West New York Affordable Housing

The Mayor of West New York Felix Roque has had some legal issues after a Hudson County Freeholder was working for the FBI as an informant and now it is learned that the Freeholder has been cooperating on other matters since 2011. William Katchen who is part of the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation is also the accountant for the West New York Housing Corporation With $8.14 million in assets as of year-end 2011, West New York Housing Corporation A New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation is one of the larger nonprofits. The 2011 reported income for West New York Housing Corporation A New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation was $8,000, making it one of the lowest-earning organizations.West New York Housing Authority Executive Director denies FBI visiting West New York just days before it is announced that Jose Munoz was an informant for the FBI. Bob DiVincent, the West New York Housing Authority Executive Director is also the CEO of West New York Housing Corporation. Frank Borin, William Katchen and Robert “Bob” DiVincent are all members of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. William Katchen and Frank Borin are involved in the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation along with former Red Bank Mayor Ed McKenna. Robert Divincent and William Katchen are also involved in the West New York Housing Authority. It seems that William Katchen is always surrounded with scandals yet nothing ever seems to happen to him but it is interesting that his friend denies that the FBI has visited West New York and then within 2 weeks it is discovered that the FBI had an informant targeting the town. Here is another Affordable Housing investigation involving William Katchen:
Published in the Bergen Record, Monday, October 6, 2008

[Funds transferred without Council approval; Christie subpoenas]

Affordable housing funds shifted

Monday, October 6, 2008
Last updated: Monday October 6, 2008, EDT 6:43 AM

BY MICHAEL GARTLAND

STAFF WRITER

Paramus Mayor James Tedesco authorized the transfer of nearly $4 million in affordable housing funds without obtaining the Borough Council’s approval, an apparent violation of affordable housing rules, public records show.

Council approval for borough expenditures is required under state guidelines, said Chris Donnelly, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

Tedesco, a Democrat who became mayor in 2003, ordered the largest transfer — $3.6 million — from the affordable housing fund to the Paramus Affordable Housing Corp. in January 2004, according to municipal records. The rest of the money was allocated in three smaller transfers over several years.

Tedesco, who also is president of the non-profit PAHC, offered only a written statement conveyed through Keith Furlong, the borough’s spokesman.

“If the borough did not adopt any specific resolutions, this was an oversight,” Tedesco said.
His Republican predecessor, Cliff Gennarelli, ordered a similar transfer, but for a much smaller sum, $100,000. Gennarelli did not respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has served at least two subpoenas related to the borough’s affordable housing program. The non-profit received one in August and the borough received one in July.

It is unclear what specifically drew federal attention.

Much of the overall $4 million transferred to PAHC eventually went to contractors, whose role in building affordable housing in Paramus is unclear.

The money eventually made its way to Paramus Affordable Development LP, a for-profit company that disbursed borough, county and state funds to contractors for a 46-unit project completed in 2005.

A significant portion of the project’s funding — $3.6 million — came from the borough itself. Bergen County paid $900,000, and the state provided about $4.4 million.
The state guidelines also bar a mayor from formal involvement in releasing affordable housing funds, Donnelly said.

“The town council authorizes expenditures,” he said. “The CFO would ultimately execute them.”
The borough did not provide any council resolutions authorizing the transfers, despite several public records requests by The Record. Instead, it provided four resolutions that did not specifically authorize the transfers.

$3.6M mystery
Council members who served in 2004 also did not recall voting to release the $3.6 million. Former council members Sandra Gunderson, Joe D’Ambrozio and Connie Wagner, who is now an assemblywoman, said they did not remember allowing that sum for affordable housing.
“When it came to affordable housing, I saw virtually nothing,” Gunderson said.

The current council president, Frank Ciambrone, also served on the council at the time. He did not respond to several calls for comment.

In a letter to Paramus Chief Financial Officer Joseph Citro on Jan. 6, 2004, Tedesco requested that $3.6 million be moved from the borough to the PAHC account “as per the agreement approved by Dennis J. Oury LLC.”

Oury was Paramus’ borough attorney in 2004. State records also list him as the registered agent for PAHC.

State records held by the Department of Community Affairs show that $3.6 million was transferred, but federal tax records show no record of $3.6 million coming into or going out of PAHC in 2004.

