New attorney general
turns up heat
on corruption
Bob Ingle, Political
Watch thnt.com Online, July 23, 2007
Has the sun finally come up at the
state Attorney General's Office?
Newly minted Attorney General Anne Milgram was at U.S. Attorney Chris Christie's
side when he announced the indictment of state Sen. Sharpe James, D-Essex,
because there had been state cooperation in the federal case.
Now comes word state subpoenas are flying in other investigations. I
suspect this started under former state AG and federal prosecutor Stu Rabner,
now chief justice of the state Supreme Court, who did some reorganizing during
his brief tenure as attorney general.
Martin C. Bricketto reported for the Courier News that the Somerset County Park
Commission was served a subpoena demanding records of employee reimbursement of
expenses going back to 1998. That came two weeks after a report by the law
firm of Wolff & Samson that wasn't pretty.
It said Complete Electric was the commission's "de facto in-house electricians"
from 1998 through 2005 but there were no quotes or estimates for most of the
work nor itemization for material or labor costs.
Fifteen commission employees have personal use of cars provided by the
commission, which also paid for the gas. Moreover, 12 commission employees
live in homes or an apartment owned by the agency, and the rent they pay isn't
based on the rental market's going rate.
Golf Maintenance Director Darrell Marcinek, who is paid $94,500 a year, pays no
rent.
Then, there's commission Secretary-Director Raymond Brown. In addition to
a $163,813 salary and free use of a Dodge Durango, he pays only $500 a month
rent in a commission-owned house where he resides with his wife, Roseann, who is
chair of Bridgewater's Republican Committee. She also gets more than
$69,272 a year as deputy clerk in Somerset County.
Other commission expenses the law firm noted were golf outings and limousine
rides, in all totaling more than $40,000.
Meanwhile, other published reports say Milgram's office has subpoenaed North
Bergen for employment records and work orders for the town's Public Works
Department. The Jersey Journal quoted sources as saying the probe has to
do with possible no-show jobs.
The mayor, Nicholas Sacco, who triple-dips as a member of the state Senate and
assistant schools superintendent in North Bergen, had no comment. He's too
busy swilling in the public trough. Or looking for another public payroll
check.
Rabner brought Milgram to Trenton, and she arrived with impressive credentials.
In a former job she was an assistant district attorney in New York City. I
guess that makes her a real life version of the sidekick to Executive DA Jack
McCoy on television's "Law & Order." Now, when does she get to the state
Board of Public Utilities and it's $80 million secret bank account?
Disgrace: The state Supreme Court has gone along with a judicial ethics
panel recommendation that Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto be censured for throwing
his weight around while pursuing criminal charges against a kid who got into a
shoving match with Rivera-Soto's son. Censure is a slap on the wrist.
He should have been suspended or removed from the bench. But then, this
court is a national laughingstock and deservedly so.
Pothole vs. man: Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny is recovering from
injuries that have everyone scratching their heads. The first report was
he was struck by a car, a hit-and-run, then word was he tripped when he stepped
into a pothole while jogging.
He had a broken fibula, four pelvis fractures, a fractured nose, a dislocated
shoulder and various bruises and lacerations, injuries doctors reportedly said
are not consistent with a fall. Standing near the pothole in question,
Kenny's daughter said her dad never would have crossed the street there, in the
middle of the block.
John Torok's Web site,
http://inthelobby.net, reported earlier that Kenny was involved in another
weird incident in which Kenny reportedly pushed a Hoboken councilman and slapped
him twice on the cheek. According to the Web site: "A Kenny
spokesman said the slaps were just a sign of Hoboken affection." Talk
about your tough love.
Bob Ingle is Trenton bureau chief for Gannett New Jersey
newspapers. He can be reached via e-mail at
bobingle@app.com and heard on New Jersey 101.5 FM radio at 5 p.m. Fridays.
Join his blog at
www.app.com/gsbr.
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