of course, these attorneys also have private clients who are not divisions of local government. In Hoboken, developer Joe Barry is the largest landlord and is Bernie Kenny’s law client. In the rumor-rich environment of the post-Bobby J world, multiple credible sources have recounted independently the existence of a taped meeting in which the cabal of Bob Janiszewski, Bob Menendez, Don Scarinci, Joe Barry, Bernie Kenny, and Dave Roberts met at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. The tape allegedly reveals a multi-level deal that delivers votes to Roberts, running for Hoboken Mayor, from tenants of Joe Barry’s properties and legal business to Kenny, handling closings on some other properties also owned by Barry.
POOR RELATIONS
Meanwhile over in Jersey City, Alex Booth, Corporation Counsel is hanging on to the job as the city’s attorney with the mediocre salary of $85,000 a year. Through the device of making his wife a partner in his firm he continues his participation in the firm’s profits, but he must spend time at the city job, which requires, by ordinance, “full time” and attention. He has been at war and in court since last November with Mayor Glenn Cunningham with the backing of the Organized Crime majority members of the City Council, to resist Cunningham’s efforts to remove him from the post. Booth must be green with envy when he hears how much other attorneys are earning from Organized Crime’s generosity with the public’s tax dollars.
Only Booth’s dedication to civic duty keeps him doggedly hanging on to the thankless poorly paid position with the Jersey City government, constantly under fire from a Mayor determined not to go along with the system of Organized Crime. You have to feel a little sorry for Booth who could probably be earning so much more elsewhere. On the other hand there is likely to be some compensating factor that outweighs the apparent financial sacrifice Booth appears to be making. There has to be some reason why an experienced attorney with big earning power is fighting like a tiger to hang on to a job that pays far less than he could earn in private practice. He was a failure at sales, trying to pitch a billboard deal to the city, fortunately for him as it turns out. The billboard deal, now known as “Billboardgate” is the target of a separate Federal investigation involving members of Governor McGreevey’s staff.
THE ONE PER CENT SOLUTION
If not for this kind of self-dealing, local government budgets could be radically lower and provide far more service and amenities to the taxpaying public or the same level of service at sharply reduced tax rates. Freeholder Bill O’Dea known to be outspoken and a freethinker by all has repeatedly stated, on the record, in public meetings that if this type of legalized pilferage were eliminated, the County Budget would be reduced by some $52 Million annually. That is in contrast to a $15 Million tax increase just revealed by HCDO County Executive Tom DeGise, an increase that was stoutly defended by his Chief of Staff, Jersey City Councilman William Gaughan.
Glaring examples abound. Just recently Assemblyman apparent Louis Manzo appeared at a meeting of Hudson County Freeholders with a letter written “To Whom It May Concern” by Congressman Robert Menendez on Congressional letterhead. The letter unabashedly pimps the services of a long time provider of computer services to the Hudson County government. The same outfit has also provided computer services to the city of Union City where Menendez was formerly Mayor. In a recent proposal, to the County, the provider, Hindsight, Inc. was high bidder by $1 Million. Hindsight has been the incumbent contract holder for a number of years. Hindsight is also a provider of the same services directly to Organized Crime for its political offices. Election finance reports also show that Hindsight is also a campaign contributor to both the Hudson County Democratic Organization’s Political Action Committee and to Menendez campaign funds. That makes Menendez a lobbyist for the computer service.
Rather than award the contract to a lower bidder, of which there were several, the Freeholders, in good Organized Crime fashion, merely approved a temporary extension of the contract allowing Hindsight to continue providing service without having to make a formal contract award to any bidder. Principals of Hindsight, according to O’Dea were former IT employees of Hudson County providing these services on a salary. They set up shop and began to provide those same services on an “outsourced” basis. The annual cost of the “outsourcing” is many times the cost of an individual salary. This is part of the $52 Million Annual waste for outsourcing O’Dea is constantly referring to, and a key part of Organized Crime. It is a key mechanism for diverting public funds to private use and along the way percentages of the flow winds up in the campaign funds of Organized Crime candidates. Some of it winds up directly in their pockets, as we have just seen in the recently concluded corruption trial. Manzo has also been stridently outspoken on this practice and says that amongst other things, it amounts to the public financing of election campaigns, in addition to creating the environment for extortion and bribery like what has been revealed in the corruption indictments and the recent trial of ex-Freeholder Nidia Davila Colon.
