Xanadu

Jon Corzine's Meadowlands Commission is asleep at the switch if its members can't keep a steady flow of financing to a $2 billion project like Xanadu. What good is state oversight if unnecessary delays keep costing New Jersey residents jobs and tax money?

Bergen County GOP Chairman Robert Yudin says he can't understand why Democrats would pick Bergen County Freeholder James Carroll to launch attacks on GOP gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie.  After Christie visited Bergen County yesterday to link Gov. Jon Corzine to recent unemployment numbers, the Democratic State Committee released a statement from Carroll saying that Christie has never created new jobs.

 "The only jobs Jim Carroll has created and is trying to create are the government jobs he created for himself and his family at the Bergen County Utilities Authority," Yudin said.  "Carroll has excelled only at using taxpayer money to give big paydays to his political supporters, such as PMK Associates - which so far has been paid $6.7 million for the Overpeck Park boondoggle that is now costing taxpayers more than $70 million and counting."

Yudin suggests that if Carroll is truly interested in creating jobs, he can "explain what happened to the 20,000 jobs that were supposed to be created at Xanadu and the $100 million in yearly sales tax revenue that was supposed to be generated by the mega-mall that Mr. Carroll and the all-Democratic Bergen County Freeholder Board strongly backed."

"So far Xanadu has cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and all they have to show for it is an empty building and a taxpayer subsidized train service for an empty mall," said Yudin. "Carroll is the same freeholder who has been silent about the EnCap boondoggle in the Meadowlands that is now under federal investigation, because the state refused to investigate the failings of its own project."

Senator Kevin O'Toole asks why Governor Corzine seems to be  concerned only about horse racing when the state's entire sports entertainment industry is in trouble. 

“Coming on the heels of last month’s announcement that Xanadu will again delay its opening to some time in 2010, I think the problems at General Growth Properties are a warning for state and county officials to investigate the viability of this project before throwing any more public money at it,”

"We don’t want another EnCap on our hands, but that’s what it looks like we are going to get,”

“Given the history of Xanadu and its many financial difficulties, Mr. Rumana should have known better than to support legislation that leaves the taxpayers vulnerable to pay for a giant fish tank in the middle of meadowlands.”

            TRENTON – Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) today released the following statement on news of Xanadu’s opening being delayed due to a loan default by one of the project’s lenders:

            “This is the icing on the cake that flopped before you could get it out of the oven.  This would be a tremendous disappointment in any economic climate, but given the dire straits we’re in now, it’s a huge setback to a region that was relying heavily on the project for job creation and revenue. 

In this economy it is doubtful whether Xanadu is a fully viable project and whether the taxpayers are ever gong to see a return on the millions of  dollars they were forced to pour into improvements to supplement this massive project.”

Union leader Buzz Dressel is expected to run for Bergen County Democratic Chairman if Joe Ferriero is ousted.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 164 endorsed Republican Henry McNamara for Bergen County Executive in 2002 at the request of Democratic powerhouse John Lynch, according to Richard "Buzz" Dressel, the business manager for the local.  Lynch, a former Senate President, is now serving a 39 month sentence after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges.

If there is contest to replace indicted Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero, Dressel is expected to face off against Michael Kasparian, a real estate developer and Democratic fundraiser with ties to Ferriero.  Dressel says the IBEW's endorsements of McNamara and GOP County Clerk Kathleen Donovan won't hamper his ability to replace Ferriero.  He says the union was backing McNamara because he was stronger in his opposition to the Xanadu project than the eventual winner, Democrat Dennis McNerney.  And he says even Ferriero tried to get Donovan to seek re-election last year as a Democrat.

State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge), who met with Kasparian today, says Dressel shouldn't be penalized for a couple of union endorsements.

"That was his union, it wasn't specifically Buzzy," said Sarlo.   "Look, if the county committee picks him he would have to guarantee that all endorsements out of that union hall are Democratic."

At 3,500 members, Dressel's local is the largest electrical construction workers union in the state.

"That's the largest union in Bergen County, and the fact that he's the president could turn into a big positive for him," said Sarlo.

Dressel's union, whose campaign contributions included one to GOP gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler in 2001, will endorse only Democrats from now on.  "Without a doubt," he told PolitickerNJ.com.

"We need to bring credibility back to the Bergen County Democratic Party," added Dressel, a Commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. "This is not the Democratic Party my grandfather was a part of. We're supposed to be connecting people to the process, and that's what I want to do. I want to bring the party back together. I'd actually be calling for meetings and a transparent process. Meanwhile, there's somebody running against me who is unequivocally Joe Ferriero's clone."

On his way in to meet with Paramus developer and Democratic Party fundraiser Kasparian today, State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) dismissed the rumor of a conflict and said Dressell shouldn't be penalized for backing a Republican or two.