School
construction agency's boss resigns
Friday, August 19, 2005 • By
TERRENCE DOPP • The
Express-Times
TRENTON -- The chief executive officer of
the beleaguered Schools Construction Corp. announced
Thursday he will step down next month.
John F. Spencer issued his resignation
letter to acting Gov. Richard J. Codey on Wednesday. He is
leaving the agency to take an unspecified job in New York
City. The job is widely expected to be an engineering
position.
Spencer, 57, presided over the agency
founded to oversee $8.6 billion in school construction
statewide. But the SCC ran out of money ahead of schedule
after reporting cost overruns amid an investigation by the
Inspector General. Phillipsburg's new $88 million high
school project was left out of the picture when the SCC
funds ran out, and the building's future is
uncertain.
"There is no doubt that the job has had
its challenges, but the rewards of building
state-of-the-art-schools for the children of New Jersey far
outweighed them," Spencer said.
No clear candidates to replace him had
emerged by late Thursday. Spencer, an engineer who
previously served as deputy chief engineer for the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey, held his SCC post
since 2003.
The organization had most recently came
under fire from state Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper,
who prompted Codey to halt all further spending by the
agency until tighter fiscal controls were put in place. This
spring, Codey began a series of changes to the SCC,
including installinga new chairman for its board of
directors and doing away withemployee bonuses.
A spokeswoman for Codey denied he forced
Spencer out or that he called for his
resignation.
"We have received his resignation. The
governor reviewed it and accepted it," said spokeswoman
Kelley Heck.
She declined to name any potential
successors to helm the agency.
Former Gov. James E. McGreevey created
the SCC after taking office to administer the Schools
Facilities andConstruction Act, which began as an initiative
to renovate and construct schools in the state's poorest,
inner-city districts.
Along with the $6 billion earmarked for
the 31 poorest, or Abbott, districts, which include
Phillipsburg, the construction act contained $2.6 million to
fund up to 40 percent of the cost to complete projects in
more affluent and middle-class school systems.
In Phillipsburg, district officials
learned last month the SCC had cut its planned $90 million
high school from the list of projects to receive the final
funding round. Phillipsburg is one of the 31 Abbott or poor
schools systems in which the state was ordered by the
Supreme Court to build new schools.
Last month, the SCC awarded the final
$1.4 billion in its coffers to 59 projects. Another 73 have
either been completed or are in various stages of
completion.
Terrence Dopp is Trenton correspondent for The
Express-Times. He can be reached at 609-292-5154 or by
e-mail at tdopp@sjnewsco.com.
© 2005 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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