THREE WEEKS LATER BERGEN DEMOCRATS STILL FAIL TO PRODUCE CONSULTANT FEE RECORDS

BERGEN COUNTY REPUBLICAN ORGANIZATION

 Ganz, McPherson Refuse To Turn Over List Of Monies Paid By BCIA In Borrowing Schemes   

HACKENSACK -- Three weeks after a written request to Freeholder David Ganz to produce a record of the fees paid to consultants by the Bergen County Improvement Authority, Ganz and the county freeholder board have failed to produce any financial data, said Republican freeholder candidate Chris Calabrese.

 “We have to believe that Freeholder Ganz and  Freeholder Bernadette McPherson do not want the public to see the records and they are fearful of having the taxpayers see the connection between their campaign donors and the BCIA consultants who were given tens of thousands of dollars from the BCIA,” said Calabrese, a South Bergen business owner.

Ganz publicly pledged to Calabrese to produce the records two weeks at a county freeholder meeting.

Calabrese and his running mates Jeffrey Heller and Paul Duggan have noted that both Ganz, as the former mayor of Fair Lawn, and McPherson as the former mayor of Rutherford have initiated financial associations with the BCIA that are not favorable to their local taxpayers.

“Ganz and McPherson both have sold their communities down the river by dealing with the BCIA and its predatory lending practices,” said Duggan. “They left their towns with debts from the BCIA that their taxpayers are now stuck paying off.”

Heller noted that as freeholders neither Ganz nor McPherson are doing the job they are supposed to be doing overseeing the shadowy organization -- the BCIA - that operates with little oversight from elected officials.

The attorney for the BCIA is Dennis Oury, also the attorney for the Bergen county Democratic Organization. Oury is under federal investigation and last week his offices were raided by federal agents, who also raided the law offices of  County Democratic Party Chairman Joseph Ferriero.    

Calabrese and the Republicans have asked for a list of consultant fees paid by the BCIA as part of its loan program -- dating back to January 1, 2005. The request was made directly to Ganz’s freeholder office on August 6. At the August 13 freeholder meeting Ganz told Calabrese he was away on vacation when the letter was sent to his office but that he would comply with the request. A follow up letter was sent last week to Ganz’s office and letter addressed to both Freeholder Ganz and Freeholder Bernadette McPherson was sent today.

Calabrese noted that the BCIA, which makes loans to municipalities and other agencies, doles out millions each year in fees to a select group of consultants hand picked by the Democrat power brokers. But, said Calabrese, the fees are never disclosed. 

Earlier this month, the Bergen County Republican Organization Chairman Robert Yudin’s wrote to U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, encouraging the federal prosecutor to investigate the operations of the BCIA. 

The request came after County Executive Dennis McNerney attended a Glen Rock School Board meeting in July to pressure the board into taking a $45 million loan through the BCIA. The board said it rejected the offer because the arrangement were unrealistically optimistic and the fees too high. This was not the first time that the McNerney has been seeking work for the BCIA, which also loaned $103 million to the now bankrupt EnCap Company.

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