Karrow Asks If Scandal Will Finally Prod Corzine to Account for 'Special Municipal Aid'

By Andrew Pratt

In the wake of the abrupt resignation of Community Affairs Commissioner Joe Doria, Senator Marcia Karrow, R-Warren/Hunterdon, urged Governor Jon Corzine to immediately freeze accounts that hold money earmarked for "Special Municipal Aid," also known as "Distressed Cities" aid.

"The state comptroller should independently audit how hundreds of millions of dollars of this aid is spent by Jersey City, Camden and a handful of other mismanaged cities," Senator Karrow said. "Instead, Governor Corzine let the Community Affairs Commissioner control both the dispensing of money and the audits. Given recent events, there are new, compelling and urgent reasons to freeze these funds until truly independent audits can be conducted.

"In 2008, the New Jersey inspector general reported that aid was being funneled to a handful of cities without accountability for what was being spent," Karrow said. "Governor Corzine's response was to ignore pleas for better oversight and an honest, transparent process for applying for aid. Perhaps recent events will open his eyes and he will finally do the right thing."

Commissioner Doria resigned yesterday at the governor's request after federal investigators executed search warrants at his home and Trenton office as part of an ongoing investigation of corruption and money laundering that has resulted in the indictment of 44 people. The U.S. attorney's office has not filed charges against Doria.

"It never made sense to dispense hundreds of millions of dollars in 'special' aid to a few financially mismanaged cities when oversight was at best lax. Now there is every reason to suspect that there was no real oversight at all. I urge the governor to freeze this money until real audits of all spending are finally conducted."

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ANDREW PRATT can be reached via email at apratt@njleg.org.

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