Questions on Solar for Wed. night Freeholder mtg.

Here is what Freeholder George Graham said in 2015 about the people who he intends to give a no-bid contract to at Wednesday night's Freeholder Board meeting:

"It's all the same people that dug the hole, and every time I ask for a clear, third-party fresh set of eyes, they throw in somebody else that appears out of the past. How many times can you recycle the same names? Are they protecting specific people, or are they protecting the county?” (NJ Herald, March 28, 2015)

This is what then Freeholder (now Assemblywoman) Gail Phoebus said:

"Mr. Weinstein had clear conflicts of interest. Far from recommending ‘independent' counsel to guide us through a complex negotiation, you led us to the partner of the attorney who shares responsibility with you for failing to obtain a performance bond... All of this raises serious questions.  (While) Mr. Weinstein negotiated the solar project settlement and rendered advice to the freeholder board, whose interests was he serving”? (NJ Herald, March 28, 2015)

Solar activist Harvey Roseff has followed this issue for some time.  Below is taken from what he publicly posted today.  Roseff first provides some background before he asks specific questions:

In 2011, Sussex County was one of three counties (with Morris and Somerset) recruited into a solar program by the Morris County Improvement Authority (and its equivalent in Somerset County).  The MCIA facilitated a solar program that had local government units contract directly with a developer for solar power.  Some believed it was for low cost solar power.  What they were not told was that Somerset County's rate in the same program was 4.1cents/kwH, while Sussex County's rate was 9.35cents/kwH (both escalate similarly each year).  So the Freeholders allowed Sussex County taxpayers to be taken from the start.

Sussex County guaranteed the developer bonds, the developer promised self financed equity of $7,800,000 and referred to its $30,000,000 solar fund to confirm its financial stability.

The developer, Sunlight corporation, A SINGLE BIDDER, was about to miss its first bond/lease payment in 2012/3.  This was a FIRST bond payment. Where was Sunlight's skin in the game?  The private money was a mirage.

Sussex County and local governments then changed the solar project special purpose entity contracts (which also impacts bonding) -- allowing the developer to raid previously protected taxpayer construction funds to hide that Sussex County taxpayers had been baited and switched.  It turned out Sussex County had contracted with hollow shell companies.  Taxpayer protections were ripped away, yet taxpayers had done no wrong.  Where was County management?  The SEC? Our Archer & Greiner bond counsel?  County counsel?  MCIA counsel?  MCIA?

Some may say the project strife in 2012-4 was caused by awful preparatory engineering.  One of the key engineering companies was Birdsall, then enmeshed elsewhere in a huge pay-to-play scandal encompassing large parts of New Jersey. Birdsall was associated with Sussex County's bond counsel, who is still on the county payroll.  This same law firm gave a political contribution of $2000 to Freeholder Director Graham for the June 2016 primary election.

Sussex County was never found in Court to be at fault.  It was the developer, Sunlight corporation, who lost in arbitration to its former "partner", the contractor Mastec corporation.  Sussex County won, all the way through to the NJ Supreme Court.  But even after Sussex County won every case, the county's legal team, its Freeholders, and administrators allowed the bill to go to the taxpayers of Sussex County.  Why?

Sunlight corporation was found to be at fault primarily because it allowed too many changes to the solar program's engineering and siting.  This happened again in 2015/16.  Are we once again paying for the same shoddy program management and engineering?

Mastec corporation now had a problem to collect from Sunlight corporation.  Mastec discovered, as Sussex County and local governments did in 2013, that Sunlight's promise of $7.8million and a $30million "solar fund" was, well, it wasn't there.  Sussex County negotiated the contracts -- where was the money and why did it escape unnoticed? 

So after years of solar program strife, County then hired a special counsel for settlement negotiations from the same firm responsible for oversight of the original deal.

Sussex County agreed to bailout the private corporations involved by raiding our "Homestead" piggy bank for $7million.  We capped Sunlight's maintenance costs for the rest of the 15 year program.  Sussex taxpayers assumed Sunlight's project risk.  The public was told "only" $7million more, but there was a hidden $3million risk -- Sussex County had guaranteed a new 1 year loan from Mastec to the hollow shell of Sunlight.

Nobody in county government can seem to produce the Freeholder Resolution that guaranteed this loan.  Sussex County can't provide the Mastec - Sunlight loan agreement. 

