Outgoing New Jersey Commissioner Drums Up Business
Before leaving post, official fished for business:
On one of his last days as chief of the state Department of Human Services, outgoing Commissioner James M. Davy stayed up late trying to drum up business for his brand-new consulting firm. Earlier that day, at a meeting in Trenton, he had promised county human services officials to push for $1.7 million in state child-abuse prevention grants they had pending before his agency.
Late in the evening, Davy fired off 21 e-mails to the officials, asking that they consider hiring him to advise how to spend the grants once they got them.
"As I mentioned today, I have formed James M. Davy Associates LLC to provide and facilitate strategic planning and problem solving consulting for non-profit, municipal, county and state governments."
"As you consider the prospect of fashioning your Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Strategic Plan for submission to the Office of Prevention and Community Partnership, I would ask that you give James. M. Davy Associates an opportunity to facilitate your strategic planning process."
Davy's actions, which he confirmed in an interview yesterday, appear to violate state ethics laws that prevent state officials from soliciting business, said Paula Franzese, a Seton Hall University law professor who served as special ethics counsel to former Gov. Richard Codey.
Davy said he should have postponed the sales pitch. "I probably jumped the gun by a few days. I was walking out the door. I couldn't influence a thing, anyway," he said. But the former commissioner also said he did not think he did anything wrong: "I don't think it's a conflict. Maybe I am wrong."
Davy, 52, was a town manager for nearly 30 years, most recently in Woodbridge, where McGreevey was mayor. In 2002 he went to Trenton as a member of the McGreevey administration, first as director of operations and then as the head of Human Services. His assignment was to overhaul the state's troubled child welfare system. His wife, Lucille, a lawyer and former teacher, is currently the state's acting education commissioner.
New Jersey Government; New Jersey Corruption
On one of his last days as chief of the state Department of Human Services, outgoing Commissioner James M. Davy stayed up late trying to drum up business for his brand-new consulting firm. Earlier that day, at a meeting in Trenton, he had promised county human services officials to push for $1.7 million in state child-abuse prevention grants they had pending before his agency.
Late in the evening, Davy fired off 21 e-mails to the officials, asking that they consider hiring him to advise how to spend the grants once they got them.
"As I mentioned today, I have formed James M. Davy Associates LLC to provide and facilitate strategic planning and problem solving consulting for non-profit, municipal, county and state governments."
"As you consider the prospect of fashioning your Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Strategic Plan for submission to the Office of Prevention and Community Partnership, I would ask that you give James. M. Davy Associates an opportunity to facilitate your strategic planning process."
Davy's actions, which he confirmed in an interview yesterday, appear to violate state ethics laws that prevent state officials from soliciting business, said Paula Franzese, a Seton Hall University law professor who served as special ethics counsel to former Gov. Richard Codey.
Davy said he should have postponed the sales pitch. "I probably jumped the gun by a few days. I was walking out the door. I couldn't influence a thing, anyway," he said. But the former commissioner also said he did not think he did anything wrong: "I don't think it's a conflict. Maybe I am wrong."
Davy, 52, was a town manager for nearly 30 years, most recently in Woodbridge, where McGreevey was mayor. In 2002 he went to Trenton as a member of the McGreevey administration, first as director of operations and then as the head of Human Services. His assignment was to overhaul the state's troubled child welfare system. His wife, Lucille, a lawyer and former teacher, is currently the state's acting education commissioner.
New Jersey Government; New Jersey Corruption
