A joint senate committee hearing made these recommendations after questioning Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper about her Feb. 28 report on the landfills-to-golf courses and housing deal.

"Point Person"

Senator Paul Sarlo, who represents southern Bergen County, introduced a bill to establish a "gatekeeper" or point person to manage public-private partnerships like EnCap shortly.

According to Cooper’s report, private developer EnCap used unfair tactics to swindle large amounts of public money from the state. The report revealed that EnCap pushed through proposals and funding by talking to state agencies separately. The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission chose EnCap to take on the project, believing the company had adequate private funding. However, EnCap gained funding form the Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Infrastructure Trust. Afterward, the developer struck deals with local towns to secure future property taxes and attempted to borrow more money from the state to clean up the landfills.

Cooper’s report claims that the state agencies were unaware of deals with the state and vice versa.

Sarlo said his bill would affect any redevelopment project in the state that receives public money and would force private businesses to disclose their finances before doing business with the state.

Senator Nia Gill, who represents parts of Essex and Passaic counties, did not believe the recommendation went far enough, instead believing the governor’s office and the attorney general should remain the watchdog for public-private partnerships. The attorney general, who acts as counsel to all of the agencies in the executive branch including the NJMC and the DEP, did not act as "gatekeeper" of information in the way Sarlo envisions a point person, but Gill believes it should. "We actually have the correct structure to oversee this if the attorney general steps up to the plate," said Gill.

As for the "point person" recommendation, Rutherford Mayor John Hipp felt centering a body in Trenton to control local redevelopment projects would not help local municipalities. All development is local, said Hipp, and putting a "bureaucrat" in charge of all local redevelopment projects would create a person in charge that is miles away from where the development actually happens.

Criminal investigation

Gill felt federal attorneys should criminally investigate the matter, claiming the state attorney general would be biased. She even went so far as to call for an investigation of the attorney general’s office. "We should move to investigate the attorney general," she said. "I think New Jersey is in a bigger pickle than we realize."

The law firm that represents EnCap, DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick, Cole & Wisler, represented the state of New Jersey during the administration of former Governor James McGreevey and during other various times, according to Gill. Based on this fact alone, Gill believed the attorney general would have a potential conflict of interest.

Seven attorney generals handled the EnCap project at different times since the project began to take shape in 1999.

Senator Bob Smith, who represents parts of central New Jersey, disagreed with Gill. He said the matter should be turned over to New Jersey attorney general Anne Milgram. If Milgram felt a conflict of interest prevented her from moving forward, she could then move the matter to the U.S. attorneys. "I don’t think the attorney general’s office should be excluded from the process," said Smith.

Sarlo pointed out that Milgram is new to the process, having only been in office since June 2007, and the legislature has an obligation to go to her first to look into EnCap.

Hipp also felt U.S. attorney Chris Christie should look into the matter and has called on him to investigate the project.