Does Amy Paterson hate the First Amendment?

Some so-called journalists treat the First Amendment like it is a wank doll.  It is not a two-way relationship but rather there for their use alone.

Tom Moran of the Star-Ledger condemns "hate speech" except when he regularly indulges in it as a feature of his opinion columns.  Then it is good hate speech because it is his. 

Amy Paterson of the NJ Herald polices her website for "political" commentators -- removing the comments of adult children of people "involved" in politics (but who never ran for elected office), while leaving up comments from actual politicians who have run for office or who are actively running for office, lobbyists who have held elected office, and former office holders with active business before county government.  It takes pretty thick lenses not to see these characters as political but Amy Paterson must have hers implanted because she blithely continues to play favorites.  In Amy Paterson's warped little brain, a twenty-year old woman is still the "property" of her parents and is not yet emancipated to the point where she can hold an opinion or vote.

At some point, shouldn't Amy Paterson be made to file with NJELEC?  After all, by stripping all the opinions of one side from the Herald's website but leaving all those of the other, isn't she making an in-kind contribution to someone's political campaign?  She has even left up the comments of the notorious poster who went by the name of DudeRules.  We all remember when this flaming idiot tried to put a hex on the daughter and grandson of a local elected official.  The State Police investigated it as a death threat, but even that doesn't get you removed from the Herald, so long as you are careful to only say bad things about the people Amy disapproves of.  If Amy and you dislike the same people, you are free to get personal to the point of commenting on your victim's children and parenting skills and she will leave up those comments.  Sounds like something corporate could get sued for.  We wonder if they know?

Curiously, Amy Paterson of the Herald is the only internet director in the state who polices her website this way.  Apparently, everyone else recognizes that a conversation creates more readers, while a monologue enforced by Amy Paterson doesn't.  So it isn't even good business sense.

We are told that Amy feels she can make these assumptions about people and place her thumb on the scale to unbalance any on-line dialogue she chooses to interfere with because she thinks she is a good judge of people.  A real people person is our Ms. Paterson.  Now if only she could find it in her heart to respect the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution.

Phoebus and Graham were right

An important news story by Ben Horowitz and Seth Augenstein of the Star-Ledger.  A new report shows that the companies behind the Sussex solar mess were culpable.  They do not deserve to be protected by the terms of the bailout, including the "hold harmless clause" and the gag order (non-disparagement clause).

Morris County got the resignations of Gabel and Pearlman.  Sussex County had the opportunity to follow their leadership at Wednesday's Freeholder Board meeting and didn't.  When will they?

Official: Solar project design flaws and site changes led to millions in cost overruns

"Significant" cost overruns occurred in the solar project at the County College of Morris, according to the county's construction administrator. (Courtesy of Sunlight General Capital)

By Ben Horowitz and Seth Augenstein | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on April 10, 2015 at 9:05 AM, updated April 10, 2015 at 12:32 PM

MORRIS COUNTY — Design drawings that had to be changed, construction that had to be redone and the changing of sites contributed to cost overruns that led to lawsuits resulting in a $66.3 million arbitration award in a three-county solar project that fizzled, according to a report by the project's construction adminstrator.

The cost overruns were part of a 71-project, $88 million solar project bonded by Morris, Somerset and Sussex counties in 2011.

In 2013, the contractor, MasTec, sued the developer, SunLight General, saying it had performed more than $79.2 million worth of "construction services" for solar projects, but had been paid only $33 million by Sunlight, leaving it short by $46.2 million, according to court documents.

In 2014, an arbitrator awarded an even greater sum -- $66.3 million -- to MasTec. That included $59 million SunLight owed MasTec following cost overruns, along with interest.

SunLight was declared in default and the counties, which held the ultimate responsibility for the project, were on the hook for the debt. They settled with MasTec for $21 million in February, effectively bailing out the project.

Earlier this month, Steve Gabel, the head of energy consultant Gabel Associates, and Stephen Pearlman, the Morris County Improvement Authority's attorney who advised on the projects setup, both submitted letters of resignation, effective June 1.

But before leaving, Gabel Associates prepared a report summarizing the causes of the cost overruns. The report was intended to be confidential but was released by the Morris freeholders on Wednesday.

Gabel, describing its role as "liaison" between the various parties to monitor the status of construction, said it did not have authority to approve design drawings or direct the projects.

Discussing problems that led to cost overruns, Gable said in some cases, sites that had been expected to get solar panels could not be included in the program for reasons including "structural inadequacy" and some areas that did not meet SunLight's "shading tolerances."

Cost overruns resulted from the elimination of carport structures at the Randolph Board of Education building and from the Morris School District's decision not to proceed with the program, Gabel said.

Those decisions required the developer and contractor to identify additional projects that could generate another 2 megawatts of electrical power, Gabel said.

There were also problems with MasTec's initial design drawings, Gabel said.

MasTec hired the same engineering design professional, Innovative Engineering Inc., to complete the designs in all three county-wide projects, Gabel said.

That workload "stressed IEI's resources" and "some drawings were in conflict with elements of the National Electrical Code," Gabel said.