Tax law experts could not reconcile the contradiction. Victoria Bjorklund, former chairwoman of the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exemption, said that if the non-profit received $3.6 million — as state records indicate — then, by law, the money would have to appear on the tax form.
“All the contributions should be shown,” she said. “It should show up at least on the balance sheet as funds that came in. If it came in and went out the same day, it should still show up.”

Oury involvement
Oury resigned as counsel for the Bergen County Democratic Organization last month after he and BCDO Chairman Joseph Ferriero were indicted by a federal grand jury on eight counts of fraud conspiracy not related to Paramus.

The indictment accuses them of using political influence to gain contracts for a consulting firm in which both had financial stakes. Oury’s attorney, Gerald Krovatin, did not return calls for comment.

The accountant who handled PAHC’s 2004 tax return, as well as the returns in 2003 and 2006, was William Katchen, according to the tax records. He, too, did not respond to several requests for comment.

46-unit project
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development slapped Katchen with a one-year suspension from federal housing work in 1990 after the Passaic Housing Authority misspent $1.7 million in taxpayer money. He was the authority’s accountant.

After money was released to PAHC, state records show it went into an escrow account held by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.

The mortgage agency then released the money to Paramus Affordable Development LP, the for-profit company that disbursed funding for the 46-unit project.

Eugene Walsh is president of Paramus Affordable Development LP, a company that shares an address with four of those contractors:

* Penwal Affordable Housing Corp. (non-profit): Walsh and Laury Pensa, directors.
* Canyon Capital Corp. (for profit): Pensa, president, incorporator, agent.
* Summit Capital Corp. (for profit): Pensa, president, incorporator, agent.
* Steamboat Corp. (for profit): Walsh, president; Pensa, agent and incorporator.

Steamboat received a $976,500 development fee from Paramus Affordable Development for a project with an $8.1 million budget, according to records provided by the state. Canyon received at least $44,000, and Summit took in at least $5,000.

Development fee
In a financial disclosure form filed with the state’s Housing Mortgage and Finance Agency, Walsh wrote that Penwal — which, according to its tax form, has “implemented and developed low-income housing projects in Dumont, Garfield, Jersey City and Paramus” — would get the development fee. He did not mention his interest in Steamboat on the form.

Other records obtained from the state mortgage agency show that the development fee went to Steamboat.

A financial disclosure form submitted to the state for Steamboat does not list Walsh or Pensa’s interest in Penwal or Paramus Affordable Development LP. Pensa’s signature appears on that financial disclosure statement.

In addition, a public records request submitted to HMFA by The Record showed that disclosure statements for Penwal and Canyon Capital were not filed with the agency.
Walsh and Pensa did not return calls about the payments.

Bergen County’s United Way President Tom Toronto, who has experience with state-funded affordable housing projects, said development fees are a common cost of such projects. He also said any changes regarding development fees would have to be approved and recorded by HMFA.

“HMFA has to bless it each step of the way,” he said. “Otherwise, the money wouldn’t flow.”

E-mail: gartland@northjersey.com

Find this article at:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergenpolitics/Affordable_housing_funds_shifted.html

Lie with Dogs, Get Fleas

According to a post on the Monmouth County Republican blog, early in Ed McKenna’s career he was not a Democrat and was not happy to have John Curley  switch Parties as well.  

Ed McKenna, as Mayor, yelled at Jennifer Beck when she gave residents an opportunity to raise issues they had with the zoning board during the BLT hearings.

Here is an article from the Asbury Park Press covering the controversy of the Cedar Crossings development

Red Bank council holds off on $2.4 million land deal
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/2/06
BY LARRY HIGGS
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU

RED BANK — The borough’s proposal to explore buying a nearly 2-acre tract to use for affordable housing has been put off — for now — amid questions over its price, possible conflicts of interest and other issues.

Borough Attorney Kenneth Pringle is to examine the issues raised by residents and some council members after the Borough Council delayed a vote to authorize experts to begin the purchase process of the 1.93-acre Cedar Crossings site between Cedar and Catherine streets. The council was to have voted at its Sept. 25 meeting.

“I know it’s a tough time to make a decision with the politics in town,” said Ben Forest of Locust Avenue, referring to the upcoming mayoral election. “But it’s too important a decision to let that contaminate the process.”

