Manzo makes money cutting others' bills
Manzo's top contract with Union City's board of ed

Friday, June 01, 2007
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Assemblyman Lou Manzo and Union City Mayor and Assemblyman Brian Stack are joined in a fight for two state Senate seats against the Hudson County Democratic Organization, but Manzo's connections to Stack and Union City are not just political.

They are also financial.

As president of Metro Insurance Agency, Manzo, 52, has served as the group health insurance broker for the Union City Board of Education since 2005. The company also has the group dental insurance broker contract with the Hudson County Schools of Technology and a number of private businesses.

The roughly $200,000 of annual income generated from the Union City contract - his most lucrative - has helped Manzo fund his own Senate campaign and support mortgages on three houses, according to interviews and public records.

"I have consistently saved money for the district, and it's my track record that keeps me there," said Manzo, who said he has routinely fought insurance companies for lower rates.

Stack says he has "nothing to do" with Manzo's contracts, saying, "I am not even sure what it is."

In addition, Manzo is still on a leave of absence from his part-time job as a plumbing inspector in Union City, which he left in 2004 to join the state Assembly. Manzo does not earn any pension credits, or other financial benefits from the job, but it does guarantee him employment.

Manzo has said the Union City contract was "publicly bid," according to published reports. However, hiring insurance brokers is considered a professional contract, so there is no process that mandates hiring the lowest bidder, giving the district discretion over whom it hires.

Thus far, Manzo has raised roughly $300,000 in his race for the 31st District Senate seat, with more than $200,000 coming from his own pocket and another $58,200 coming from Stack's campaign.

A spokesman for Manzo's opponent in the Democratic primary, Sandra Bolden Cunningham, said the contract shows that Manzo is not the reformer, anti-machine candidate he claims to be.

"He talks about himself being unbought, he is being bought," said Roger Jones. "His tag line is once again, deceiving the public.

"If the goal is to broaden private industries so that entities other than public entities can share in the process, why doesn't he relinquish those contracts and let private companies in?" Jones added.

Lou Manzo has been a vocal critic of a state law that allows people to hold multiple public jobs. So what about his role as legislator who has public contracts?

"It's not the same," Lou Manzo said. "I don't get a pension, and I have to perform or face losing the contract."