For a $20,000 cash bribe to Janiszewski while in the County Executive’s office a questionable supplier, Dr. Arturo Sandoval, who happened to be Freeholder Colon’s boyfriend, “bought” more than $2 Million worth of business from the County government. Under indictment and waiting to go on trial in October, Freeholder William Braker was allegedly videotaped soliciting the same Dr. Sandoval for a $3,500 cash payment to secure an additional $350,000 in County contracts.
Braker spiced up the conversation asking for a supplemental payment in the form of Viagra. Braker’s solicitation of Sandoval is consistent with the payment to Janiszewski, implying a “going rate” of one per cent of the contract value. On the tape, according to a transcript released by the US Attorney’s office at the time of Braker’s indictment, Braker is allegedly heard telling Sandoval what a great investment the payment is and what a good deal of leverage it provides. At 1% it represents a 100 to 1 return, big bang for the buck, a penny on the dollar. Each dollar of bribe would get the vendor a hundred dollars of contracts to provide service.
BLUE SUEDE SHOES
“You can do anything that you wanna do, but uh-uh, honey stay offa my contracts.”
Woe be unto he who messes with “professional services” contracts in Hudson County. Former Interim County Executive Bernie Hartnett did. Not only did Hartnett start a war that rages to this day, but his insistence on principal may have cost him the job. Hartnett refused to automatically renew a legal service contract between the County and Donald Scarinci. The contract was worth $275,000. Within hours, Hartnett’s chief political backer, Mayor Glenn Cunningham of Jersey City received a highly agitated phone call from Congressman Bob Menendez, down in Washington. Menendez asked Cunningham to persuade Hartnett to give Scarinci the contract. Cunningham refused and the war began. Hartnett was voted out of office, Scarinci got the contract despite the fact he was not low bidder, and the war rages on. Cunningham refuses to knuckle under. Hartnett is back in private practice. Scarinci denies that this incident took place and Menendez was not available for comment.
Another contract casualty was former Union City Mayor Rudy Garcia. He attempted to exert some autonomy, showing some initiative independent of Organized Crime. But Garcia crossed the line when he attempted to block the renewal of Scarinci’s contract to serve as Union City’s legal counsel at more than $1 Million annually. For speaking his mind without the Bosses’ approval he might have been chastised in some way, but for interfering with the $1 Million contract he was figuratively executed, white-collar style. Needless to say Garcia is gone, replaced by Brian Stack as Mayor of Union City. Though Organized Crime initially installed Garcia as Mayor, once he strayed from the family, Organized Crime just as quickly undid him and installed the next surrogate in Garcia’s place.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
One of the saddest parts of this is that you will never read any part of this in the local daily newspaper, the Jersey Journal. Until and unless a member of Organized Crime is indicted or convicted you will never read anything except positive spin in the JJ. Freedom of the Press belongs to the guy who owns it. When Janiszewski was in office riding high he was the fair haired boy and could do no wrong. Only after Bobby J copped a plea and cut a deal did the JJ slam him with “Extortion” at once excommunicating and disavowing him. While he was in office the writers and editors ran out of parts of his body to kiss. Now Nidia, convicted of small potatoes petty crookedness, is being treated very mildly and sympathetically. Bill Braker is under indictment as the “Cash and Viagra Kid.” Once he goes on trial, he’s fair game and if convicted he will no doubt be ridiculed without mercy for his candid remark made on candid camera. None of the above has appeared in the Jersey Journal nor will it until and unless it become part of the public record of some proceeding whether parliamentary or judicial. One part of the County Government, the Hudson County Improvement Authority, is so well known as a patronage generator that other County Officials openly call it the Hudson Consultants’ Improvement Authority. The joke is “What do they improve?” and the punchline is “The consultants’ standard of living.” There has not been a Jersey Journal reporter at an HCIA meeting in more than one year. When Bobby J was first caught up in the federal sting, the first place he went was the HCIA offices and began to shred documents furiously. For years it was known by other insiders as Dennis’ Playground. That would be Dennis Enright. Enright was mentioned in testimony during the corruption trial as having paid $9,000 to Bobby J over a period of years. Our reckoning using the 1% solution, already absurdly low, would be roughly 900 times that amount or not less than $9 Million. Or Dennis owes Bobby J an apology and a good bit of cash besides, we reckon.
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