Forest told the council last week that he favored waiting two weeks for Pringle’s advice on conflict of interest.

“Let’s make sure it’s done right, and it will turn out terrific,” said Forest, who also is a borough Board of Education member.

Questions about the site have focused on the cost, environmental issues, its viability and whether Councilman Robert J. Bifani has a conflict of interest on the project. Bifani abstained from last week’s vote to delay authorizing the land purchase.

“I’m not crazy about sticking affordable housing in a light-industrial area,” said Steven Fitzpatrick of Chestnut Street.

Fitzpatrick, who’s been dubbed “the ethics police” by some officials, regularly researches contributions make by developers, land owners and their professionals to local campaigns and political action committees. In researching the Cedar Crossings tract, he determined that Bifani, a vice president of Mid-State Solar Distributors, has a conflict because the company is next door to the tract and its value could rise if Cedar Crossings is built.

APPLICATION ON HOLD

The Cedar Crossings site lies behind three residential streets and has a railroad line and industrial and commercial properties nearby. The current owners’ application calls for a 36-unit townhouse development and is before the borough Zoning Board of Adjustment. However, it’s been put on hold by the applicant, Cedar Crossings at Red Bank LLC, pending negotiations to sell the site to the borough.

Borough officials have applied for a $2.4 million state grant to buy the property, and if that grant is approved, the land would be turned over to the Red Bank Housing Authority for construction. The purchase would include not only the land but the townhouse design work and blueprints.

Mayor Edward J. McKenna Jr. said the proposal represents a rare chance to buy one of the town’s few vacant pieces of land with state funds and build affordable housing, which could satisfy about half of the 74 units the state says the borough is obligated to provide.

“This is effectively a gift of $2.4 million to develop affordable housing,” McKenna said at last week’s council meeting. “It would be unwise to take a pass on this property.”

Bifani declined to comment on the conflict of interest and land ownership issue, on the advice of his attorney.

“My attorney said I shouldn’t talk about it,” Bifani said in an interview Tuesday. “I abstained from voting on it.”

The Cedar Crossings tract was assembled through the purchase of four pieces of vacant land, including one owned by Mid-State Solar. That parcel was bought for $52,500 in January 2002, according to an appraisal done for the borough by Gagliano Appraisal LLC of Shrewsbury in June.

A 2ND TOWNHOUSE PLAN

Fitzpatrick pointed out that the attorney representing Cedar Crossings, Martin A. McGann Jr. of Middletown, also represents another nearby development application by Matrix LLC on Bridge Avenue. In that application, Matrix proposes to buy the Mid-State building and build townhouses.

The zoning board put off the Matrix application last week to sort out a conflict-of-interest issue between McGann and Board Attorney Kevin Kennedy, who is McGann’s tenant.

“If they approve the affordable housing property, it will affect the value of Bifani’s property,” Fitzpatrick said.

At the council meeting, McKenna was dismissive of Fitzpatrick’s findings that contributions were made to county political action committees by principals of Cedar Crossings at Red Bank LLC. The principals are Robert L. Nicholson of Shrewsbury, Joseph A. Campanella Jr. of Little Falls, and Riverside Capital Management LLC, which is made up of Peter Shapiro, Kathleen Anderson and Ted A. Smith, all of Shrewsbury, according to zoning board files.

Fitzpatrick got the information, which he read at last week’s meeting, by researching reports filed with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission. A review of information on that Web site showed that Integrated Development Concepts LLC, which was later renamed Cedar Crossings, donated $250 to the Monmouth County Council of Democratic Leaders in 2003. It also showed a $500 donation from Robert Nicholson to the same group.

But Councilman Arthur Murphy III said during the meeting that there is no way to tell if that money was earmarked for Red Bank candidates or not.

“You think that because someone gave someone 500 bucks, that’s going to influence anyone up here?” McKenna asked Fitzpatrick at the meeting.

OTHER CONCERNS RAISED

The property’s environmental issues may be wrapped up pending one more soil and water test. Meanwhile, the borough engineer’s review of the plans raised design concerns.

Depending on what is found, the price could vary from the $2.45 million, which some officials said is too high.

