$125G T&M park pact OK'd

Saturday, November 28, 2009
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Middletown engineering firm will work on the Marion Greenway Park Project in Jersey City, despite questions about its contract.

The Jersey City Council approved the $125,000 contract to T&M Associates on Tuesday after it had been tabled at a meeting earlier this month when resident John Seborowski Sr. questioned whether it violated the city's pay-to-play law.

The law prohibits a business or individual employee from donating more than $300 to any candidate, $500 to any candidate committee or $300 to a political committee or a political party in Jersey City. It was adopted Sept. 23, 2008, but didn't take affect until 20 days later.

Because of the way Councilman Mariano Vega filed his reports, a $600 contribution from the firm and a $400 contribution from its vice president, Dominic Carrino, appear in the May 2009 reports.

But Carrino's contribution was made Oct. 2, 2007, and the company's was made Oct. 3, 2008, just before the law took affect, according to Vega's campaign finance reports on file with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Jonathan Busch, an attorney for T&M, appeared at the meeting to confirm no donations were made in violation of the law.

Vega also said he had rechecked his reports.

"I would concur with the findings," he said.

The contract was approved with a 7-1 vote. Ward B Councilman David Donnelly voted no and Councilwoman At-Large Willie Flood was absent.

Fulop urged Vega to correct his campaign reports within the next two weeks and threatened to file a complaint with the state if he does not.

The contract is for construction and design work on Marion Greenway Park at the former PJP landfill off Routes 1&9 in the shadow of the Pulaski Skyway.

City's 'pay-to-play' law being properly enforced?
Friday, November 13, 2009

An allegation that an engineering firm may have violated Jersey City's pay-to-play law has raised a larger question about enforcement.

"We passed an ordinance to do something, then nobody follows up," resident John Seborowski Sr. said at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

Seborowski asked the council to table a resolution that would have given a $125,000 contract to T&M Associates, a Middletown engineering firm.

He said that according to Councilman Mariano Vega's Election Law Enforcement Commission reports, the firm made donations to Vega this year in violation of the city's pay-to-play law.

The firm denies the contributions, but the enforcement issue could impact other holders of contracts and donations as well.

For example, Manalapan-based CMX Engineering, which works for the city, made a $2,500 contribution to a Burlington County political action committee in May. In March, that PAC donated $500 to Councilman Bill Gaughan's campaign fund and $1,500 to "Team Healy," Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy's campaign fund.

Heather Taylor, communications director for Citizen's Campaign, which drafted the pay-to-play law adopted by many municipalities in the state, said although "regularly" would have to be defined, the city should still explore CMX's donation to the New Frontier PAC.

"This very well could be a violation of the local pay-to-play law and it's something the city should look into," she said.

The city's corporation counsel William Matsikoudis said vendors are asked to fill out a form attesting to the fact that they have not donated.

Seborowski said no one verifies that vendors are being honest.

But city officials realize there needs to be some enforcement. Matsikoudis met with Ward F Councilman Steve Fulop, community members and Taylor last week.

Fulop said the city's purchasing agent, or a committee of concerned citizens, could be tasked with checking up on companies.

"I suspect by the next time we meet, we'll have a process in place," he said.

MELISSA HAYES

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerse ... 58097138201150.xml&coll=3

QUESTIONS VEGA REPORT
Firm with city contract denies giving him $$$
Friday, November 13, 2009
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City Councilman Mariano Vega's campaign finance reports have come under fire.

Resident John Seborowski Sr. cited the reports during Tuesday's City Council meeting, saying an engineering firm may have broken the city's pay-to-play law. But the firm contends the reports are erroneous.

This is not the only issue with Vega's reports.

As The Jersey Journal reported yesterday, Vega last month updated his ELEC filings to include $10,000 that was previously not reported. The funds are linked to $30,000 Vega allegedly took from a federal informant cooperating in a federal corruption sting. Vega was one of 44 people the U.S. attorney charged in July.

According to Vega's May Election Law Enforcement Commission reports, T&M Associates contributed $600 to Vega's re-election campaign and Dominic Carrino, the vice president of the Middletown-based firm, donated $400. There was no date for the contributions on the report.

Those contributions would appear to violate the city's pay-to-play law, adopted last year, which prohibits donations over $300 from people and firms doing business with the city.

But T&M spokesman Pete McDonough, a partner at Winning Strategies Pubic Relations, said the donations were never made and noted that the company's address on the contribution attributed to Carrino is incorrect.

"They checked with the employee and they checked the bank records, and no donations were made," he said.

Reached by telephone yesterday, Vega said the money had to come from someone.