How do you guarantee a loan without seeing it?

Then, in May 2015, when Sussex County issued a bond to pay this "guarantee" on the 1 year loan between Sunlight and Mastec, the County didn't declare in the Resolution that there was a loan default by Sunlight. 

HOW CAN THE COUNTY PAY OFF A LOAN GUARANTEE WITHOUT DECLARING THE BORROWER IS IN DEFAULT AND STATING THIS IN THE BOND RESOLUTION?

The same law firm that is set to receive the no-bid contract this evening, negotiated this bailout, and was bond counsel.  While Freeholder Director Graham has publicly proclaimed he wants "new eyes" at tomorrow's Freeholder Board meeting he will bring back the same old set of eyes. 

As for the public's eyes, Roseff hopes Sussex taxpayers get a thorough, detailed presentation from the County.  Roseff claims that the County has ignored teh state's Open Public Records Act.  The County even denied "previously released" financial forecasta and the raw data to back them up. 

Documents like SREC certificates earned, in inventory and sales contracts; federal 1603 applications, audits, bank statements, lease payments, bond payments, ... have all been denied for two months.  

So here are some questions, posed by Harvey Roseff, but limited because some information has been withheld legally or illegally.  The questions are:

1. Why is the same law firm, responsible for the solar mess, getting a no-bid contract? Is it the $2,000 political donation? Where are our managers?

2. For months, why does county government not release documents that OPRA says must be released?

3. Where is the $375,000 security for tearing down the solar farms at the end of their life? Is it supposed to be in "Account # 156291009" named the "Restoration Security Fund"?  It was ridiculously small to begin with, however, did Sussex County allow Sunlight corporation to yet again use funds that were meant to protect the taxpayer?

4. Who was responsible for the accounting and when did these errors occur?  Please detail how the loss zoomed from $900,000 in 2015 to $2,600,000 in 2016. The county government passed this loss to residents in our property taxes, yet in 2016 the program is the same half built program it has been for years with only an additional ~ $423,000 in debt payments.  Sussex County Freeholders refused to discuss this at the budget meeting, please detail the $2.6million loss in 2016.

5. Did Sunlight corporation install "net metering" and how are these cash flows accounted for?  In the program documents provided to Harvey Roseff, he curiously couldn't find mention of "net metering", but he has been told by those at high levels, that net-metering is in place.  If so, in which Trustee bank account is this money placed?  Has this money been going to the taxpayer?

6. Who pays anew for Sunlight corporation's 2015/16 management failures? Sunlight promised a December 2015 build-out to gain its taxpayer bailout. With the bailout, we paid for Sunlight's business mistakes and failures in the past. Sunlight once again failed, after being able to prepare for this build-out moment for 3 years.  Remember, they are the "solar experts" with the $30million solar fund. 

Is the taxpayer being compensated for the approximate $120,000/month cost for Sunlight's failure to deliver on its promises in the bailout?

7. Freeholder Rose has publicly stated that Jingoli corporation has no real authority.  When did the Freeholder Board vote on Jingoli corporation to replace our contracted party in project discussions?  Who in county government approved that the interloper should be Jingoli?

8. Taxpayers provided an immediate bailout to Sunlight in 2015, while Sunlight promised future performance.  Who is paying for Sunlight's new failures? There were 3 years to determine correct sites, inspect for strong roofs, establish power studies.  What are the numbers?

a. Will Sunlight meet the solar program's contracted for power generation target? If not, who pays for 15 years of revenue shortages?

b. Does Sunlight bear the cost of the 2015-16 years of constantly changing, wasteful solar program management and engineering?

c. Who ultimately pays for Sunlight's new "owner's rep", Jingoli? 

d. Where are the Restoration security funds?  What account?

e. Are there net-metering fund flows to Sunlight?  Is this proper as the taxpayer has been paying for Sunlight bond payment defaults since 2013 (Consents 1, 2 and 3)?

Gray and Gorman are Solar Scam Insiders

Freeholder candidates David Gray and Kathleen Gorman were recruited to run by the three Freeholders who voted for the taxpayer-funded bailout of the Sussex solar project that went bust last year.   That is a fact that nobody disputes.

http://www.njherald.com/story/29199152/solar-project-payments-may-have-skirted-federal-law

Then, those same three Freeholders (Vohden, Crabb, and Mudrick) held a big fundraiser for Gray and Gorman.  Insiders from Morris County showed up to lend their support, making Gray and Gorman the candidates of the corrupt Morris County grease machine.  That's another fact beyond dispute.