“I’d like to see a delay so we can get more information, and we can see that this is a clean, honest deal benefiting those who need affordable housing and . . . not a rip-off of the taxpayers who provide money for the grants,” said Councilman John P. Curley, a Republican candidate for mayor.

If it passes muster, Curley said he might vote for the plan.

His Democratic opponent, council President Pasquale “Pat” Menna, supports the project and said it will anchor the area, the way converting the old River Street School into affordable housing helped 15 years ago. That was also accomplished with state funds

“That area does need continued stabilization. If we go forward, that (borough project) will be a second anchor and a boon to the community,” Menna said at the council meeting. “We should have that long-term perspective and be proactive.”

Fitzpatrick and Curley questioned the $2.4 million appraisal for the land. McKenna said the borough would also pay $50,000 for all of the developer’s engineering and design work.

“That’s a damn expensive set of blueprints,” Curley said in an interview. “We shouldn’t pay $2.45 million for a piece of ground.”

“There are a series of checks (and balances) in it (the process),” McKenna said. “The DCA has to accept the (appraisal) number. The appraiser is highly respected, and I feel confident on it.”

The property is one test away from being given a clean bill of health by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Those soil and monitoring well tests are scheduled to be done in a week, said Chris Dwyer, case manager for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Site contamination includes metals, which had been buried on the property, and volatile organic chemicals, which leaked from a gasoline storage tank. Both the tank and contaminated soil have been removed, Dwyer said.

“They have one clean round of testing from the groundwater monitoring well by the gas tank (location),” Dwyer said. “We’re waiting for a report with post-excavation (test results) and another round of clean ground water (from a monitoring well).

If those tests are clean, the DEP will issue a “no future action required” letter, he said.

ENGINEER RAISES CONCERNS

Borough Engineer Richard Kosenski, in a report to the zoning board, questioned designs for the one-, two- and three- bedroom townhouses, noting the application would need seven variances because it doesn’t meet borough zoning standards.

Among his concerns were that the ground-floor units were smaller than the minimum 700 square feet of habitable floor area required, and that 88 percent of the units were three-bedroom units, while zoning says that number can’t exceed 50 percent.

Kosenski noted buffer areas provided between the proposed townhouses and the railroad and neighboring commercial and industrial properties are “not adequate for this site.” He pointed out the plans call for no buffer zone between industrial properties and the proposed townhouses.

The plans also call for allowing nearby industries, which use the site to gain access to loading zones, to continue that practice.

“Industrial traffic mixing with residential-use traffic is not acceptable inside the proposed development,” Kosenski wrote.

The developer would also need a density variance from the zoning board because the application calls for building more units than the 10 per acre permitted by zoning.

McKenna said the borough would build fewer than 36 townhouses on the property.

The property also would have to be examined by experts from Red Bank and the state Department of Community Affairs before a deal is finalized.

“We know the site has issues, and the contract will have contingencies. It must be environmentally clean,” McKenna said. “We will have our own engineer look it over to make sure it is fit for what we want to do.”

Red Bank’s application is under review by the Council on Affordable Housing, and the site has not been evaluated yet, said Chris Donnelly, Department of Community Affairs spokesman.

COAH doesn’t have minimum size standards for affordable units but defers to municipal building codes, Donnelly said. There are no regulations about the proximity of affordable housing sites to railroad or industrial property, but the distance and compatibility will be evaluated as part of the overall site suitability study, he said.

