You’d think that North Haven’s town government would have enough of scandals, that it would steer clear of doing business with contractors who are in trouble with the law.
In early May, I wrote a blog entry about the Maguire Group, which has been sued by the CT Attorney General for not doing the inspection work the state contracted it to do on Interstate 84, and allowing enormous cost overruns. The incident was so serious, it led to a reorganization of the Department of Transportation.
But in North Haven, it’s business as usual. As usual. Not only is the Maguire Group involved with the Sackett Point Bridge project, but now (according to yesterday's Register) it’s been hired by North Haven as the sewer consultant on the Pratt and Whitney/Rabina project (Maguire Group was engaged through the North Haven firm that has been providing general engineering services to the town, Diversified Technology Services, and will be reimbursed by Rabina Properties, but these are technicalties: it is the town's consultant).
It just so happens that four Maguire Group employees donated to the Kopetz for First Selectman campaign this year: John Treichel (VP, but listed as "engineer"), Alan Asikainen (VP of the water resources division, but listed as "engineer"), James Fritz (executive VP, but listed as "engineer"), and Sebastian Amenta (VP, but listed as "engineer"). None lives in North Haven. Each gave $250, a sizeable amount for a local candidate.
And a court found, many years ago, that Sebastian Amenta, one of the contributing Maguire VPs, had bribed the Meriden City Manager, who was convicted (see U.S. v Aldi, No. 95-1446 (2d Cir.)).
What was involved? Here’s what the court said: "Aldi [the city manager] was given these payments by Sebastian Amenta of the Maguire Group, an engineering company. In return, Aldi awarded contracts to the Maguire Group in violation of city procedures for selecting contractors." Not what we want here in North Haven, that's for sure.
So, four out-of-town vice presidents gave to the Kopetz campaign and, despite the serious scandal at the state level that has been featured on the front page of the Register several times (like the Ierardis), the Maguire Group got another contract with North Haven.
Was it competitively bid? Was the hiring of Maguire Group through another company a way to get around the Charter's bidding requirements? Did the procurement chief – Kevin Kopetz – take into account the company’s failure to do its work on the I-84 project? Did he think we'd never learn that he was taking a contribution from someone who had bribed in order to get contracts?
And then there’s John’s Refuse Service. I have no reason to believe that our recycling contractor has done anything short of an excellent job in North Haven and elsewhere. But almost a year ago, according to an FBI press release, its principal, Dennis Bozzuto, pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge: "he conspired to perpetuate a system, commonly called the ‘property rights system.’ Carters engaged in the property rights system would not service or compete for other carters’ customers. The property rights system essentially destroys free enterprise, allowing the participating carters to artificially inflate their prices and leaving waste removal customers with no other options."
Artificial inflation of prices. That means North Haven was probably paying more than we should have. According to the Register, the state has decided not to work with John’s Refuse anymore. Has North Haven even put the contract out to bid again, to make sure we’re getting a good price (even from John's Refuse), not an artificially inflated price?
I would like to be able to say that Kevin Kopetz is just asleep at the wheel. But he has taken so many contributions from contractors, that it doesn’t look good for him. It looks like his personal interest in getting re-elected takes precedence over the town’s interests in getting the best prices from its contractors.
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7 comments:
Ok, I'm a contractor,and I cannot for the life of me see myself shelling out $250 to a POLITICAL campaign in a town that I do not even live in! Why would anyone do this if it didn't mean greasing the skids is going to get you some sort of inside track on a big contract!I think that these people have been so drunk with power for so long, that they actually feel that they cannot be stopped no matter what,and that they truly believe that there is nothing wrong with it. The moral compass in this town is so far outta whack that it's amazing the people in town hall can find their cars at the end of the day. I'm starting to wonder if maybe MY thinking is actually wrong. WHERE"S THE PUBLIC OUTRAGE? This is like some sort of "stepford" community. Am I the only one that is shocked at the amount of people that don't really seem to care,or appalled at the people who are actually willing to publicly defend it! Be it in the newspapers, in person or whatever!
I have never seen such madness before in my life. Holy Cow!!! What am I missing??
I have got to ask, What in the world were the Democrats thinking by running Janet McCarty AGAIN!!!
My God! Three's a charm for christ sakes. I'm sure she's probably more than qualified for the job but don't they get it? She just rubs people the wrong way. If they lose this election again they have no one to blame but themselves!!!!!! (and believe it or not, I'm voting for her only because the insanity has got to come to an end)
Well, let me um just um defend um um [inaudible] Mr. um um Kopetz, um [inaudible] against um, um, . . . .
I love the fact that Mr. Kopetz claims that he is making decisions that will benefit and enhance the lives of our children and families for many years in the future! The truth of the matter is, we will be trying to recover from his and the other Republicrook's horrific mismanagement of the town ,long after he's gone. By the time all of this administration's nonsense hits the fan, Mr. Kopetz will surely be long gone, sitting in some high paying fluff job on say the chamber of commerce, writng letters to the paper touting the next Republicrook to run, and laughing behind closed doors at us all, just like Rescigno!!!
A few years ago, somebody told me that contracting in North Haven was "dirty". In other words, bids were rigged and only politically-connected favorites got the jobs.
Mr. Palmieri was directly responsible for ensuring that our tax revenue was spent wisely and competitive bids were obtained. He failed on both accounts and should have been fired. However, Mr. Kopetz is too afraid to do the right thing, so he must be involved in some manner.
Just connect the dots. Bid rigging, no bids, stealing, political donations from questionable sources, bogus overtime payments, closing the library, overspending for the high school. The list goes on and on. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that we elected a crooked administration which deserves to be both arrested and thrown out of office.
As for John's Refuse and the so-called bid rigging. First of all you need to educate yourself on the Federal Conspiracy Racketeering charge. This does not require a crime, it does not even require to have submitted the bids. This person can be more a victim than a criminal and still be charged with this charge. As for a guilty plea, there are numerous reasons an individual would take a plea. You need to know all the facts before you go jumping the gun throwing names around.
As far as I am concerned, if there was a problem with this company and the town of North Haven it would have come up in the so-called bid rigging case.
Don't believe everything you read in the paper, afterall they are trying to sell what the people want to see.
I got the information from an FBI press release, for which there is a link, and I read further about the case before "throwing a name around."
It's true that I don't know the racketeering laws, but why is that people in North Haven jump to defend people accused of or having pleaded guilty to crimes, but aren't willing to even say that a contract should be bid out again just to make sure taxpayers are getting the right price?
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