4 others stepped down after Christie charged they had used the agency as a 'piggy bank'
Commissioner Frank Calandriello, right, talks to fellow commissioner William F. Flynn, left, Wayne Forrest, the executive director for PVSC, Anthony J. Luna, the chairman of PVSC and Carl Czaplicki Jr., the vice chairman of PVSC during a public meeting. The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission is an obscure agency whose payroll is swollen with the friends and family of those with political clout, while records show the funneling of thousands of dollars in no-bid contracts to political insiders. TRENTON — Two more members of the troubled Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners quietly submitted their resignations today, bringing an end to one of the fastest and most complete sweep-outs of any such public body in memory.
Bowing to Gov. Chris Christie’s ultimatum to quit, Angelina M. Paserchia, the former mayor of Belleville, and Frank J. Calandriello, the mayor of Garfield, both stepped down, finally acquiescing to the governor’s demand they leave by today’s deadline, according to a spokesman for the governor.
They joined four other commissioners who stepped down Wednesday.
Christie had charged the six used their agency as a "piggy bank," hiring friends and family and bestowing favors on those close to them. On Tuesday, he ordered that all resign or face removal for cause.
A seventh commissioner, Kenneth J. Lucianin, a Democratic appointee of former Gov. Jon Corzine, was not asked to leave. He remains the governor’s at-large representative.
The swift end to the commission came just over a week after reports in The Star-Ledger documenting widespread patronage, nepotism and self-dealing at the public authority, which operates the largest wastewater treatment plant in New Jersey. Christie reacted the next day. He accused the commissioners of engaged in unethical hiring practices, securing unwarranted perks and blatantly ignoring conflicts of interest.
While removal of a sitting commissioner confirmed by the Senate is a practice almost unheard of, Christie had immediately suspended the six without pay and began proceedings to remove them for cause — including conduct violating a commissioner’s oath, having direct or indirect interest in PVSC contracts and violating the authority’s code of ethics.
A hearing was scheduled and was to be held Monday had any of the commissioners refused to resign.
The nominations of two new commissioners, both of whom were blocked from confirmation in the Senate in December, have already been resubmitted by the governor.
William J. Roca, an attorney from Wayne, and Cedar Grove Township Manager Thomas Tucci, both Republicans, were again put forward for consideration.
Roca had initially been nominated in May, but his appointment was blocked by Sen. John Girgenti (D-Passaic), who invoked senatorial courtesy, the unwritten rule giving state senators veto power over nominees from their legislative districts.
Girgenti said earlier this week his refusal had not been personal, but part of negotiations with the governor’s office involving other appointments.
Tucci was nominated in September, but was blocked by Democratic Sens. Ronald Rice and Richard Codey, both of whom said they would not vote on an PVSC appointee to represent Essex County until someone from Newark was named.
The two nominations died in December with the end of the legislative session.
Christie is expected to propose six other new commissioners in the next week. The board, set at nine members — two from each of the four counties it serves and one at-large representative — had been operating with two vacancies.
The PVSC handles the wastewater of 48 communities in Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex counties. It is one of only two state authorities that operate without the direct oversight of the governor — an issue not the subject of a proposed bill in the legislature.
Meanwhile, new examples of abuses at the authority continue to come to light. According to a letter to the governor’s office from one of the commissioners, a local councilman who works at the commission kept his personal boat in storage at the PVSC warehouse for six to nine months, and was never disciplined even after it was brought to the attention of then-executive director Bryan Christiansen. The individual’s name was not disclosed.