Details of Bryant projects released
N.J. Treasury opens records of the former senator's influence. Other politicians also had control of money.
Former Camden County Sen. Wayne Bryant, now on trial on allegations that he traded his influence over the state budget in exchange for a pension-boosting, low-show job at a medical school, steered taxpayer money to a wide range of causes in South and North Jersey, Treasury documents released late yesterday show.
Some unelected staffers for other officials also appear to have had influence over the grant money, the documents show.
Most of the $4 million that Bryant controlled from a now-defunct grant program that had little meaningful oversight went to South Jersey causes, including at least $1 million to Lawnside, where his brother was mayor and the former state senator resides.
The pool includes $200,000 that he sent to the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, where Bryant allegedly held a job with few responsibilities. The award is a focal point of his corruption trial.
But according to the most detailed information yet released on what politicians referred to as the "MAC account," which lawmakers used to steer money to selected projects, Bryant also directed money to the districts of fellow Democrats on the Senate budget panel, which he chaired. The awards include $75,000 for sidewalks and a school in Wood-Ridge, where Sen. Paul Sarlo (D., Bergen), is mayor, and $100,000 for a women's group in Metuchen, hometown of the current budget chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Buono (D., Middlesex).
The documents were released late yesterday in response to a Republican Open Public Records Act request.
The papers show that Treasury officials knew of the familial connections for at least one of Bryant's grants. One form includes a notation "Wayne's brother" by a $200,000 award to Camcare Health Corp., where his brother, Mark, is president.
Bryant's attorneys have argued that he was doing his job as a senator to bring "pork" home to his district.
"You may not like it," Bryant attorney Carl Poplar said in his opening statement. "But it doesn't make it a crime."
The awards came 2004 through 2006 from a $128 million fund.
While all of the grants have previously been made public, there has never been an accounting of who was behind them.
The documents indicate that the program was open to some unelected staffers who worked for Senate President Richard J. Codey (D., Essex), who was also governor in late 2004 and 2005. Among them:
"Cammerano" - an apparent reference to Peter Cammarano, Codey's former chief-of-staff, is listed next to a $50,000 grant for "recreational improvements" in Metuchen, his hometown. Then-Treasurer John McCormac's name is listed by a $150,000 grant for a women's program. Codey controlled $12 million of the fund.
E-mails show that Codey had a key say in how much money some programs received.
One note from David Rousseau, the current treasurer and then a deputy in the department, read: "Felician College - they sent me a letter requesting $200k; you told me $150k the other day."
Democrats backed Republican causes to provide political cover for the program, which mostly steered money to Democratic districts, another e-mail indicates.
"We have had cover on the last few lists because we have had republican projects - I have none on the next list," Rousseau wrote. He listed several GOP lawmakers Codey might consider to give awards in their districts.
While three key senators, Codey, Bryant and then-Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny (D., Hudson), controlled the funds in the upper house, the documents do not show a similar division in the Assembly. Most of the grants tied to Assembly lawmakers do not have names attached.
Shortly before the documents were released, Codey said they should be made public.
"I think the public will see, as they scrutinize these lists, that this money helped support many good causes," he said in a statement.