At Tuesday night's debate, Gray and Gorman lied to the voters of Sussex County when they said that they "opposed" the solar scam. They are supported by the very people who voted for it, the same people who bailed it out, and they are running using the money of the insiders who are responsible for it.  How is that "opposing" it?

This could be the most ethically challenged political team in Sussex County history.  For months now they have been lying in the emails they send out, pretending to be this website and using a false address.  Gray and Gorman have viciously attacked a single-mother, her family, and her children -- and then tried to make it appear as if the attacks came from Watchdog.  Real dirtbag behavior.

But what can anyone expect from lawyer David Gray and his client, Kathleen Gorman.  Gray is being sued under New Jersey's Conscientious Employee Protection Act.  The plaintiff, Juliette Bresnahan, is a single-mother of three who worked full-time as the office manager of David Gray's law firm.   Here's what the lawsuit alleges: 

". . . around mid-October 2015, Gray informed Bresnahan that he received a tax bill for around $62,000.  Gray indicated that he was unsure how he would pay this bill. . .

. . . Gray's directive was aimed at intentionally falsifying and fraudulently increasing the bills to generate more revenue to the firm to extricate it from its current financial predicament."

Read the entire complaint against Gray here.

Mudrick shills for solar

Fresh from hosting a big fundraising event for Freeholder candidates David Gray and Kathleen Gorman,  ex-Freeholder Dennis "it's sexual discrimination not sexual harassment" Mudrick has been making the rounds to public meetings trying to hard sell the solar scam all over again.  Hey, has he been down to see the FBI yet? How about the State Attorney General?  We've asked, but he hasn't told us anything.  Maybe he should try the hard sell with them?  On the record.

Mudrick lost his place on the Freeholder Board last year, not only because he voted for the solar bailout and spent the county's rainy day fund, but because he tried to bully the board's only woman member into voting for it too.  Some guy!

Mudrick would like us to forget the sad, sordid story of the solar scam that left Sussex County taxpayers on the hook for upwards of $40 million.  But we won't forget .  We read about it week after week... in the Herald, the Star-Ledger, the Record, the Sparta Independent, and the New York Times.  We don't forget!

Gray-Gorman website praises solar scam

Yesterday we lauded the first mailer sent out by the Freeholder campaign of David Gray and Kathleen Gorman.  We sincerely thought that their first piece of mailed campaign literature was well done.

Within an hour of our post praising their mailer, the Gray-Gorman camp sent out an email blast in which they lied by claiming to be Watchdog.  And for perhaps the tenth time, they used a false Pennsylvania address in an attempt to place the blame for their attacks on the shoulders of Senator Steve Oroho, who employs a consultant from the same town and state.

David Gray is a lawyer.  Gray is an officer of the Court and a candidate for public office.  We asked if this kind of false misrepresentation was really allowed by the New Jersey Bar Association and it was suggested to us that we file an ethics complaint.  Actually, we feel kind of sorry for David Gray.  Why does he need to lie and claim to be someone else? 

The Gray-Gorman email attacks Gail Phoebus and George Graham for refusing to support the bailout of the solar scam last year.  You remember that scam, don't you?  In February of last year, the Sparta Independent reported on the solar scam and asked these questions:

How did a solar power company that had only been in business for two years get loan guarantees of nearly $90 million from Sussex, Morris and Somerset counties?

And why would Sussex County, with a budget of about $100 million, put at risk $27.7 million through bond guarantees for a private company?

Sussex County Administrator John Eskilson says Sussex County is potentially facing $26 million in losses after SunLight General Capital, a solarpower energy company, was unable to pay back most of the $27.7 million in bonds the county took out for them through debt issued by the Morris County Municipal Authority.

The solar bailout that Gail Phoebus and George Graham voted against took another $10 million -- all of the "rainy day" money the county had put aside from the sale of the county's nursing home plus $3 million more -- and threw it at the failed solar project.  The three Freeholders who voted for the bailout -- Richard Vohden, Phil Crabb, and Dennis Mudrick -- are big supporters of Gray-Gorman and held a big fundraising event to fund the Gray-Gorman effort.