"If I put it in there, I must have gotten something from somebody," said Vega, who serves as the treasurer for his account. "I'll probably look into it."

T&M is vying for a $125,000 contract for design and construction of Marion Greenway Park at the former PJP Landfill in Jersey City. The council was set to vote on the contract, but the resolution was tabled.

According to the city's pay-to-play law, a business or individual employee cannot donate more than $300 to any candidate, $500 to any joint candidate committee or $300 to a political committee or political party in Jersey City within one year of receiving a contract with the city.

T&M has an ongoing contract with the city for work it has already done at the PJP tract.

The law also places a $500 cap on donations to Hudson County political committees and political party committees and to any political action committees (PACs) that "regularly" donate to local candidates.

Companies found in violation of the law can be banned from city work for four years.

Jeffrey Brindle, executive director of the Election Law Enforcement Commission, said he couldn't comment on a specific case, but spoke generally.

"It could possibly be something that is accidental or a mistake. In that case we would work with the filer of the report to amend the report and correct the mistake," he said.

"On the other hand if it's an intentional misrepresentation of the source of the contribution we would probably turn it over to the attorney general."

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... l_front_and_back_609.html

T&M Contract Snag Highlights a Larger Issue with Jersey City?s Pay-to-Play Law: Enforcement
By Shane Smith ? Nov 11th, 2009 ?

The City Council was all set to award a $125,000 contract last night to the Middletown-based engineering firm T&M Associates in connection with the design and construction of the Hackensack River Waterfront Park Project (sometimes called the Marion Greenway Park Project).

But the contract ran into a roadblock as one dedicated citizen argued that it was in clear violation of the pay-to-play law passed by the council last fall. This revelation, brought to light by John Seborowski, Sr., illustrates what even the law?s initial sponsor acknowledges is a major problem with the ordinance: no one is really enforcing it.

As it stands now, the pay-to-play law relies on nothing more than the word of the business seeking a contract. That business has to submit a sworn statement that it ?has not made any reportable contributions ? that would be deemed to be in violations [sic]? of the pay-to-play law. In T&M?s case, president and CEO Kevin F. Toolan signed just such a statement on Oct. 30.

The problem for T&M are two contributions to At-Large councilman Mariano Vega*?s 2009 re-election campaign. In Vega*?s 20-day post-election report, filed with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) in August, there is a $400 contribution from company vice president Dominic Carrino, as well as a $600 contribution from the company. (Check them out on page three and 21 of this PDF.)

The law caps a business or individual employee?s yearly contribution at $300 to any candidate, $500 to any joint candidates committee, and $300 to a political committee or political party committee in Jersey City. (Contributions of up to $500 are allowed to Hudson County political committees or political party committees and to any PACs.)

But T&M says it believes the ELEC report is inaccurate. ?We don?t believe a contribution was made,? company spokesman Pete McDonough says. ?We?re double-checking.? (Vega* could not be reached for comment today.)

Regardless, the resolution approving the contract was withdrawn last night, and when reached this morning, corporation counsel Bill Matsikoudis said the city would look into whether or not the contribution put the contract in jeopardy of violating the ordinance.

But as Seborowski points out, the real problem here isn?t the contract, but the pay-to-play law itself.

?The city needs to put a process or procedure in place to ensure compliance,? he says. ?In this day and age of automation, it should be easy enough.?

Ironically, enforcement came up at a meeting about the pay-to-play ordinance just last week. Ward E councilman Steven Fulop (the legislation?s initial sponsor), corporation counsel Bill Matsikoudis, the Citizens? Campaign?s Heather Taylor, and local good-government advocates Cynthia Hadjiyannis, Andrew Hubsch and Aaron Morrill were among those in attendance.

Fulop says the purpose of the meeting was ?to continue fine-tuning? the ordinance and its implications. Enforcement ?is, coincidentally, one of the topics we were addressing.?

He says that two enforcement options were suggested at the meeting: Have the city?s purchasing manager oversee the process, or have ?good-government focused people? like Seborowski do it.

Hadjiyannis says that ?the most important thing is to provide notices to people before they even try to bid on a contract.? She and Taylor both suggest placing information on the city?s website and in contractor bid packages that makes it clear which vendors are disqualified from bidding on city contracts. ?The time to deal with this is before you run into a problem,? Hadjiyannis says.

While ?it is the primary responsibility of the business entity to self-enforce,? Taylor says it?s the city?s responsibility to make sure they know about the ordinance. ?Every opportunity needs to be taken to make sure that vendors are aware of the law.?

