UCCF 8/17/17: Prevention Links

2017-666: Amending Resolution 2017-236 to award an additional $18,349 in Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI) grant funding to Prevention Links, Inc., Roselle, New Jersey, for a new subcontract total not to exceed $117,800, as an approved allocation from the Juvenile Justice Commission to provide additional Family Engagement Services based on the Juvenile Justice Commission Points of Continuum: Detention and disposition, for the same grant period of January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017 with no other changes to agreement.
2017-236: Authorizing the County Manager to award an amount not to exceed $99,451 to Prevention Links Inc., Roselle, New Jersey, for the grant period January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017 as an approved allocation from the Juvenile Justice Commission to provide program services based on the Juvenile Justice Commission Points of Continuum: Detention and Disposition.

Based on check registry data Prevention Links, Inc. has received $1,860,468 from Union County from 2004 through February, 2017.
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Double-Dippers

Filtering data on participants in the New Jersey retirement for only those linked to Union County (including municipalities and authorities) yields 39,350 entries with total annual salaries of $1,353,357,535 and pensions of $612,010,813. Of those, 178 participants are double-dippers with annual salaries of $7,816,950 and pensions of $6,281,373 who fall into four categories (with examples):

Oak Ridge Rinks Iced

There was another freeholder meeting yesterday that ran from 6:30pm to about 6:45pm which was advertised as a hearing on a Project Scope Change for Oak Ridge Park in Clark:

TAKE NOTICE that the County of Union has applied to New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Green Acres Program, to allow the County to change its proposed project scope at Oak Ridge Park in Clark, New Jersey (constituting Block 2, Lot 1; Block 2, Lot 3: and Block 3, Lot 1 on the Clark Tax Map) from the one approved by Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program on April 12, 2011.

The revised project scope will eliminate the previously approved outdoor Ice Skating Center, and it would create a new athletic track and field at the Park that would conform with NCAA collegiate standards. The previously approved bike-pathway and Great Lawn and Amphitheater (with a movable-temporary stage) will remain part of the proposed project.

Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:36-12.2(b) a scoping hearing to obtain public comment on this request will be held before the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders. All interested parties are invited to attend and participate in this hearing. Written comments on the proposed change may be directed to Kevin Campbell, Assistant County Counsel, 10 Elizabethtown Plaza, Elizabeth, NJ 07207, also available at (908)-527-4250.

There was not much of a public presence at the hearing and no member of the public made any comments.

The new plans for Oak Ridge Park are now:

UCCF 8/17/17: Roselle Mind & Body Complex Pushback

No resolution on the agenda but several Roselle residents came out tonight against the Mind & Body Complex.

By order of appearance or, as you will see in the second video, disappearance:

Solar Panel Fallout – Part 2

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This was in Sussex County but Union County was similarly gulled into their own version of this Solar Panel fiasco.

Below, pertinent excerpts from the Boxer $500,000 report:

UCCF 8/10/17: Not the Meeting Most Expected

There was supposed to be a special meeting tonight where:

Official action will be taken relative to the following resolution:

CONSENTING TO THE ISSUANCE OF COUNTY GUARANTEED LEASE REVENUE BONDS, SERIES 2017 (BOROUGH OF ROSELLE COMMUNITY CENTER AND LIBRARY PROJECT) AND COUNTY GUARANTEED LEASE REVENUE BONDS, SERIES 2017 (ROSELLE BOARD OF EDUCATION EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING CENTER PROJECT) BY THE UNION COUNTY IMPROVEMENT AUTHORITY AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES AND EXECUTION OF LEASES IN CONNECTION THEREWITH IN ACCORDANCE WITH N.J.S.A. 40:37A-56

But when the public gathered for the meeting they found this:

Solar Panel Fallout

What is the scandal here? Losing $26 million on a scam project approved by a bunch of dopes or losing $500,000 on an investigation telling you that you are a bunch of dopes?

“Ultimately this project, which was not supposed to cost the county anything … is costing the county millions, and will impact the county budget for years to come,” [former State Comptroller Matthew] Boxer said from the podium….The law firm’s report asserted that all county employees had acted in “good faith,” despite not appearing to comprehend the risks posed by the project.

This was Sussex County as something like this would never happen in Union County. The investigation part I mean. The scam we got and Union County taxpayers, through another bailout of the Union County Improvement Authority, are now paying.

And according to the nj.com story Sussex County operates quite differently from Union County:

Turnover:

Of the five freeholders who joined in the unanimous approval of the project in 2011, only Freeholder Phil Crabb, whose term expires Dec. 31, remains on the board. Crabb, a freeholder since 2008, is not seeking re-election.

Public oversight:

Several county residents expressed frustration during the meeting, citing the anticipated $500,000 final cost of the review and withholding the report from the public until minutes before Boxer took the podium. Boxer appeared on the same night that the county’s biggest event, the 10-day New Jersey State Fair, was going on at the nearby Sussex County Fairgrounds. Only 35 were in attendance when he began speaking.

Due diligence:

Boxer’s report concluded with nine recommendations aimed at preventing similar mistakes in the future, such as establishing a risk committee, avoiding projects too complex to understand and studying up on market dynamics before making a major investment.

Here is the $500,000 Sussex report. Tonight at 7pm the Union County freeholders will hold a special meeting embarking on another fiasco. Will 35 members of the general public be there? Will two?