Green Jersey

What wasn’t in the EnCap report

A view of the Meadowlands from Route 7 near South Arlington.

Photograph by Leif Knutsen.

What wasn’t in State Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper’s report on EnCap: Evidence that donations from the firm entrusted with redeveloping the Meadowlands influenced lawmakers, says Charles Stile in a story today in the Bergen Record. What was: EnCap President William Gauger’s admission that political donations were made to protect the company’s interests.

That lack of a connection stuns Stiles, who notes apparent links like this:

Gauger and Thomas Darden, chief executive officer of Cherokee Investment Partners, EnCap’s parent company, pumped $40,000 to the Democratic State Committee in April 2004. Several weeks later, a bill was introduced allowing EnCap to enter into lucrative tax-sharing agreements with local towns. By June, the bill was approved by both houses.

Click here for a story in tomorrow’s New York Times about the Meadowlands redevelopment saga — what was supposed to happen, what didn’t, and why things went wrong.