Despite her commitment to the ordinance, Hadjiyannis recognizes that there may be administrative challenges for the city in enforcing it. ?That could become somebody?s full-time job, just checking [compliance with the ordinance] ? I don?t know, do we want to pay somebody to do that?? But ultimately, she says, ?given the history of all the problems we have with corruption ? the city should want to deal with the problem and retrain one of the people who works in City Hall to be the pay-to-play compliance officer.?

Matsikoudis says that deciding how to enforce the measure ?would be a collaborative effort between the Department of Administration, the Law Department, [and] the council to determine the best direction, especially since this is a new ordinance that we are trying to come to grips with.?

Regardless of if ? and how ? the city decides to enforce the ordinance, Fulop still says that the vendor seeking the contract is ultimately to blame.

?In the end, we can put a better process in place,? he says, ?but these are also sophisticated vendors who are familiar with the law.?

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... -to-play-law-enforcement/

Quote:


They could call it POISON PARK.
With all the publicly funded remediation that required extreme public expense over a decade or two to staunch the underground fires (which may yet erupt anew) one whould think the City/State and Federal government would long ago have at least OWNED the old dump.
Tossing money into buying this mess of an old chemical and tire dump is perhapas the dumbest idea ever.
But ahh, those soaring vistas of the underside of the Pulaski Skyway must have blown away common sense...or else it's yet another plan to funnel public money into private hands in return for fat delicious bribes.

Hooray for Mr. Carrington for showing us the power that citizens have when speaking up!

Quote:

Quote:

Hey Mariano - look, you got your name in the paper! It's been a while.

Jersey City Council approves $12.4M park purchase

By Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal
November 10, 2009, 7:31PM

A former landfill is one step closer to becoming a public park.

The Jersey City Council approved purchasing 34.52 acres of the former PJP Landfill for $12.4 million tonight. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is contributing $4 million toward the acquisition and Hudson County gave $1 million. The City Council authorized bonding up to $8.7 million for the remainder, if grants are unavailable.

?It?s about time. I?m glad we?re here today to see this,? Ward B Councilman David Donnelly said Monday night. ?I think the people of Jersey City will have a debt of gratitude if we can make this happen.?

The property is bordered by the Hackensack River and Route 1 & 9, with Hartz Mountain Warehouse to the north and the AMB Warehouse, which is under construction, to the south. It sits under the Pulaski Skyway.

The first phase, estimated to cost $8 million, includes capping the landfill, planting grass and wildflowers and creating access roads. It would be paid for by Waste Management of New Jersey Inc. who is responsible for closing out the landfill, which hasn?t been used for decades.

The council also voted to assume responsibility for future maintenance of the site from Waste Management and CWM Chemical Services LLC. In exchange, CWM will place $1.15 million in an escrow account for maintenance. The city has been pursuing the site for about two years and first contemplated relocating the Department of Public Works and Jersey City Improvement Authority there.

Jersey City Corporate Counsel William Matsikoudis said Waste Management had proposed a plan to the state Department of Environmental Protection that would have capped the landfill but prevented future use.

Under the city?s proposed plan the site will now include soccer fields, jogging trails and a walkway along the river that could connect it to Lincoln Park. There would also be a pedestrian crossing at Route 1 & 9. Future plans could call for a golf driving range and indoor sports facility. Matsikoudis said the initial phase should be completed next year, but the sports fields, trails and restrooms would likely be completed by 2015.

Lawyers and environmental engineers have been working on the plans for some time and professionals presented conceptual drawings during the council?s Monday caucus meeting. Matsikoudis said an exact expenditure was not available, but at least $250,000 was spent on environmental engineering out of the city?s environmental trust fund.

The council has paid Red Bank-based T & M Associates $50,000 for design work. It was set to vote on another $125,000 tonight but tabled the resolution after resident Philip Carrington questioned whether the firm was in violation of the city?s pay-to-play ordinance for donating to Councilman Mariano Vega?s campaign this year.

============================

Port Authority gives $4 million toward 32-acre Jersey City park

by Amy Sara Clark / The Jersey Journal
Thursday May 07, 2009

The park will include soccer fields a quarter-acre extension of the Hackensack River Walkway, an open lawn/fairgrounds, a 1.5 mile-long jogging/walking path, and acres of wildflowers and newly planted trees, officials said.

Standing against a backdrop of the Hackensack River, Jersey City and Port Authority officials announced that the agency will contribute $4 million toward the creation of the 32-acre Marion Greenway Park on the former Superfund site underneath the Pulaski Skyway.

"We can take this land back and give it back to the people," said Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Susan Bass-Levin said at the event Wednesday afternoon. The money is coming out the authority's Hudson-Raritan Estuary Resources Program, which supports the conservation, environmental mitigation or creation of public access for wetland sites.

