NIBOT SAYS WEINBERG ‘THE REFORMER' IS ABSENT ON ENCAP SCANDAL

NIBOT FOR SENATE

NIBOT SAYS WEINBERG ‘THE REFORMER’ IS ABSENT ON ENCAP SCANDAL

Senator Protecting Huttle’s Husband’s Law Firm  

BERGENFIELD… If State Sen. Loretta Weinberg is really the reformer she is pretending to be, she would be calling for an immediate state investigation into the $300 million EnCap redevelopment boondoggle in the Meadowlands – a project she supported in the past – says Clara Nibot, the Republican state senate challenger in District 37. 

“The EnCap project is an environmental and financial disaster that demonstrates the depth of political corruption and manipulation of state government by political insiders – including the law firm of her running mates’ husband,” said Nibot.  

“Why isn’t Sen. Weinberg joining with Sen. (Gerald) Cardinale in demanding the legislature take immediate investigative action on EnCap? Why isn’t Sen. Weinberg demanding that Gov. Corzine immediately release the Inspector General’s report on EnCap?” asked Nibot.  

“I’ll tell you why, because she is not really interested in reforming the political system that has benefited her throughout her career,” said Nibot 

Nibot said that Weinberg was a supporter of the EnCap project since the McGreevey Administration and despite volumes of evidence that it is a sweetheart corporate deal that is wasting taxpayer money; the senator has been reluctant to criticize the Bergen County project. 

One reason for Weinberg’s reticence on EnCap is that her running mate, Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle is married to Frank Huttle a partner in the Teaneck law firm DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick, Cole & Wisler, which has made millions on the EnCap project and is implicated in news reports that the developer was given special privileges by the state.  

“The EnCap scandal is one of the biggest boondoggles in state history and yet neither Sen. Weinberg nor Assemblywoman Huttle is calling for an investigation,” said Nibot.  “Why is Sen. Weinberg confining her investigations into her party’s chairman and not demanding an immediate probe into a project of much more importance to taxpayers and residents?”  

The Record newspaper has reported that EnCap’s parent company Cherokee Investment Partners received millions in taxpayer supported loans over the objection of state department directors, who saw the project as risky. The paper also reported that EnCap was allowed to dump contaminated waste in the Meadowlands largely because the DeCotiis firm lobbied for relaxed environmental standards for its client. 

The Record reported back in April that DeCotiis made more than $8 million in fees from the EnCap project from 1999 through 2004. Nibot said the firm has probably made millions since from this faltering project. 

"Again we see Sen. Weinberg the self-styled reformer failing to address a critical issue affecting the health of the public and the finances of the state,” said Nibot.    

“Again we see Sen. Weinberg protecting those close to her, even though there is more than enough evidence of political manipulation and possible criminal activity.'

###