Some of the problems included improper sizing of conductors and the running of unfused conductors for lengths greater than permitted by local inspectors, Gabel said.

As a result, proposed changes were sent to IEI and site drawings had to be updated. That resulted in delays in submitting updated drawings to SunLight and delayed the start of projects, Gabel said.

Because "time was of the essence," MasTec directed its contractors to start the field work, "which it did at its own risk as it elected to proceed without approved construction drawings" from SunLight, Gabel said. However, the report added, at no time did electrical contractors perform work that violated standard industry practices or the electrical code.

As a result of these design issues, work was frequently started without approved construction drawings and that led to much of the work "having to be redone" due to SunLight's requirements for material and equipment, Gabel said.

While MasTec had sometimes worked without construction drawings, SunLight was insisting on "enhanced standards" that "went above the normal, accepted practices of the industry," Gabel said.

"Use of the enhanced standards led to cost overruns, especially in light of the fact that much of the work had been completed using other methods and required redoing," according to Gabel.

A "significant" cost overrun occurred at the County College of Morris, Gabel said.

That project had "inadequate design drawings, issues with material delivery (caused by the canopy manufacturer) and problems in the construction of the canopy structures," Gabel said.

Gabel concluded that is findings are "not intended to disparage any party in the Morris Renewable Energy Program, nor does it ... assign fault to any party."

"The report is only intended to provide factual information in response to the request of Morris County for information on the basis of cost overruns," Gabel said.

Morris Freeholder David Scapicchio, who voted against the settlement, called the situation "unbelievable."

"What led to the bulk of the cost overruns was building specifications that were not approved," Scappichio said. "When they finally did get a set of approved drawings, they had to start over."

Scappichio agreed that even though SunLight owed MasTec money, and the counties wound up paying, MasTec was "absolutely at fault" in many areas.

"A lot of stuff was designed improperly," he said.

Scappichio reiterated that it was unfair that the counties wound up "holding the bag" for the mistakes of others, but he acknowledged that was how the contracts were structured.

Officials at SunLight were unavailable for comment on Thursday and officials at MasTec could not be reached.

Ben Horowitz may be reached at bhorowitz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @HorowitzBen. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2015/04/official_says_problems_with_design_drawings_and_ch.html#incart_river

While Crabb makes excuses, Morris County gets resignations

Last evening we had the opportunity to watch Freeholder Director Phil Crabb try to pass the blame and make excuses for a solar project that he, Rich Vohden, and Dennis Mudrick voted to bail out with millions of taxpayers' money.  Crabb made his statement on Vernon Vibes, a public service cable program.  

To make matters worse, at about the same time in Frankford, Mayor Gary Larson was leading the charge against even investigating the solar mess -- that's like sending the police away after a bank has been robbed.  But isn't that just like Sussex County?

Meanwhile, over in Morris County, they were acting like grown-ups and making sure that their taxpayers wouldn't be robbed again.  The Star-Ledger reported that two consultants connected with the deal had been asked to resign and their resignations accepted. 

Morris County consultants resign, in wake of solar project bailout

A month after investing more millions on a three-county solar project that fizzled amid an industry downturn, the Morris County freeholders and the county's improvement authority have accepted the resignation of two experts who advised on both the initial deal - and the bailout.

Morris County is now "looking for a possible exit strategy from the solar business," the county said in a release.

Stephen Pearlman, the Morris County Improvement Authority's attorney, and Steve Gabel, the head of energy consultant Gabel Associates, both submitted letters of resignation on Wednesday, which were accepted.

Pearlman was the attorney who advised on the project's setup, according to public documents. As the attorney for the improvement authority, he helped convince Sussex County to join with Somerset and Morris counties in the project.

Gabel advised on solar-energy prices, which plummeted just as the project was being built, according to those documents.

The three-county project was based on the "Morris model," a public-private way of financing that intermingles tax subsidies, private investment, and taxpayer money. The electricity produced would help pay off the public debt. Sussex, Somerset and Morris counties collectively borrowed $88 million to finance the project, which began in 2011.

But tumbling solar subsidy prices and litigation between the contractor and developer derailed the project, leaving roughly half the work in Morris and Sussex counties unfinished. Arbitrators awarded $66.3 million to the contractor, Power Partners MasTec, against developer SunLight General Capital LLC, according to court documents. SunLight then hired a bankruptcy law firm, using some $700,000 of the public money.

The counties then borrowed an additional $21 million last month to end all the litigation and to try and get the projects back on track - and limit losses. Critics, most notably Assemblyman Parker Space and Sussex County freeholders Gail Phoebus and George Graham, have requested an outside investigation into where the money went. A series of Sussex County municipalities have also requested the resignations of multiple county officials.

Pearlman and Gabel both did not comment on the reason for their resignation in their letters. Pearlman, reached by phone, declined comment. Their resignations take effect June 1.

Seth Augenstein can be reached at saugenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SethAugenstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2015/04/morris_county_consultants_resign_in_wake_of_solar.html