Maintaining authority over Authorities

My estimation of Gov. Jon Corzine’s savvy and independence just went up another couple of notches. That’s because he just used his veto stick to whack legislation that would have expanded the subterranean power of New Jersey’s county improvement authorities to issue tax-free bonds and funnel money into private development ventures.

Why “subterranean”? Because many of these authorities, which function as adjuncts to county government, chiefly exist to allow county officials to play budgetary shell games and dispense patronage with even less public scrutiny than what county governments already receive. It makes sense that the bill was slipped through during the early summer budget kerfuffle, since that method is characteristic of the way county improvement authorities operate.

In Middlesex County, for example, the improvement authority allowed the county freeholders to shift scandal-generating money-sinks like the Tamarack Golf Course off their ledgers. Like the county utilities authority, which is tucked away from public view in an out-of-the-way section of Sayreville, the improvement authority operates miles away from the county seat, a long drive down the Turnpike in a location that happens to be convenient for executive director Richard Pucci (he’s also mayor of nearby Monroe Township, and doesn’t need a long drive to New Brunswick) but might as well have been chosen specifically to discourage visits from pesky members of the public.

Chances are, most people aren’t aware that improvement authorities exist in, for example, Cumberland, Mercer, Gloucester, Hudson, Salem, Morris, Bergen, Passaic and Atlantic counties, all operating with their own budgets and staffs, managing programs and awarding millions of dollars in contracts. It’s a situation tailor-made for abuse, and for every scandal that comes to light — such as the Camden County Improvement Authority’s attempt to use eminent domain powers to seize church land in Pennsauken — there are probably several others bubbling beneath the surface.

These authorities need more scrutiny and oversight, not additional powers granted during the budget dust-up, so Corzine’s veto deserves a bit of applause.