GUARINO: SARLO FAILED NORTH ARLINGTON AND RUTHERFORD

Lyndhurst -- State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-36) failed to deliver state aid for North Arlington and Rutherford, towns that are struggling to right themselves in the wake of the EnCap development debacle backed by the senator, says Senate candidate Mike Guarino.

"Senator Sarlo voted to raise income, sales and other state taxes with the promise that this additional money would cut property taxes," Guarino said. "He lied and the result are massive tax hikes caused in large part by the EnCap Housing Project Sarlo has led the fight to stick in our towns."

Guarino noted that Sarlo "pushed EnCap and sponsored legislation that put taxpayer money at risk for this redevelopment boondoggle. Now that EnCap is crumbling, he has left Rutherford and North Arlington taxpayers twisting in the wind,” said Guarino.

Sarlo sponsored special legislation making it possible for the state to finance the EnCap redevelopment – including granting EnCap’s parent firm, Cherokee Investment Partners, a $122 million interest-free loan. Another $103 million loan was engineered through the Bergen County Improvement Authority, which paid large fees to Democratic Party consultants as part of the deal.

“It seems Sen. Sarlo had no trouble convincing the state and Bergen County Improvement Authority to give money to EnCap, but he can’t use his power to come to the aid of taxpayers in his district, who have been harmed by EnCap,” said Guarino.

North Arlington is facing a big tax hike because of a revenue shortfall caused by the loss of EnCap funds. The borough’s previous administration had accepted money from EnCap as an inducement to permit a future housing development. The borough’s new administration under Mayor Peter Massa fought the massive EnCap development and refused to use eminent domain to condemn properties that the developer wanted.

Guarino says North Arlington did the right thing and his town should not be penalized for it.

“The borough was right to kill this project. It’s a joke. It’s going to cost taxpayers lots of money. North Arlington shouldn’t be penalized for the EnCap mess that Sarlo helped create,” said Guarino.

Guarino said Sarlo should have sponsored special legislation tapping into the extraordinary aid pool to help North Arlington and Rutherford. “The entire idea of having an extraordinary aid fund is to help towns that are facing extraordinary financial difficulty. If the program can’t help a town like North Arlington or Rutherford, then what’s the use of having the program?” asked Guarino.

Guarino, a former Bergen County Health Department director, said as senator he would tap into the New Jersey Meadowlands Commissions MAGNET fund for aid to North Arlington and Rutherford.

Guarino says documents he obtained through the Open Public Records Act, show that the NJMC is sitting on a pool of $14 million in the MAGNET FUND. That money came to the NJMC through a $25 million pot of money amassed by the Bergen County Utilities Authority to close the meadowlands landfills.

A print out of how the money has been used shows that $11 million of that money is committed to various projects (including municipal assistance programs) leaving $14 million that could be tapped to help North Arlington and Rutherford.

“The Meadowlands Commission is partly responsible for this EnCap fiasco and there is no reason that they shouldn’t help bail out the towns hurt by this boondoggle,” said Guarino.

Among the payouts by the NJMC is a $573,000 no bid contract issued to Sarlo’s brother’s firm, DMR Architects of Hasbrouck Heights in March. The money Charles Sarlo received is for engineering and design work on the River Barge Marina in Carlstadt.

“Senator Sarlo's brother is being paid more in taxpayer money than the state could come up with for either North Arlington or Rutherford," Guarino said. "And that doesn't count the hundreds of thousands of state tax dollars Sarlo funnels into his own pocket through state aid to towns where his engineering firm has no-bid contracts."

"This obvious taxpayer rip-off needs to be investigated by the U.S. Attorney immediately to determine whether Senator Sarlo had anything to do with directing state tax dollars into his or his brother's pocket."