The park will include two soccer fields, plus an additional practice area, a quarter-acre extension of the Hackensack River Walkway, an open lawn which can be used as fairgrounds, a 1.6 mile-long jogging and walking path, and acres of wildflowers and newly planted trees, officials said.

"You have 32-acres of open space being brought to the community in an area where every acre, where every pocket park is well used said," said Gregory Remaud, deputy director of NY/NJ Baykeeper. He said most of the future projects in this region are going to have to be a mix of commercial and public use.

Jersey City plans to purchase the site for $12.4 million paid over three years. It expects to pay for it through grants, said Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy.

The park will cost about $10 million to build, said Jeff Bottger of T&M Associates, the lead landscape architect on the project.

The park, which abuts the busy truck Route 1 and 9 is not currently accessible by public transportation, but will include 75 parking spaces. The city is planning to build a pedestrian bridge over 1 and 9, said Jersey City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis, who helped push through the project. There is talk of a ferry to the park, but no immediate plans for a bus route to the site.

The site of the park was once salt marshes and tidal wetlands, but in the late 1960s it became part of the 87-acre PJP Landfill site, accepting drums of chemical and industrial waste. For the next decade and a half, site was plagued with almost continuous below-the-ground fires as the toxins combusted and the waste decomposed. In 1983 it was declared a Superfund site and in 1986 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection stopped the fires and began cleaning up the site, according to Matsikoudis.

Most of the toxic waste was removed and most areas of the site capped in the late 1980s, said George Pavlou, acting regional administrator of the EPA, who also attended the news conference.

Fifty-five acres of the site was purchased by the AMB Company to become a warehouse in 2007. AMB's site will include 5 acres of open space on its site and a portion of the Hackensack River Walkway.

Remediation will begin in the fall of 2009 and be completed by fall 2010, at which point the walking/jogging trail, lawn/fairgrounds, wildflowers and trees will be available for use, Matsikoudis said. The soccer fields and other amenities should be completed by 2011 or 2012.

Jersey City Council tables $4.6M purchase

By Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal
November 10, 2009, 6:41PM

At the urging of Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop the Jersey City Council moved to table a $4.6 million purchase for the Parking Authority.

The funds would have been used to purchase the property at 392-394 Central Ave., which the Parking Authority has been renting.

Fulop said the appraisal was conducted in April 2008 and he feels under the current market conditions, the building is worth less now.

He asked the city business administrator to conduct two audits before moving forward with purchasing the building.
"To pay top market rate a year-and-a-half ago is an atrocity," he said.

The council voted 9-0 to table the item.
"Hopefully they do come back with lower bids on it," Council President Peter Brennan said.

Does the $40 m budget gap include these two items, or will this make it $60m?

$12.4 million land purchase on Jersey City Council agenda

By Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal
November 09, 2009, 3:59PM

The Jersey City Counci during a July meeting, will vote on several expenditures tomorrow, including $12.4 million to acquire land along Routes 1 & 9 and $4.6 million for the Parking Authority to acquire land on Central Avenue. Among the many resolutions it's considering, the Jersey City Council may spend $12.4 million to acquire various properties along Route 1 & 9.

The land is being purchased through condemnation and is slated for open space and parks.

The agenda also includes a $4.6 million bond ordinance for the Parking Authority to purchase property on Central Avenue.

The council is holding its caucus meeting in City Hall tonight at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the items on tomorrow's agenda. The regular meeting is tomorrow (instead of Wednesday) at 6 p.m. because of Veteran's Day.

The council will also meet in closed session at 5 p.m. tomorrow to discuss litigation over the Sixth Street Embankment property. The city is pushing to preserve a portion of the site as open space and use the remainder for a light rail corridor. Owner Steve Hyman wants to build housing on the site.

The council is considering several expenditures tomorrow, despite operating on temporary appropriations because the administration has yet to strike a budget for the current fiscal year. Officials have said the city is facing a $40 million budget deficit and city workers received notices last week that they would be forced to take 12 unpaid days off to help close the budget gap.

Other resolutions on the agenda:

? A contract with Progressive Nursing Staffers of New Jersey Inc. to administer H1N1 vaccinations in conjunction with the city Department of Health and Human Services. The $150,000, 10-week contract is being funded through a state grant.

? A second contract amendment with CMX Engineers for work at Bayside Park. This amendment is for $97,500, bringing the total contract, which dates back to 2006 up to $466,143. The firm, previously called Schoor DePalma, is being paid to do additional design work, storm water management engineering and landscape improvement plans at the park.

? A $125,000 contract with T&M Associates for design and construction of the Hackensack River Waterfront Park Project, also known as Marion Greenway Park.