BERGEN FREEHOLDERS STILL FAILING TO PRODUCE CONSULTANT FEE RECORDS FOR THE BCIA

BERGEN COUNTY REPUBLICAN ORGANIZATION

973-403-7836                                               

HACKENSACK -- A week after promising to turn over a list of consultant fees paid b the Bergen County Improvement Authority, Freeholder David Ganz has so far failed to produce any records” said Republican Freeholder candidate Chris Calabrese.

Calabrese and his running mates Jeffrey Heller and Paul Duggan have asked for a list of consultant fees paid by the BCIA as part of its loan program -- dating back to January 1 2005. The request was made directly to Ganz’s freeholder office on August 6. At the August 13 freeholder meeting Ganz told Calabrese he was away on vacation when the letter was sent to his office but that he would comply with the request.

Calabrese said today that he has so far received no documentation from Ganz’s office and that he is sending a second letter to the freeholder.“I think a week is sufficient time to accumulate the records we have asked for”, said Calabrese, a South Bergen business owner.

 Calabrese noted that the BCIA, which makes loans to municipalities and other agencies, doles out millions each year in fees to a select group of consultants hand picked by the Democrat power brokers. But, said Calabrese, the fees are never disclosed. 

“The BCIA is nothing more than a conduit for campaign donations to the Democrat Party in Bergen County and I have written to Freeholder Ganz twice asking him to release the fees the BCIA paid over the last three years,” said Calabrese. “The public has a right to know how the BCIA operates.” 

Earlier this month, the Bergen County Republican Chairman Robert Yudin wrote to U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, encouraging the federal prosecutor to investigate the operations of the BCIA.  

 The request came after County Executive Dennis McNerney attended a Glen Rock School Board meeting in July to pressure the board into taking a $45 million loan through the BCIA. The board said it rejected the offer because the arrangement were unrealistically optimistic and the fees too high.

 This was not the first time that the McNerney has been seeking work for the BCIA, which also loaned $103 million to the now bankrupt EnCap Company.

 “It seems the BCIA exists not to help towns but to pay out huge fees to a small cadre of consultants who are growing rich at the expense of taxpayers,” said Paul Duggan, a GOP freeholder candidate from Bogota.

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