Post by Admin on Mar 9, 2014 0:03:46 GMT
New Jersey's ( my home state ) Big Time corruption.
Is it just me, or after reading this whole article. Does it seem like every one involved in this state is just ON BIG CORRUPT group?
www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/02/christie_hurricane_sandy_ashbr.html
TRENTON — When AshBritt Inc. swooped into New Jersey and cornered the market for debris removal after Hurricane Sandy, the Florida company wasn’t shy about making its skills or political connections known.
It’s now becoming clear how deep those connections run.
AshBritt is bulldozing competitors by stuffing its roster with an all-star lineup of New Jersey’s political muscle, The Star-Ledger has found.
These high-profile players come from both sides of the aisle and are making sales pitches to local officials so AshBritt can expand a no-bid state contract worth up to $100 million as well as separate deals with 43 towns that will bring tens of millions more.
The roster of those paid by AshBritt has swelled to include George Gilmore, the powerful Republican chairman of hard-hit Ocean County; Maggie Moran, a former top aide to Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine whose husband is the mayor of Belmar; and Kris Kolluri, a New Jersey lobbyist sources say was recruited by a company associated with former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a friend of Gov. Chris Christie.
The newspaper’s review of hundreds of public records and dozens of interviews also reveal how former government officials were able to connect AshBritt with local leaders on the ground in New Jersey — and how the process was sped up by state actions allowing it to bypass regulations on business, the environment and pay-to-play.
Competing contractors say this gave AshBritt — which has been criticized for charging high prices and praised by local officials for its swift work — a big advantage.
“If this isn’t a classic example of how everything is connected in New Jersey politics, I don’t know what is,” said state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), who was Corzine’s running mate in 2009 when Moran managed his re-election campaign.
Reached by phone Wednesday, AshBritt general counsel Jared Moskowitz declined comment and requested questions be sent by e-mail. He did not reply to the e-mailed questions sent to him that day.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak declined to comment on the firm’s aggressive marketing strategy, but stressed that towns have the option of hiring whomever they want.
“Towns were not required to use AshBritt, and many didn’t,” Drewniak said. “It was their choice, and we just wanted to give them a quick option.”
ON THE PAYROLL
Gilmore, the Ocean County GOP chairman and one of the most powerful players in state Republican politics, confirmed yesterday that he was hired by AshBritt.
He declined to say what his role is or address whether he avoided conflicts of interest due to his other role as attorney for towns, including Seaside Heights and Jackson Township, that used the firm.
“Due to a confidentiality clause, I cannot comment,” Gilmore said. AshBritt’s Moskowitz declined to answer a question about Gilmore.
In Ocean County, the Republican-controlled freeholder board agreed to pay the cleanup costs up front for towns if they went with AshBritt, an attractive deal for mayors that also freed them of having to deal with red tape to get reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Of the county’s 33 towns, 17 have accepted the offer. The county would then get reinbursement from FEMA.
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Is it just me, or after reading this whole article. Does it seem like every one involved in this state is just ON BIG CORRUPT group?
www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/02/christie_hurricane_sandy_ashbr.html
TRENTON — When AshBritt Inc. swooped into New Jersey and cornered the market for debris removal after Hurricane Sandy, the Florida company wasn’t shy about making its skills or political connections known.
It’s now becoming clear how deep those connections run.
AshBritt is bulldozing competitors by stuffing its roster with an all-star lineup of New Jersey’s political muscle, The Star-Ledger has found.
These high-profile players come from both sides of the aisle and are making sales pitches to local officials so AshBritt can expand a no-bid state contract worth up to $100 million as well as separate deals with 43 towns that will bring tens of millions more.
The roster of those paid by AshBritt has swelled to include George Gilmore, the powerful Republican chairman of hard-hit Ocean County; Maggie Moran, a former top aide to Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine whose husband is the mayor of Belmar; and Kris Kolluri, a New Jersey lobbyist sources say was recruited by a company associated with former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a friend of Gov. Chris Christie.
The newspaper’s review of hundreds of public records and dozens of interviews also reveal how former government officials were able to connect AshBritt with local leaders on the ground in New Jersey — and how the process was sped up by state actions allowing it to bypass regulations on business, the environment and pay-to-play.
Competing contractors say this gave AshBritt — which has been criticized for charging high prices and praised by local officials for its swift work — a big advantage.
“If this isn’t a classic example of how everything is connected in New Jersey politics, I don’t know what is,” said state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), who was Corzine’s running mate in 2009 when Moran managed his re-election campaign.
Reached by phone Wednesday, AshBritt general counsel Jared Moskowitz declined comment and requested questions be sent by e-mail. He did not reply to the e-mailed questions sent to him that day.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak declined to comment on the firm’s aggressive marketing strategy, but stressed that towns have the option of hiring whomever they want.
“Towns were not required to use AshBritt, and many didn’t,” Drewniak said. “It was their choice, and we just wanted to give them a quick option.”
ON THE PAYROLL
Gilmore, the Ocean County GOP chairman and one of the most powerful players in state Republican politics, confirmed yesterday that he was hired by AshBritt.
He declined to say what his role is or address whether he avoided conflicts of interest due to his other role as attorney for towns, including Seaside Heights and Jackson Township, that used the firm.
“Due to a confidentiality clause, I cannot comment,” Gilmore said. AshBritt’s Moskowitz declined to answer a question about Gilmore.
In Ocean County, the Republican-controlled freeholder board agreed to pay the cleanup costs up front for towns if they went with AshBritt, an attractive deal for mayors that also freed them of having to deal with red tape to get reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Of the county’s 33 towns, 17 have accepted the offer. The county would then get reinbursement from FEMA.
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