County Appointees hold press briefing behind backs of Freeholders

Yesterday morning a Watchdog post revealed how three county appointees, led by County Administrator John Eskilson, sold the Sussex solar scam to the Freeholder Board back in 2011.  In what could be described as a reaction to that revelation, the County Administrator called a meeting of the press to sell the deal to settle the solar scam wearing the same rose-colored glasses he used to sell the scam in the first place.

In 2011, Eskilson used the old "we'll miss an opportunity of a lifetime" trick and now he's using "the sky is falling" if we don't.  Always the same rush, rush, hurry, hurry, to roll the Board.  If this was a corporation, there'd be a shareholders revolt.  But this is a county and the taxpayers are easier to bend over.

Eskilson didn't invite any of the Freeholders to his press conference, which was clearly intended to roll the press and get them to put media pressure on elected Freeholders to pass the settlement deal.  Since when did John Eskilson morph from an appointed County Administrator into an elected County Executive?

Since when does a county employee use his office to beat the elected representatives of the people into voting on a settlement the public hasn't had an opportunity to review?  That's right, the settlement is on the table, Eskilson knows what it says, he has bullied the Freeholders into keeping quiet about it with threats (executive session), but the public isn't allowed to know what it says until after it is approved.

This situation is just like the vote on ObamaCare and Eskilson is Nancy Pelosi telling her members "you got to vote on it before you can read it."

Why does Eskilson oppose letting the taxpayers read the whole unabridged settlement before having to pay for it?

Eskilson is opposed on this by three of the five Freeholder Board members.  Freeholder Director Phil Crabb said in the New Jersey Herald that he wanted the settlement made public so the taxpayers could read it before a vote was taken.  Freeholders George Graham and Gail Phoebus have been working tirelessly on behalf of the taxpayers' right to know.  They have called for full transparency before the vote and for investigations on how we got in this mess in the first place.

Eskilson's refusal to allow the public their right to know can be reversed by these three freeholders and we urge Freeholders Rich Vohden and Dennis Mudrick, who is up for re-election this year, to join them.

Update on Saturday, February 21, 2015 at 2:43PM by Sussex County Watchdog

Too Bad Sussex County isn't in Malaysia

Get a load of this gem:

"Earlier this afternoon bids were received for the Sussex County/Morris County Improvement Authority Solar Initiative.  A single bid was submitted by the partnership of Sunlight General Capital and Power Partners/Mastec. A second bidder arrived after bids were opened and was not accepted  (Based upon the voluntary withdrawal by the second bidder, it is highly likely that their bid exceeded that of Sunlight General)." 

It is from an email sent out in October 2011 by a top county official.  A top appointed official.

Some people put down third world countries but we found one that has a high standard of ethics that some here in New Jersey could learn a thing or two or three from.

Serious Allegations of Wrongdoing

SunLight General stopped paying Power Partners MasTec, so MasTec sued SunLight.  What they alleged in federal court forms the basis of Freeholder Gail Phoebus' and Assemblyman Parker Space's a request to the Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Department of Justice, and the N.J. Office of the Attorney General to review the allegations set forth in MasTec v. SunLight.  The allegations are serious and deeply troubling:

- That the SunLight Entities "have drawn on the Public Bond Funds and diverted such funds for non-trust purposes in violation of the New Jersey Trust Fund Statute."

- That the SunLight Entities have admitted that "millions of dollars of Public Bond Funds" have been used to "make lease payments" and to "fund the SunLight Entities' required contributions under the Program Documents, and to pay the 'soft' costs (including attorneys' fees) of the Authorities and the SunLight Entities."

- That "the SunLight Entities owe Power Partners millions of dollars as a direct beneficiary under the New Jersey Trust Fund Statute and there are no longer sufficient funds in the Public Bond Funds to pay Power Partners and to complete the projects."

- That the SunLight Entities "participated in an additional scheme to draw down over $6.3 million in Public Bond Funds and misdirected more than $2.7 million of such funds for non-trust purposes."