At another Council Meeting regarding the Cedar Crossing Project, Ed McKenna got into an argument with Councilman John Curley when questions were raised about the town overpaying for a development property in Red Bank. The people John Curley refers to as “middlemen” are affiliated with Progress Realty Advisors in Shrewsbury. They are involved in funding large development projects through out NJ and beyond. One of the people involved in the beginning is involved in municipal bonds. Another person now works at a company involved with government financing as well. It seems most of the people in the original cedar crossing llc company had involvement in government work. The company was originally known as Allied Commercial Capital based in Woodbridge, NJ. BLUE BELL, Pa., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ — Progress Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: PFNC) through its commercial mortgage banking subsidiary, Progress Realty Advisors, Inc., announced today that it has acquired Allied Commercial Capital, L.L.C. and Allied Asset Management, Inc. Both companies, which are based in Woodbridge, New Jersey, specialize in originating, underwriting and closing real estate financing for multi-family and commercial properties, as well as residential development financing in New Jersey and New York. Kathleen M. Anderson and Peter M. Shapiro, the principals of Allied, will be responsible for managing Progress Realty Advisors Northern Division, based in Allied’s former offices in Woodbridge Another company based out of the same office as Progress Realty Advisors is Riverside Capital Management. One of the clients of Progress Realty Advisors is River Developers who was named the redeveloper of Pleasantville. The cedar crossing property would eventually be purchased for 2.4 million using grant money for affordable housing from the State of NJ. While Mayor of the town McKenna pushed for the zoning change and purchase only to create the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation in early 2007 which developed the property. When it was discussed that the town should buy the property it was revealed that the Red Bank Housing Authority would develop the property which turned out not to be true. The Red Bank Housing Authority will manage the association upon completion. McKenna’s Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation was given the property from the Borough of Red Bank for $1. Another property owned by the town, 51 Monmouth Street which is the former police station, was sold to Ed McKenna’s Kids Bridge charity for $1 and is now being sold for over 1 million dollars.  After allowing the former Mayor to create Non-Profits to acquire township land, they are now complaining there are too many non-profits not paying real estate taxes.

The Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation has some interesting partners. William Katchen, a CPA from North Jersey had been suspended 1990 by the Federal Government regarding working with housing authorities. In 2008, he was also involved with the Paramus Affordable Housing Corporation which was subject to an FBI investigation. In 2006, Katchen held the follow public jobs and the income generated 

WILLIAM KATCHEN $175,479 Secaucus Bergen Vocational Schools internal auditor / Cliffside Park Housing Authority accountant / Edgewater Borough MUA director / Edgewater Housing Authority fee accountant / Englewood Housing Authority accountant / Garfield Housing Authority accountant

William Katchen is also involved in the Affordable Housing of Metropolitan Edgwater Inc located at 300 Undercliff Avenue in Cliffside Park, NJ He is also involved in the Neighborhood Friendship Affordable Housing Corp in Cliffside Park and appears to have charged nearly $9,000 for accounting work.

Frank Borin of the Decotiis Law Firm in North Jersey is also a member of the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation. Why would the headquarters of Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation be in Cliffside Park NJ and why would these people be involved in the project? rb 10-101resolution[1]

Ed McKenna’s law firm has worked for many towns including Tinton Falls. According to an Asbury Park Press story regarding the CECOM Development  Ansell said the borough’s top administrators — including former Borough Attorney Edward J. McKenna Jr., who also is the mayor of Red Bank — knew about Abrams’ involvement with Leser.
McKenna denied it.
“Absolutely not. I knew nothing about that. I was the borough attorney, not redevelopment counsel. That was separate,” McKenna said. “I had no knowledge of his (Abrams) involvement.”
McKenna added if he’d known about Abrams’ involvement, “I would have told him to step down.” Ultimately it resulted in a lengthy legal case.

Ed McKenna ran for the Chairman of the Monmouth County Democrats in 2000 but lost to Victor Scudiery. From Congressman Pallone’s wiki page in 2000, Pallone endorsed and strongly supported incumbent Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Victor V. Scudiery over then Red Bank Mayor Edward McKenna, who had the support of Middlesex County Powerbroker/Pallone enemy John Lynch and South Jersey Powerbroker George Norcross. Scudiery was re-elected county chairman by a 2 to 1 margin.  John Lynch plead guilty to fraud in 2006 due to an FBI investigation which involved Red Bank. The investigation also involved River Street Commons an adult affordable housing project located just down the street from the Cedar Crossings Project.  John Lynch and Alfred Decotiis of the Decotiis Law Firm created a political action committee known as New Directions for Responsible Leadership. John Lynch and Jack Westlake a business partner from Red Bank were helping Cherokee in a development project as well as other developers. OENJ Cherokee is a related corporation to the Encap project that the Decotiis Law Firm represented at the meadowlands. Frank Borin of the Decotiis Law Firm would become a member of Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation and charge fees to the non-profit organization. John Lynch had created a web of corporations in the City of New Brunswick where he was once mayor (1979-1990) and then his cousin James Cahill became mayor of the town for at least 6 terms. A lot of people came together as a result of Governor McGreevey. McGreevey was from Woodbridge and was endorsed originally by John Lynch for Governor. Michael Decotiis was chief counsel in his administration and George Norcross also endorsed McGreevey. Lynch and Norcross then wanted McGreevey out during his scandal. The Decotiis and Lynch friendship goes back decades.  It has also led to additional employment in Middlesex County for the Decotiis firm.  Their paths along with Lynch’s friend Jack Morris would cross again in Edison where a questionable appraisal resulted in milions of dollars in profit for Morris. Robert Decotiis was the head of Lynch’s New Directions in Leadership PAC at the time Lynch was under investigation. Red Bank Borough officials have also crossed paths with the Decotiis firm at the NJ Turnpike Authority. In a rather odd event in Sayreville, the Decotiis Law firm was being replaced by the McKenna firm while mayor Menna’s firm was also bidding on the job. Sayreville’s Mayor called Michael Dupont’s appointment politically motivated. Click Here to understand the various connections made during the McGreevey administration to understand how complicated the NJ political system is including John Lynch and George Norcross involvement with Commerce Bank and the Decotiis law firm. George Norcross is involved in the NJ Democratic Party in South Jersey. and was recorded making various threats.

