Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Sen. Sarlo's Pay to Play Employer

NorthJersey.com has an interesting story regarding pay-to-play contractor, Sanzari, Senator Paul Sarlo, PMK Engineering, another pay-to-play group, the Bergen County Improvement Authority and, of course, what kind of Soprano State story would be complete if a dump wasn't involved?

Pay to play drives up construction costs no doubt, but by how much? This particular $45 million project is now a $70 million project.


http://www.northjersey.com/news/njpolitics/Sanzari_got_years_to_pay_his_dumping_bill.html?page=all

2 comments:

gadfly said...

below is the letter i emailed the Record, and the Star Ledger, after seeing the Record's front page story about Sanzari.
Corzine sucks, this crap is happening on his watch.
Where's RICO? Where's the FBI?
* * * * * *
this morning The Record ran a front page story concerning concerning corruption/Sanzari. i responded with the below letter. enough is enough.
the tone of the sanzari persons is arrogance...kind of like the big three ceos going to D.C. on corporate jets looking for a hand out. We are to big to fail.
arrogance.


a few years back, mr. Sanzari was directly implicated in an ethics violation, when it became public knowledge mr. Sanzari had given jet rides to the family of some of Trenton pol who had influence of the contracts mr .sanzari’s companies got.

Prior to that, I believe mr. Sanzari took a guilty felony conviction for running a ‘gaming’ lottery out of his meadowlands area sports bar.

About the same time, a couple associates of that sports bar, were stopped during a regular rte. 46 ‘fishing expedition’ by the Little Ferry police department for possession of cocaine. I guess calling in a ‘favor’ of some sort with the bar.
These two offenders were released from police custody without being charged for their drug possession violations.

subsequently, the Little Ferry’ chief of police was convicted of official misconduct, and sent to prison.

I’ve been commuting daily the northern part of the Turnpike for the past couple of decades. I’ve seen the Sanzari vehicles on the Pike hundreds of times during that period doing road ‘maintenance’.

Then came the ethics violation (a ‘kickback’), to the Trenton pol to keep the maintenance crews working. The pol I believe is now long down the road. And I thought figured Sanzari would be also.

Guess I was wrong, (the Corzine, Trenton politics) rewarded Mr. Sanzari’s ethical violation with the current multimillion...tens of millions contract to redo the roads at the turnpike’s exit 16.

Let’s see, a known ethics violator...a felon. Yet this person keeps getting State and County contracts. No wonder the Pike’s tolls have gone through the roof. Got to feed the kitty. Good job Corzine, I’ll remember when reelection rolls around.

Your article quotes mr. Sarlo as, “his employment by Sanzari does not conflict with his part-time job in Trenton, where he sits as a majority member of key committees that control state spending on construction projects”.

“No conflict of interest”, eh!!....what an jerk... to even suggest that I don’t have enough intelligence to see through your lies. And if you really believe that; I have a bridge in brooklyn to sell you.

I can’t help but wonder, what came first, Mr. Sarlo’s job with Sanzari inc., or the part-time Trenton job on ‘the committees? How long has mr. Sarlo been a state employee? A Sanzari employee? A ‘political’ appointee probably, I seriously doubt he went through the regular State civil service application procedure.

Mr. Sarlo is “the chief operating of Sanzari’s construction firm”, yet states his job in Trenton on committees controlling state spending construction projects is not a conflict of interest. “Done ‘over dinner with Sanzari, off government property.”

Oh, I see, you went off gov’t property so your conflict of interest ceased. Say did you and sanzari finish dinner with one of them big john riggi stogies.

Mr. Sarlo you neglected to mentioned if your conflict of interest with Sanzari ended when you went onto government to sit in on those committees.

‘Those officials are now declining to discuss details of their of their dealings with Sanzari”
“he did not respond to further questions this week”
“PMK officials also did respond for interviews last week”
“neither hynes nor BCIA chairman Ronald o’malley returned returned calls for this story.”
Sanzari’ office also declined to discuss their record.”

seems a lot of the Sanzari connected principals involved in this scheme are showing signs of ‘swine (pork) flu laryngitis’.

Mr. Sanzari has the stink of a pig trough. Can’t help but wonder who’s back(s) he is scratching now, or who’s pockets he is lining now. Where’s the Feds now? Mr. Christie we miss you.

Mr. Corzine you have a real rats nest down there. You know what they say, ‘if you ain’t part of the solution, then you must be part of the problem’. You got a pair between your legs use them, it’s an election year, a good platform to run on. Get Christie to be a ‘special’ prosecutor...clean that rats nest out.
************************

Sorry for my colorful language please feel free to edit as you please. Been wanting to write/send this for a while now, your article this morning prompted me to write this. My irish ire was raised somewhat.

Actually a couple of months ago I did write a similar letter only to lose it in a hard drive crash.

Need to look at that PMK Engeering, cranford.....$6 million dollar contract....
“basically a staff of three.....they rely on hired professionals to do the oversight”
“to PMK Group, a politically connected project-management firm.”
Six million...a staff of three....who...what are their qualifications....remember the watergate movie...’follow the money’.

NFS said...

I think Sanzari was caught giving free airplane lifts to his friend who just happened to be the Turnpike chairman. I wonder where ex-Turnpike chairman Joseph Simunovich landed?

Another bothersome item is these Improvement Authorities are apparently run by people who have no experience in construction, engineering or planning. Union County's Improvement Authority is run by the County Dem. Chair. So what we have are people running Improvement Authorities who have no experience so they, in turn, using tax dollars, hire political campaign contributors as project managers such as PMK and according to you gadfly, PMK, turns around and hires other professionals to do the job it was hired to do? That's three sets of taxpayer dollars one job.

I can't, at this moment, put my fingers on it, but there was some information floating around out there about NJ having an astoundingly high cost for road construction. Pay to play is expensive.

Good luck on having your letter published. We need reminders as to who did what when. There is just too much corruption to keep it all straight.

Corzine has NO balls. Remember, when Corzine was ousted at Goldman Sachs, it was reported that he worked from him limo parked outside ... like a child hiding under a bed.