- That SunLight General Capital and its subsidiaries were formed "with virtually no assets, such that they were undercapitalized at the time of formation."

- That those who controlled the SunLight Entities treated corporate assets as "their personal piggy banks, repeatedly transferring assets from one entity to the next for the purpose of ensuring that there would be insufficient assets in each entity to satisfy its obligations to Power Partners."

- That "the corporate form of the SunLight Entities was used to commit conversion, make fraudulent transfers, and other improper acts."

SunLight's attorney told the media that "context matters and it is important to recognize that MasTec's statements were made in the context of a commercial dispute".  In fact, this so-called "commercial dispute" is a lawsuit filed in United States District Court.  Do attorneys file baseless lies in federal court?  Maybe attorneys do, and maybe they also lie to freeholder boards.  That is why we need an investigation run by federal officers.  Lie to them and you go to jail.

Marie Bilik: Former Mayor, Lobbyist, Assembly candidate

After a career spent working for state and national advocacy groups, Marie Bilik of Green Township is running for Assembly in District 24.  She faces newcomer Nathan Orr of Branchville and Freeholder Gail Phoebus in the June 2nd Republican Primary.

According to newspaper reports, Ms. Bilik resides and works in Virginia and travels to New Jersey for the weekends.  She is registered to vote in New Jersey. 

Ms. Bilik served on the school board and on the township committee.  She was Mayor of Green Township until she resigned suddenly in 1993, citing "personal reasons".  She is a longtime employee of the New Jersey School Boards Association and served as that group's executive director before landing her current position with the National School Boards Association.  These groups lobby the state legislature and Congress, respectively.  They oppose school privatization as well as school vouchers.

In a recent interview with Star-Ledger affiliate NJ.com, Ms. Bilik made it clear that she was not a political conservative, telling the reporter that she "will be emphasizing education issues in her campaign," and that she "supports the Common Core program" -- a controversial program opposed by most of the Republican presidential candidates for 2016.  Common Core has been criticized by both the right and the left for its perceived attempt to impose a "one-size-fits-all" federal curriculum and to limit local control over schools.  It is often opposed by conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation, while it is supported by liberal teachers' unions like the NEA.

Ms. Bilik also stressed that  she's "not looking to be known as the most conservative in the race," adding, "I want to be known as a reasonable individual, but someone who won't raise taxes."

The former mayor could be a strong candidate.  Her campaign team is being led by county lobbyist Wendy Molnar, whose clients include Concord Engineering.

Herald tries to stir trouble in GOP primary

Maybe it's a case of "if you can't find a story go out and make one up" but the New Jersey Herald's coverage of the start of the GOP primary for Assembly was loaded with snarky adjectives and thick with innuendo. 

The same reporter who described Freeholder George Graham as the "junior" member of the Freeholder Board, in his "third year", wrote that Freeholder and Assembly hopeful Gail Phoebus was in her "second year".  How is that possible?  Phoebus was elected in 2012 and Graham in 2013. 

Why wasn't this front page error caught?  Was it a deliberate attempt to play down Phoebus' long experience in local and county government?

On the same day the Herald was failing at simple math, it published a photograph of its top political reporter standing with an ear-to-ear smile next to the man who was then the Democratic Governor of New York, the late Mario Cuomo.  Remember him?  He tried to be Governor-for-life in New York and then launched a political dynasty  than continues to this day, with his son occupying that office.  Of course, this didn't merit a mention in the Herald.

But the Herald story did praise Cuomo for his very liberal position in opposition to the death penalty.  Sure, tell that to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.  Tell that to the families of slain police officers.  Tell that to the parents of children abducted, raped, and then murdered. 

And while Cuomo wanted to protect the lives of mass murderers like Osama Bin Laden, it has been noted that he was all for standing by and allowing the late term abortion of viable babies.  That is some contrast.

Here's an idea for the Herald.  If you want to increase readership, don't pick sides in a political contest.  Stay above petty personality politics and instead make your newspaper a place of ideas and of open discussion and commentary.