Amboy Bank to Subdivide Courtyard Affordable Housing

On February 16, 2012 Amboy Bank will seek approvals to subdivide their Courtyards Project on the corner of Monmouth/West/Oakland Streets. It was approved about 1 year ago for 57 condos. 45 of the condos would be market priced in one building and a second building would consist of 12 affordable units. On February 8th, 2012 Amboy Bank officials met with the Red Bank Borough Council in a closed session to discuss the development of the property and financing. Mayor Pat Menna was not present for this meeting.  According to NJ open meeting laws there are only 9 reasons that a government can have a closed meeting. One such reason would be to discuss using public funds to acquire property. According to Amboy Bank representatives they need to subdivide the property in order to obtain financing and they also plan to develop the 2 subdivided pieces  themselves.

Previously Red  Bank purchased private property know as the Cedar Crossings with 2.4 million dollars of state grant money. This property was then sold to Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation to build 36 affordable housing units and seems to have generated several hundred thousand dollars in surplus funds. This Corporation has members that include former Mayor Ed McKenna, William Katchen a CPA who has been banned in the past by the Federal Government related to public housing funds, and Frank Borin a lawyer with the Decotiis law firm who has taken several thousand dollars in fees from Red Bank Affordable Housing Corportation for his law firm. Ed McKenna has been at several approval meetings supporting the Amboy approvals and is also a representative of the Red Bank Rivercenter. Amboy Bank was able to obtain approvals in contrast to the vision of Red Bank  Rivercenter’s plan to create street level retail along Monmouth Street between the train station and Broad Street.

Non-Profit Scam using public land for grant  money

Red Bank Affordable Housing Members

There is an interesting group of people involved with the Red Bank Affordable Housing. The members are Reverend Porter of the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Red Bank which would seem to make sense. A church located on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank trying to create low-income housing and allow lower-income people to remain in the town. Other members are William Katchen from Cliffside Park in Bergen County NJ and Frank Borin of the Decotiis Law Firm in Bergen County NJ as well. There is also former Red Bank Mayor Ed McKenna as Vice President. William Katchen was suspended in the 1990 for 1 year by the Federal Government from participating in public housing due to the misappropriation of approximately 1.7 million dollars in public housing funds. The Decotiis Law Firm is a very politically connected law firm with direct access to many of New Jersey’s past governors. They also represented Encap, the largest waste of taxpayer dollars in the history of the state. Why would a local church group be involved with politically connected accountants and lawyers from North Jersey? If this was done solely for charity why would the Decotiis law firm charge the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation fees when they were also members of the corporation? Why did Ed McKenna as Mayor of Red Bank push for the town to acquire the property for more than fair market value as well as zoning changes only to become one of the developers? Why did Mayor Menna and Mayor McKenna claim that the Red Bank Housing Authority would develop the property when it was actually the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation that received the property for $1 and is a separate corporation from the town and the authority. The state taxpayers paid 2.45 million and the rationale was that the local taxpayers did not pay for it, so even if the property was over valued, it did not matter because this was “free money.” Here is an article outlining very similar parallels between Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation and the Paramus Affordable Housing Corporation:

Another subpoena for mayor’s non-profit
Friday, August 22, 2008
Last updated: Friday August 22, 2008, EDT 10:41 PM
BY MICHAEL GARTLAND
Staff Writer
PARAMUS – A borough affordable housing corporation has received a subpoena from federal agents, municipal spokesman Keith Furlong confirmed today.

