There were a lot of news reports published on January 13th of this year about the uses to which Federal Sandy relief money is being put in New Jersey. Federal investigations topped the headlines then. In the weeks since, the seemingly never-ending parallel story surrounding the lane closures in September on the George Washington Bridge has mostly driven the story of Sandy money out of the public view.
Things have been developing in the story of Sandy money use in New Jersey, even when most people are looking at other things. For some reason, the governor's administration in New Jersey chose the next-to-last Wednesday in January, or January 22 to be precise, that they had terminated a Sandy relief contract in December.
The Sandy contract was with a TPA or third-party administrator apparently to coordinate Sandy relief, or at least to manage the disbursement of Federal relief funds to Sandy victims in New Jersey. The New Jersey administration awarded the contract to a politically connected company, Hammerman & Gainer, with 7 locations: 4 in Louisiana, 2 in Texas, 1 in Washington, D.C., and None in New Jersey. At first glance, you might notice as I did that the two States where this company does have locations have Republican governors, like New Jersey does. The D.C. location has its own implications.
However, the company displays its qualifications on its website and it lists some experience following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as a catastrophic risk manager "managing" claims and inspections. Further, it says that it "disbursed over $7 billion". Here is a link to the company's website so that you can see for yourself: Hammerman & Gainer website self-description.
The company's Sandy relief contract in New Jersey was reportedly to oversee the distribution of Sandy relief funds of $600 Million. The contract was reportedly for 3 years when New Jersey signed it, at a cost of $68 Million or some 11% of the Sandy relief money apparently available to New Jersey from Federal Taxpayers. Bloomberg News, "Pols Call For Probe as Christie Ends Contracts," posted on Crain's New York Business on January 30, 2014.
As you can see for yourself, this report was published on January 30th. Nothing else has been reported since January 13th on the issue of how Sandy relief funds are being used in New Jersey.
Time for some Sandy relief questions.
Why did the New Jersey administration enter into this contract with this company in the first place? Was the contract bid, or was it one of those infamous no-bid contracts which are awarded to favored parties?
Why did the New Jersey administration choose the last Wednesday in January, 2014 to announce that a month before, it had terminated the contract?
Is there a new contract that took the place of this contract?
Who if anyone has been overseeing the distribution of Sandy relief funds from the Federal Taxpayers ever since this company's risk management/TPA contract to perform those services was terminated?
Where is the Sandy relief money?
© 2014 by Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved. No claim to original U.S. Government works.
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