Builders'
lobbyist quits school construction
board
Friday, September 23, 2005 • BY
DUNSTAN McNICHOL • Star-Ledger
Staff
Jack Kocsis, whose dual roles as
construction industry lobbyist and chairman of the board
overseeing New Jersey's $8.6 billion school construction
program sparked controversy earlier this year, has resigned
from the Schools Construction Corp. board, acting Gov.
Richard Codey's office confirmed yesterday.
Kocsis, chief executive officer of the
Building Contractors Association of New Jersey, cited
personal and professional demands on his time in a brief
resignation letter that was received by Codey's office
yesterday.
Kocsis was named chairman of the Schools
Construction Corp. board when it was formed by former Gov.
James E. McGreevey in 2003. He stepped down as chairman in
May, after a review by the state Inspector General found
pervasive waste and mismanagement in the school construction
program. However, he remained on the board.
The Inspector General's report prompted
an overhaul of operations at the organization, which has
spent or committed all of the $8.6 billion allotted to it by
the Legislature five years ago, and is seeking new
funding.
Codey had ordered the Inspector General's
review after a Star-Ledger report that found schools built
by the state agency cost 45 percent more than comparable
schools built by local school districts. The Star-Ledger
report noted that firms which were members of Kocsis'
association had been awarded more than $1 billion in work
from the corporation while Kocsis was chairman of the state
agency.
As the association's paid chief executive
officer, Kocsis also served as the contractors' state
government lobbyist and ran the association's political
action committee, which collected $70,000 in campaign
contributions from contracting firms seeking work from the
Schools Construction Corp. in 2003 and 2004.
Yesterday, Kocsis denied there was any
conflict in his dual roles, and said it was strictly the
overwhelming demands on his time that prompted his
resignation from the unpaid position on the schools
corporation board. He is remaining on the board of the
Economic Development Authority, the parent agency of the
schools corporation.
Codey, who appointed former utility
executive Al Koeppe to replace Kocsis as board chairman in
May, expressed disappointment over Kocsis' decision to leave
the Schools Construction Corp. board altogether.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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