School
construction CEO seeks state guidance on stalled
work
Thursday, March 24, 2005 • BY STEVE
CHAMBERS • Star-Ledger Staff
Top officials of the state Schools Construction Corp.
are seeking a meeting with the inspector general and the
office of acting Gov. Richard J. Codey in an effort to move
ahead on projects stalled by a sweeping investigation of the
agency.
The Codey administration suspended the awarding of new
contracts on March 10 at the request of Inspector General
Mary Jane Cooper. Cooper is conducting a wide-ranging
investigation of spending at the SCC, which oversees an $8.6
billion, state-funded initiative to build and renovate
schools.
"We're looking to meet as soon as we can with the
governor's staff and the IG to come up with better direction
on our ability to commit to new projects," said Jack
Spencer, the SCC's CEO.
Cooper, who had promised SCC officials that she would
"expeditiously" set up a review process, could not be
reached yesterday for comment. Her spokesman, Vincent
Funelas, said the office does not comment on pending
investigations.
Sean Darcy, a spokesman for Codey, said, "While the
governor's office has no intention of interfering with the
inspector general's investigation, we are certainly open to
sitting down with the SCC and providing whatever
clarification they may require."
Cooper was asked by Codey to look into the spending
habits of the SCC after an analysis by The Star-Ledger
revealed that new school projects it had overseen since 2002
in the state's poorest districts cost, on average, 45
percent more than schools built by local districts at the
same time.
Jack Kocsis Jr., chairman of the SCC board of trustees,
told the board yesterday at its monthly meeting that he was
taking all non-emergency measures off the agenda until he
received further guidance from Cooper and Codey.
He characterized the corporation's conversations with
Cooper thus far as positive and said he was hopeful the
investigation will lead to suggestions about how the SCC can
save money. Other officials said they welcomed the
independent review.
"There is a lot of money at stake, and we want to make
sure we complete our mission of building schools for
children," Kocsis said.
Spencer said 15 members of Cooper's staff have moved
into the SCC's Trenton headquarters and were poring over
documents, attempting to understand the operation and how it
might be streamlined.
The Star-Ledger analysis also found that design and
construction-management fees are running higher than those
on private-sector jobs, and that there had been $500 million
in cost-overruns.
Spencer said yesterday that an audit of cost-overruns
showed that more than half can be traced to unexpected
pollution problems on job sites, other "health-and-safety"
related issues or changes in policy by the state Board of
Education. The latter included a decision to equip all new
schools with computer systems out of the SCC budget.
Spencer said he would reveal specifics of the audit at
the board's April meeting. He said the SCC has become more
aggressive about assessing the level of contamination on
sites before it purchases them.
Caren Franzini, a board member who also heads the state
Economic Development Authority, said she is hopeful that SCC
officials will seek guidance from Cooper about cost factors
that may be beyond the corporation's control.
"There are many policy issues the board has struggled
with, such as the difficulty in acquiring land,
environmental issues and requests by districts," she
said.
Some districts, meanwhile, have become concerned that
the investigation could hold up projects indefinitely.
Steve Chambers can be reached at schambers@starledger.com
or (973) 392-1674.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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