School
construction agency misses deadline for
overhaul
Officials instead praise progress
at the SCC
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 • Star-Ledger
Staff
The New Jersey Schools Construction Corp.
yesterday missed a self-imposed deadline for the last of its
reforms, but officials said they were poised to complete a
massive overhaul.
With a chief financial officer in place
and many serious reforms under way, state officials said
they were on the way to righting the troubled agency charged
with overseeing $8.6 billion in school construction
work.
A spokesman for acting Gov. Richard Codey
said the focus should be on the rapid progress that has
occurred since a damning investigation raised questions
about SCC management.
"The governor is pleased," said Eric
Shuffler, counsel to Codey. "They have made a lot of
progress in a short amount of time."
Codey named Al Koeppe, a former PSE&G
president, to shake up the agency after an inspector
general's report found severe mismanagement threatened waste
or misuse of taxpayer's money. The fund is almost dry with
hundreds of projects left undone.
A February story in The Star-Ledger first
raised questions about SCC spending and prompted the
inspector general to investigate.
Dominick DeMarco, a spokesman for the
SCC, said yesterday that all 10 aspects of an agency
overhaul -- ranging from expanding the agency's board to
altering its audit schedule -- should be completed by
mid-September. Some of the changes are only awaiting
approval of the SCC board at its Aug. 24 meeting.
The SCC agreed to follow all the
inspector general's recommendations and in May drafted a
schedule for making changes. It met some deadlines -- such
as hiring Peter Maricondo, vice president and chief
accounting officer of NUI Corp., as chief financial officer.
It missed others, such as developing an audit plan by May
31.
The remaining reforms include approving
new manuals detailing how each part of the SCC should work;
making the SCC, rather than architectural firms, the owner
of school designs; and reducing the responsibilities of
firms hired to manage construction projects. The SCC also is
working with other state officials to decide whether to
close any of its branch offices.
-- Steve Chambers
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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