CRDA
Under Investigation
As reported by the Press of
Atlantic City: "The Casino Reinvestment
Development Authority is one of about 50 independent
state authorities that will be reviewed by the
Office of the Inspector General under a program
begun last year by former Gov. Richard J. Codey.
"As
part of that effort, inspectors are pouring
over stacks of CRDA records, including financial
reports, accounting procedures and payments
to vendors in the past five years. They will
also review the CRDA's organizational structure,
jobs, salaries and the responsibilities of the
board members.
"Vincent
Funelas, a spokesman for Inspector General Mary
Jane Cooper, declined to comment Tuesday other
than to confirm that inspectors are currently
at the CRDA.
"
'We can't comment on any pending or ongoing
investigations. But it's no secret that we're
there,' Funelas said.
"Thomas
D. Carver, the former state labor commissioner
who took over as the CRDA's new executive director
in October, was out of the office Tuesday and
unavailable for comment.
"Calling
for stronger ethics reforms in state government,
Codey issued an executive order last June demanding
broader oversight of the state authorities'
financial practices to make them more accountable
to taxpayers.
"The
program continues under new Gov. Jon S. Corzine,
who noted during his campaign that a lack of
oversight has allowed some authorities to be
used as "convenient places to dole out
patronage jobs and lucrative contracts while
evading public scrutiny."
"Following
its review of the authorities, the Office of
the Inspector General will issue recommendations
to bring all of the agencies under the same
financial and accounting procedures. Funelas
could not say when the report will be completed.
"Government
authorities provide some of the state's most
important public services. They oversee such
things as school construction, transportation,
utility plants, ports, convention centers and
sports stadiums. Among them, the CRDA is unique
because it is the only authority that uses revenue
from Atlantic City's casino industry for housing
projects and economic development.
"Casinos
pay 1.25 percent of their gross revenues for
CRDA projects in Atlantic City and other areas
of the state.
"The
CRDA controls the spending of hundreds of millions
of dollars, making it one of the state's wealthiest
authorities.
"In
his first four months as executive director,
Carver has reshuffled the CRDA's staff by firing
the director of economic development and promoting
other executives to top jobs.
"The
CRDA's employees, job descriptions, salaries,
benefits and the use of authority cars will
all be scrutinized by state inspectors in their
financial review.
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