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GOP chair demands firing of official who wrote fiscal warning about Jersey City
Originally appeared in the Associated Press
on 10/10/01 5:58 PM TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- State Republican Party chairman Joseph Kyrillos on Wednesday demanded the firing of the state finance official who sent a letter this week warning that Jersey City is on the brink of a fiscal crisis.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler is the former mayor of Jersey City and Kyrillos said the dire letter was intended to discredit the candidate and was "a blatant abuse of power."
But Tom Wilson, a spokesman for Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco, said the governor would not act on the demand.
Wilson said the decision whether or not to dismiss Local Government Services director Marvin Corwick after just two weeks on the job was being left to his supervisor, Community Affairs Commissioner Jane Kenny. Wilson said Kenny had chosen to reprimand Corwick and to monitor his work more closely.
Corwick in a letter dated Tuesday warned of a $54 million cash deficit in Jersey City, where a Democrat, Glenn Cunningham, is now the mayor. Corwick said $20.3 million in revenues were listed in the budget but might not really be collectible.
The danger of a massive shortfall in the city's $340 million budget is political dynamite since Schundler on the campaign trail has routinely touted his "Jersey City miracle" in turning around city finances while cutting property taxes.
Bill Pascoe, manager of the Schundler campaign, also demanded Corwick's dismissal Wednesday, denouncing him as a partisan tool of Democratic candidate Jim McGreevey.
"Yesterday's letter from Mr. Corwick to Glenn Cunningham is the most egregious example of a partisan whack job masquerading as an official government document that I have ever seen," Pascoe said.
Corwick started work at DCA Oct. 1 as the chief of the division that monitors city and town finances. Wilson said Kenny hired him, noting it was difficult to recruit candidates since a new administration would be taking over in January.
Corwick is the former Democratic mayor of Hillside. He worked for many towns and county agencies as a business administrator or financial consultant, including in Woodbridge for McGreevey and in Jersey City for Democrats who preceded Schundler. Wilson said DiFrancesco played no role in his selection.
Pascoe claimed Corwick has a track record of making dire assessments of municipal finances at the behest of Democrats seeking an excuse to increase taxes. Corwick and Kenny would not agree to requests for interviews by The Associated Press on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Corwick's office did release a second letter to Cunningham on Wednesday in which Corwick said he had expected his fiscal assessment would have been kept confidential, adding, "I believe the manner in which this information was disseminated abused the spirit and intent of a meeting designed to help Jersey City move ahead in a positive way."
The AP obtained the letter from the Jersey City mayor's office, while The New York Times reported the letter was being circulated by the McGreevey campaign.
Since his victory in Jersey City, Cunningham has repeatedly complained Schundler left the city in a financial mess. Schundler has dismissed such claims as partisan politics by the Democratic Party.
Kyrillos in his news statement said, "In the first 50 hours in his service to the people of New Jersey, Marvin Corwick released a scathing critique of Bret Schundler's management in Jersey City rife with untruths and inaccuracies."
Asked how DiFrancesco reacted to this angry message from his own party chairman, Wilson said, "Partisan operatives do what partisan operatives do, and governors do what governors do."
Tensions have been high between the Republican candidate and the Republican governor ranging from a dispute about a new sports arena in Newark to the charge by DiFrancesco that Schundler leaked damaging information about him during the GOP primary.
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