Now you might be asking why are Gray-Gorman attacking Gail Phoebus, who was elected to the state Assembly and isn't even a Freeholder anymore.  Gail Phoebus isn't even on the ballot this year, so why would Gray-Gorman waste the effort? 

Well, it is very clear that the Gray-Gorman campaign is being directed by the solar lobby and the vendors and lawyers responsible for the scam in the first place.  They will never forgive Mrs. Phoebus for standing up to them.  In the words of one solar watcher:  "They want her dead." 

Remember the Solar Proposal Evaluation Team that wrote the 2011 document used to sell the solar deal to the Sussex County Freeholders?  The Gray-Gorman email praised the members of this corrupt or incompetent team and criticized those who held them accountable.

Birdsall Services Group was a big part of the Solar Proposal Evaluation Team and the Group pleaded guilty in 2013, was fined $1 million and its assets sold in bankruptcy proceedings.  Birdsall's top executive recently got a prison sentence of 4 years, while another executive pleaded guilty late last month.  The Asbury Park Press reported:

BIRDSALL GOES TO PRISON FOR CORRUPTION

Toms River - Howard Birdsall, the former head of one of New Jersey's oldest and most prestigious engineering firms, was sentenced to four years in prison Friday in the pay-to-play corruption case that brought about the demise of the company that bore his family's name.

...Birdsall and six other of the firm's executives, as well as the firm itself, were indicted in 2013 on charges that they masked corporate campaign contributions as individual political donations in order to skirt the state's pay-to-play laws and get contracts it otherwise would have been disqualified from.

The evaluation team was put together by then County Administrator John Eskilson.  In 2015, Freeholders Richard Vohden, Phil Crabb, and Dennis Mudrick supported the bailout of the failed solar scheme.  These same freeholders later rewarded Eskilson with a position as a Trustee with the Sussex County Community College. 

Why are Gray-Gorman plainly aligning themselves with the solar scammers who raped Sussex County taxpayers for upwards of $40 million?  It is all about killing the county's investigation to put together a lawsuit to get our money back.  If the scammers can keep the money and plea bargain their way into paying a fine to resolve the criminal investigations, then they will come out ahead.

That's how these things often work out.  The fine is just a cost of doing business.  United States Senator Elizabeth Warren complained bitterly when HSBC Bank was caught laundering nearly a billion dollars in drug cartel money and ended up paying a fine with no prosecution.  Here is the Senator at a hearing discussing this subject:

Another vendor linked to solar pleads guilty

The Star-Ledger reported yesterday that another one-time executive from the now defunct Birdsall Services Group admitted his role in funneling more than a million dollars to politicians in exchange for contracts and favors -- all this in direct violation of the state's ban on pay-to-play schemes.  Reporter S.P. Sullivan wrote:

A top executive of the politically connected engineering firm toppled by an investigation into illegal campaign contributions admitted Monday to his role in the scheme, authorities said.

Former Birdsall Services Group senior vice president William Birdsall, 67, pleaded guilty to a single charge of third-degree misconduct by a corporate official in front of Superior Court Judge James Den Uyl in Ocean County.

Birdsall, of Manchester, is the brother of the firm's former CEO Howard Birdsall, who received a four-year sentence for the scheme last month.

The Monmouth County firm folded in 2013 after investigators found the Birdsalls and their employees were reimbursed by the company for donations they made individually to New Jersey politicians, in violation of the state's pay-to-play laws.

The Star-Ledger has obtained documents that meticulously outline how one politically connected firm parlayed campaign donations into millions of dollars in government contracts. It's the ultimate pay-to-play handbook — and we're naming names.

Under a plea deal, William Birdsall is banned from bidding on public contracts in the state and prosecutors will recommend he serve a 270-day sentence in county jail. He also paid the state the $129,115 he illegally donated on behalf of the firm, along with a $75,000 public corruption profiteering penalty, according to the state Attorney General's Office.

William Birdsall is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.

The Birdsall Services Group was at the center of the Sussex solar scam that has cost county taxpayers upwards of $38 million.  Two of its members were part of the Solar Proposal Evaluation Team that wrote the 2011 document used to sell the solar deal to the Sussex County Freeholders. The evaluation team was put together by John Eskilson.  In 2015, Freeholders Richard Vohden, Phil Crabb, and Dennis Mudrick supported the bailout of the failed solar scheme.  These same freeholders later rewarded Eskilson with a position as a trustee with the Sussex County Community College.