3 allegedly used workers for repairs at their homes while they were were on the clock
Kevin Keogh, 45; Anthony Ardis, 56; and Chester Mazza, 69, officials at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners, were charged with misconduct.Three top-level officials at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners were arrested at work this morning, charged with official misconduct.
The three were charged by complaint of using subordinate employees to complete repairs or improvements at their homes while those workers were on the clock, during their regular work shifts for the PVSC.
Charged were Anthony Ardis, 56, of Paterson, a former congressional aide and one-time PVSC commissioner who is the highest paid employee on the Passaic Valley payroll; Kevin Keogh, 45, a former West Orange councilman and superintendent of special services; and Chester Mazza, 69, of Totowa, a retired New Jersey State Trooper who serves as assistant superintendent of special services at the sewer authority.
“These defendants allegedly used their supervisory positions at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission to require subordinates to complete home improvements for them while on the job for this public agency,” said Attorney General Paula Dow. “We have zero tolerance for officials who unlawfully use their public positions for personal gain.”
All were taken to the Passaic County Jail, and were expected to be released on $75,000 bail.
The criminal charges are just the latest hit on the troubled public authority, following revelations of widespread abuse, sweetheart deals and unchecked patronage detailed in a series of stories in The Star-Ledger.
Passaic Valley, with a $161 million budget, serves more than 1.3 million people, handling the sewage of 48 communities in Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex counties.
Last week, Gov. Chris Christie fired six of the commission’s seven board members, accusing them of using the agency as their own private piggy bank. And earlier this week, the PVSC’s new executive director, Wayne Forrest, hired in July at the governor’s behest, slashed the salaries of everyone making over $100,000 and imposed new ethics rules banning most political activity.
Ardis was making over $220,000 before recently taking a voluntary salary cut. He also had an agency issued Ford Expedition that he drove home at night.
He had been the former district director for Rep. William Pascrell (D-Passaic) when he was appointed as a PVSC commissioner in 2002. He was subsequently hired three years by his fellow board members as director of management services and clerk to the board. Additionally, Ardis also served as the commission’s ethics officer.
Keogh, who made $186,201 as superintendent of special services. A former West Orange councilman who now lives in Roseland, Keogh was first hired as a safety inspector at a salary of $48,633 in 1999. He, too, had a PVSC car at his disposal — a 2009 Dodge Durango.
Mazza was the assistant superintendent of special services, whose $127,276 salary more than doubled in the past ten years. Mazza also had a Dodge Durango assigned to him for his own use.
The Star-Ledger first reported on Sunday that several PVSC officials were under investigation for improvement work done at their homes by carpenters employed at the sewage treatment plant. The work was allegedly done using PVSC materials and supplies, while the employees were on the clock, and included the building of new kitchen cabinets.
The newspaper also reported that the attorney general is investigating whether employees were pressured to contribute to political campaigns out of fear of losing their jobs.
Over the years, PVSC employees and commissioners have given more than $100,000 in contributions to elected officials — both Democratic and Republican, according to election finance reports.
According to the criminal complaint, all three had PVSC workers do home improvements on their homes, or in the case of Ardis, at the homes of his mother and a girlfriend, during hours that the employees were on the job. Investigators said the workers used PVSC vehicles, equipment and tools to travel to the homes and complete the home improvements. They were not paid for any of the work, authorities said.
The work at Ardis’ house included the tear down of wall board in a garage, installation of wood paneling and repairs around the house. Keogh allegedly had employees install replacement windows at his home in Roseland and install new kitchen cabinet doors that were fabricated at the woodshop at PVSC, Mazza had workers install a roof vent or fan in the roof of his home and repair an outside wall, while on their regular shifts for the PVSC.
The charges of second-degree official misconduct carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison.