Sarlo to developers: Show us the money
State Sen. Paul Sarlo plans to introduce a bill that would require developers working with more than $25 million of financing to be audited annually, the Bergen Record is reporting.
Nicknamed “the EnCap law,” Sarlo’s proposed reforms are “designed to curb abuses in major public-private projects,” the Record says.
Sarlo, a onetime supporter of EnCap’s plan for the Meadowlands, was mentioned in Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper’s 277-page report. From the New York Times:
A beneficiary of the company’s political contributions was State Senator Paul A. Sarlo, Democrat of Wood-Ridge. In one example of how EnCap worked with lawmakers, the report said that (EnCap Lawyer Eric) Wisler gave Senator Sarlo a measure that the senator then co-sponsored.
Mr. Sarlo said on (Feb. 28) that he had not yet read the report, but when a reporter read key passages mentioning his role, Mr. Sarlo said that the bill, pertaining to the $450 million bond deal, had never moved forward and that he “didn’t feel comfortable with it.” Mr. Sarlo, a member of the Senate Regulatory Oversight Committee, said the panel would hold hearings on the report next month.
“If we were able to see financial ledgers, this EnCap disaster wouldn’t have happened,” Sarlo told the Record. “Now, we’ll be able to see where every penny is going in these important public projects. The taxpayers need to be protected.”
He said that under his broad-stroke measure, any developer getting substantial public money would be “scrutinized.” The bill would seek audits on major public-private projects going back five years.
March 18th, 2008 at 11:22 am
As a resident of South Bergen, we witnessed first hand how EnCap has been mismanaged.
All this fluster and bluster by Senator Sarlo makes him look like a trail blazer, however it’s a little too little a little too late. The fox is now overseeing the hen house.
This new grandstand focuses on after the fact.
What about all the fat campaign contributions Sarlo has accepted from EnCap, their developers, their attorneys and others all connected, in order grease the wheels for the state loans and the wheeling and dealing to continue for EnCap and look their other way?
If Sarlo wants to be so proactive and thinks this is wrong, why doesn’t he just give back all the tainted campaign donations?