Ex-chief
of Schools Construction Corp. raises eyebrows as he takes
N.Y. job
Thursday, November 17, 2005 •
BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL • Star-Ledger
Staff
The former chief executive officer of New
Jersey's embattled Schools Construction Corp. has been hired
as a top executive with a New York construction firm that
has collected about $36 million through the schools program
-- prompting acting Gov. Richard Codey to call for a
review.
"We have already asked the Ethics
Committee to take a look at it," Codey said
yesterday.
Jack Spencer, who left the SCC Sept. 7,
said he was hired about a month ago as senior vice president
and regional manager for URS Corp., a $3.7-billion-a-year
engineering firm headquartered in Manhattan.
He said the new job posed no conflict
with his former role in New Jersey because he is working in
New York and is not handling any contracts with New Jersey's
school program.
"I'm serving the New York region," he
said. "Any work that we do is New York."
Spencer, a longtime engineer with the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said he was
offered the post by a URS manager he has known for a long
time.
"This is a firm that I've professionally
recognized for many years in working with the Port
Authority," he said. "One of the managers here is a fellow
my paths have crossed in the past."
Spencer directed the SCC starting in
September 2003, when he replaced the corporation's first
director, Al McNeill, a former top executive with Turner
Construction. During his tenure, the corporation issued
hundreds of construction and consulting contracts, but this
year the program stalled amid allegations of waste and
mismanagement.
When Spencer arrived at the corporation,
records show URS had already been awarded six schools
construction jobs worth $25 million. After he was in place,
URS landed two more jobs worth an additional $2.4 million,
SCC records show.
As with most SCC jobs, the payments to
URS far exceeded the original bid values. The records show
URS so far has collected $35.8 million from the SCC,
including $27 million paid while Spencer was heading the
corporation.
The bulk of the firm's payments -- $33.8
million -- have come through three project management
contracts it won with the corporation in 2001 and
2002.
Earlier this year, a Star-Ledger analysis
of the Schools Construction Corp. found the agency's 13
project management firms were collecting fees that were, on
average, triple the rate paid by local school districts for
their construction management. Spencer at the time said the
difference was attributable to the fact that the SCC's
managers had a far more extensive role in projects than
local officials required of their project
managers.
Codey said he wants to see if Spencer was
required to get clearance from state ethics officers for his
jump to private employment with a state
contractor.
"Certainly we would have expected that
Mr. Spencer would have consulted with the various ethics
agencies," said Kelley Heck, Codey's spokeswoman.
Rita Strmensky, executive director of New
Jersey's Executive Commission on Ethical Standards, said she
could not comment on Spencer's situation.
Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Burlington),
a sponsor of the legislation that set up the $6 billion
school building program, said he did not know enough details
to form an opinion of Spencer's move.
"Does it look good? The answer is no,"
said Malone. "Did the guy have to find a job someplace? The
answer is yes."
Staff writer Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
|