The subpoena, which was served Thursday, is the second in two months regarding the Paramus Affordable Housing Corp., a non-profit for which Mayor James Tedesco serves as president.

Dennis Oury, who served as the borough attorney from 2001 to 2007, is listed as the non-profit’s agent, according to state records. He also serves as counsel for the Bergen County Democratic Organization.

Federal agents served search warrants at his law offices Thursday, along with those of Joseph Ferriero, the BCDO chief. The agents seized at least 18 boxes of documents and computer hard drives.

Attorneys for both men confirmed that agents searched the offices for information about Governmental Grants Consulting, a firm in which Ferriero and Oury were partners with two other men – David Spatz, its president, and Leonard Kaiser, who also serves as Bergen County Utilities Authority Chairman.

Sean Quinn, a spokesman for the FBI, would not confirm today whether the subpoena and the search warrants were connected.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office served the borough with a subpoena in July, seeking records about Paramus Affordable Housing Corp.

According to 2007 tax records, Paramus Affordable Housing Corp. has assets worth about $2.4 million, although property tax records put the total at $3 million.

Tedesco, who has been mayor since 2003, and the non-profit’s accountant, William Katchen, have not responded to repeated requests for comment since the first subpoena was received.

Katchen, who once served as director of the Edgewater Municipal Utility Authority, also has worked for the housing authorities of Garfield, Cliffside Park, Edgewater, Englewood and the city of Passaic.

In 1990, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development slapped him with a one-year suspension after the Passaic Housing Authority misspent $1.7 million in taxpayer money. Katchen was the housing authority’s accountant.

Tedesco and Katchen’s aren’t the only names that appear on the non-profit’s tax forms.

Former Paramus Councilman Richard Lambert was listed as the non-profit’s secretary on its 2004 tax form, but Lambert said he ended his ties with the group after stepping down as a councilman in 2000.

“That’s crazy,” he said. “My name shouldn’t be there. I didn’t go to any meetings after I left.”

John Tashjian was listed as a trustee in 2004, but said he never attended any of the non-profit’s meetings.

Louis Romano appears on the form next to the designation of vice president. Romano, who has served on the borough’s Planning Board and Board of Adjustment, said he, too, was surprised his name appeared on the 2004 tax document.

“The mayor appointed me in ’05,” he said. “I was there a couple of months, and I resigned. It just wasn’t my bag.”

U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie has executed more than 30 subpoenas in North Jersey since May. Many of those have sought information related to Oury and Governmental Grants Consulting.

Federal authorities appear to be looking into how that firm’s principals used their political influence to obtain business for it.

Oury, who also is counsel for the Bergen County Improvement Authority, has held jobs in several towns, including Ridgefield and Bergenfield, both of which employed Governmental Grants Consulting.

In Bergen County, his public work generated $760,000 to $1.1 million in annual income for his law firm in each of the three previous calendar years. Oury has given at least $105,000 to Democratic candidates since 1999, most of it going to the BCDO.

Bergenfield fired Oury as its borough attorney in January, and Paramus reassigned him to a labor attorney position

It seems that William Katchen and the Decotiis Law Firm like to work on projects together:

The breakdown of sums paid to contractors for the Edgewater ferry/marina/park project through Jan. 16. In addition, the borough paid $6.1 million for the land, which was acquired through eminent domain.

Austin Helle, construction: $6,700,695

DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick, Cole & Wisler, attorneys: $450,296

Malcolm Pirnie, on-site construction manager: $439,451

Gruzen Samton, contract administrator: $207,330

Schoor DePalma, engineers: $196,045

Vollmer Associates, traffic study: $40,823

William Katchen, financial adviser: $32,381

Robert Regan, attorney: $24,142

Burgis Associates, planners: $1,498

Source: Borough of Edgewater