Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack
SCC alleges the price of school site inflated:
Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack along with political allies in his hometown helped coordinate the hasty construction of an apartment building that added more than $1million to the cost of property the state purchased for a new elementary school, state attorneys claim in new court documents.
Attorneys for the state Schools Construction Corp. spelled out the charges in a 43-page brief filed in a Superior Court case over the acquisition of an apartment building at 1501 Palisade Ave. in Union City.
The brief claims the building's quick construction was aided by a web of conflicts, political manipulation and direct gifts and political contributions to officials in Union City.
The state claims the SCC sent a letter in August 2003 to the land's owners and declared its intentions to purchase the vacant lot to build a replacement for the city's Christopher Columbus Elementary School. The land was appraised at $326,000. This past summer, the state was forced to pay $1.48million for the property.
The escalation in price was the result of construction of an apartment building on one corner of the property, a project that began four months after the SCC sent the letter to the owners.
"Discovery in this case reveals disturbing facts," attorneys for the schools corporation say in the brief. "Facts which confirm that the (Lopezes) sought nothing more than to purposely inflate the value of their property and force the taxpayers to pay millions more to them for their property than it is really worth."
Among other things, the state's attorneys cite testimony by John Medina, a former Union City Zoning Board member, who claims critical zoning concessions needed to get the apartment building erected before the state bought the property were approved at the direction of Stack's representative, city construction official Martin Martinetti.
"Mr. Medina admitted during his testimony that the Zoning Board's decision to approve the (Lopezes') zoning application was pre-determined and in fact directed by Martin Martinetti, Union City's Construction Code official, acting on behalf of Mayor Stack," the brief states.
Quoting from Medina's Jan. 30 deposition, the brief says Martinetti met with board members before their Sept. 11, 2003, meeting and told them the Lopez project was "important" and "that it would be approved." "I was told by Martin Martinetti that this was the agenda and that these were the outcomes of the agenda," Medina testified.
The brief also claims Lopez gave Martinetti a case of wine -- which later was returned -- in appreciation for his help getting the building approved, and says the developer bought $5,000 worth of tickets to a fundraiser for Stack's political action committee, Union City First, shortly after the state had made a $1.48million payment for the building.
Because of such "misconduct," the state argues, the Lopezes should receive only $326,000 for their property -- the price of the land before the building was erected.
"Certainly the Lopez brothers should not be rewarded and enriched for their misconduct and/or the misconduct of public officials acting in concert with them," the state's brief says.
Besides questioning Stack's role in the zoning board decisions, the state's brief points up numerous personal and political ties between the controversial project and officials with Union City and the Union City Board of Education, which selected the Lopez property for use in the school project.
For instance, Luiz Martin, the realtor who attempted to sell the property for the Lopezes in 1998 and again after the new building had been erected, serves in Union City government with Stack as public works commissioner.
Martin's wife, Tatiana, works for the Union City Board of Education. Jose Ortega, the real estate agent in Martin's office assigned to handle the 1501 Palisade sale last year, is also married to a Union City Board of Education employee.
In addition, the Lopezes' zoning attorney, Luis Diaz, is a former business partner of Alicia Morejon, a member of the city board of education.
This incident is one in a series of dubious deals that have plagued the SCC, an agency set up about three years ago to manage a court-ordered overhaul of public school buildings in 31 needy communities.
A Star-Ledger review found that schools built by the SCC cost, on average, 45 percent more to build than schools built by local school officials at the same time. A series of reports by the state inspector general has documented millions of dollars in cost overruns and questionable expenditures, and a special task force is scheduled to propose new changes to the agency in a March 15 report to Gov. Jon Corzine.
New Jersey Government: New Jersey Corruption ;New Jersey Public Schools;New Jersey SCC
Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack along with political allies in his hometown helped coordinate the hasty construction of an apartment building that added more than $1million to the cost of property the state purchased for a new elementary school, state attorneys claim in new court documents.
Attorneys for the state Schools Construction Corp. spelled out the charges in a 43-page brief filed in a Superior Court case over the acquisition of an apartment building at 1501 Palisade Ave. in Union City.
The brief claims the building's quick construction was aided by a web of conflicts, political manipulation and direct gifts and political contributions to officials in Union City.
The state claims the SCC sent a letter in August 2003 to the land's owners and declared its intentions to purchase the vacant lot to build a replacement for the city's Christopher Columbus Elementary School. The land was appraised at $326,000. This past summer, the state was forced to pay $1.48million for the property.
The escalation in price was the result of construction of an apartment building on one corner of the property, a project that began four months after the SCC sent the letter to the owners.
"Discovery in this case reveals disturbing facts," attorneys for the schools corporation say in the brief. "Facts which confirm that the (Lopezes) sought nothing more than to purposely inflate the value of their property and force the taxpayers to pay millions more to them for their property than it is really worth."
Among other things, the state's attorneys cite testimony by John Medina, a former Union City Zoning Board member, who claims critical zoning concessions needed to get the apartment building erected before the state bought the property were approved at the direction of Stack's representative, city construction official Martin Martinetti.
"Mr. Medina admitted during his testimony that the Zoning Board's decision to approve the (Lopezes') zoning application was pre-determined and in fact directed by Martin Martinetti, Union City's Construction Code official, acting on behalf of Mayor Stack," the brief states.
Quoting from Medina's Jan. 30 deposition, the brief says Martinetti met with board members before their Sept. 11, 2003, meeting and told them the Lopez project was "important" and "that it would be approved." "I was told by Martin Martinetti that this was the agenda and that these were the outcomes of the agenda," Medina testified.
The brief also claims Lopez gave Martinetti a case of wine -- which later was returned -- in appreciation for his help getting the building approved, and says the developer bought $5,000 worth of tickets to a fundraiser for Stack's political action committee, Union City First, shortly after the state had made a $1.48million payment for the building.
Because of such "misconduct," the state argues, the Lopezes should receive only $326,000 for their property -- the price of the land before the building was erected.
"Certainly the Lopez brothers should not be rewarded and enriched for their misconduct and/or the misconduct of public officials acting in concert with them," the state's brief says.
Besides questioning Stack's role in the zoning board decisions, the state's brief points up numerous personal and political ties between the controversial project and officials with Union City and the Union City Board of Education, which selected the Lopez property for use in the school project.
For instance, Luiz Martin, the realtor who attempted to sell the property for the Lopezes in 1998 and again after the new building had been erected, serves in Union City government with Stack as public works commissioner.
Martin's wife, Tatiana, works for the Union City Board of Education. Jose Ortega, the real estate agent in Martin's office assigned to handle the 1501 Palisade sale last year, is also married to a Union City Board of Education employee.
In addition, the Lopezes' zoning attorney, Luis Diaz, is a former business partner of Alicia Morejon, a member of the city board of education.
This incident is one in a series of dubious deals that have plagued the SCC, an agency set up about three years ago to manage a court-ordered overhaul of public school buildings in 31 needy communities.
A Star-Ledger review found that schools built by the SCC cost, on average, 45 percent more to build than schools built by local school officials at the same time. A series of reports by the state inspector general has documented millions of dollars in cost overruns and questionable expenditures, and a special task force is scheduled to propose new changes to the agency in a March 15 report to Gov. Jon Corzine.
New Jersey Government: New Jersey Corruption ;New Jersey Public Schools;New Jersey SCC
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