The Definition of Insanity

By Sam Adams

No, it's not what you think, because in Sussex it takes on a whole new meaning. 

Here we have a solar program that has gone bad and cost us millions. But to add insult to injury, we are sold a bill of goods by the freeholder board, that they will investigate where the money went.  Except for some of them on the board its more about politics than getting your money, why? 

    You don’t hire someone with more conflicts than James Comey to do the investigation, and that’s what Matthew Boxer has.  He worked as someone who would have a hand in the review process for the State when he worked there before he returned to the private sector law firm that conducted this so-called investigation into the same deal he had to approve. 

    But at a recent Tea Party meeting, that’s what Freeholder Rose hung his hat on. The fact that they had a pile of documents to wade through that could be used for litigation to get back your money. That investigation cost you almost $518,000, by the way.   

     Remember when I said you don’t hire the guy that signed off on a deal to investigate it?  Yeah, how’s that going to work out?  About as well as a screen door on a submarine. Get your snorkel, it’s getting deep. 

    In no way will anything be uncovered that is incriminating by Mr. Boxer because to do so would be an implication to the fact he was incompetent when he did the initial review. So, Freeholder Rose is selling you a whopper with no beef, there are no documents. Freeholders Rose and Graham know that.   

     But queue up the twilight zone music folks, to add to the insanity, the democrat in sheep's clothing John McCann, gets an endorsement from Freeholder Rose. 

   Now, who is suing Freeholders Rose, Lazzaro, and Graham?   Sheriff Strada.  He is doing so because he is the constitutionally elected law enforcement in the county, he requires his budgetary needs to be met, and the Freeholders have been fighting him on this, why?  Probably politics.  Strada’s budgets have always been reasonable, and significantly less than they could have been.   But here is where it gets insane, did Freeholder Rose endorse McCann in the hope that in some way he could get out of the lawsuit??  Because McCann was legal counsel to the Sheriff's association when he worked with Sheriff Saudino in Bergen County, a Hillary supporter, and democrat himself, as well.  And as a result of that connection, he may have made a promise to Freeholder Rose that he could pull something off.  Make it all go away for Freeholder Rose. After all, McCann has as many endorsements as Charles Manson and needs any he can get. 

     I don’t see Sheriff Strada caving on the lawsuit, the sheriff’s department needs to be funded.

 This is nothing more than a very, very desperate move by both McCann, and Freeholder Rose to try to save each other.  The voters of Sussex county are smarter than that.

Sussex solar scandal, round two?

Watchdog's own "solar tracker" weighs in with thoughts on the new mistakes that have been made in the handling of Sussex County's solar nightmare.  This is important reading -- and pay close attention to what goes on at tonight's away-from-home Freeholder Board meeting in Vernon.

Where is the transparency?

Graham's group reminds me of when Obama first took over and told us how FOIA would be respected and transparency would be the rule.  Then the opposite happened.

What is Item E in Section 10, of the Consent Agenda? 

You can't understand what this item is about from reading the Resolution, let alone Item 10E.  And Exhibit A, providing context, was purposefully left off the Agenda.  Maybe this is a misdirection play, but solar should not be gamed.

Where is a solar investigation? 

The solar program is blowing out losses well beyond the original Eskilson/Re declaration of losses of $900,000 a year.  Last May, the Freeholders went into debt for $3.1 million more claiming it's because Sunlight hadn't received Federal 1603 money.

Why is the County guaranteeing Federal subsidies to private enterprises?

Yet this $3.1m was not listed in the Year 2015 public bailout summaries.  Freeholder Graham still won't tell us if solar gen build out construction met promised levels.  Freeholder Graham can't account for 3,000-4,000 SRECs/yr.

The solar program has gobbled up 2% of the operating budget and we're not building anything, won't own anything and the County taxpayer was never to receive any benefit from it.

And the biggest issue - how did Freeholder Graham get appointed to close-out the solar program?  Where was the Board vote?  What is the definition of closing out the program?  What committee was formed and just what powers does Graham have to closeout?  Who has been the prior county solar program manager for the past 2 years that Freeholder Graham now replaces/oversees/aides/fills-the-vacuum-for ( truly, what is this "role")?  This is a most unusual way for a Freeholder Board to work.

Should anything "solar" be on a consent agenda today?  Shouldn't there be a discussion for all solar contractual issues with a vote at a following meeting?  After all, any Addendum/Consent added to a Special Purpose Entity contractual arrangement may have wide ranging, unintended ramifications that are not necessarily seen by the public.  We saw this with the very first one, Addendum #1, that permitted protected construction funds to be raided for finance and legal payments which then caused mayhem years later.  Addendum #1 was passed in a similar way that avoided public awareness that insiders had lost control. 

Shouldn't any solar program change, no matter how minor, be publicly aired with weeks between the airing and a vote?

More than anything, this is about transparency and proper public reviews for a program that continues to bleed red ink in a climate of secrecy. 

Read the Resolution, Section 1 reads like a blank check - although Exhibit A is missing to provide context.  How does Section 1, combined with Freeholder Graham's appointment to close out solar, read to you?