Two months after Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith asked for a probe into possible improprieties by Parking Authority Attorney Peter Cresci, a special investigator for the Parking Authority claimed Cresci had exceeded his authority as Parking Authority attorney. The investigator said Cresci did this by giving himself unauthorized raises and apparently working two full time city jobs, one part time job, and billing the city legal fees to defend the Parking Authority against a suit brought by a former employee.
The mayor’s request for the probe came two days after Cresci filed a suit against the Parking Authority in the U.S. District Court, claiming he has been the victim of reprisals by Mayor Smith through the Parking Authority executive director. Cresci’s suit claims that the Parking Authority has violated federal civil rights laws, some provisions under the federal Hatch Act, and the state’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act by allegedly coercing him into leaving his post as Parking Authority attorney.
“I was never hired at an annual salary of $15,000. I was offered the job for $15,000 and I refused it.” – Peter Cresci
________
Cresci, who filed suit against the Parking Authority last month, alleges that he was forced out of the position as part of a political purge. He was also fired as city business administrator last May. He said after that firing, he was pressured to resign from his Parking Authority post as well. His refusal, he believes, has led to the current investigation.
Raval, quoting from a report that was compiled on Sept. 2, confirmed many of Mayor Smith’s allegations against Cresci.
The report alleges that many of the actions Cresci took were done without properly voted-on resolutions.
Cresci, Raval said, was hired in 2007 as a counsel to the Parking Authority at a rate of $15,000 per year. But without apparent approval, gave himself a raise to $25,000.
“There were no meeting minutes, no contract, no written record of an approval for this,” Raval said.
The investigation found alleged violations in two areas: Cresci’s failure to perform duties for which he was responsible, and actions that he took that allegedly exceeded his authority.
According to Raval’s report, Cresci failed to get the BPA’s 2008 budget certified for the state and failed to comply with requirements for depositing BPA revenues into authorized bank accounts.
According to Raval, Cresci did not deposit $4 million in PBA revenues into the Bank of New York as required under the board’s policy.
In filing a lawsuit against the PBA while still employed there, Cresci allegedly violated ethics rules and created a conflict of interest, Raval said, noting that some of the many allegations Cresci raised in his suit against the authority were issues he should have addressed as the BPA attorney. If the BPA was in violation of the open public meetings act – one of Cresci’s allegations – Cresci, Raval said, should have advised the board of the fact.
Although hired at a rate of $15,000 per year in 2007, Cresci actually earned more than $161,423 for 2007, 2008 and a portion of 2009, including private legal fees, most of which the BPA board has no record of approving.
Records show, Raval said, that in 2008, Cresci was employed by the City of Bayonne as a full time business administrator and part time assistant attorney, while at the same time claiming he was working as a full time employee for the BPA.
This report supports allegations Mayor Smith raised two months ago.
In response to the report, Smith called Cresci’s actions “an insult to the citizens of Bayonne,” and pointed out that at the same time Cresci was taking a salary of $161,000, he was cutting off benefits to retired workers.
Cresci, the mayor said, earned $25,000 per year for his part time work with the Parking Authority – $10,000 more than the previous attorney holding the same position.
“At some point, Mr. Cresci dismissed the authority’s new executive director – a person he had recruited – and gradually assumed the director’s duties. We believe this was gradual and without specific authorization. We heard subsequently that Mr. Cresci may have been paying himself an additional $68,000 in annual compensation for the full time position of executive director. This was while he was being paid $113,000 as the business administrator/assistant city attorney.”
Cresci disputes report’s findings
Cresci, who was present at the time the report was given, later questioned Raval’s objectivity, saying that she and the firm she is employed by are heavy political contributors to Mayor Mark Smith’s reelection campaign.
Cresci said some of his complaints concern closed sessions that involved flawed meeting notices filed by Florio & Kenny. He said not only did they continue the meetings, but went into closed session to talk about firing him.
Cresci disputed the findings in Raval’s report.
“Contrary to Ms. Raval’s unsupported assertion, I was never hired at an annual salary of $15,000. I was offered the job for $15,000 and I refused it,” he said.
Although blamed for not finalizing this year’s BPA budget, Cresci said those duties have always been in the hands of Donohue, Gironda and Doria, an accounting firm.
“How this duty all of a sudden became my responsibility, I do not know,” he said.
He also pointed out that the BPA’s requirement that cash from revenue must be deposited daily into the Bank of New York is impossible since the bank does not have a local branch to take the large amount of coin and cash the BPA takes in each day. But the yearly requirements are met, he said.
While Raval’s report said Cresci charged the BPA $195 per hour as legal counsel in defense against charges brought by a former BPA executive director, Cresci said Raval failed to point out that he was sued personally and he is entitled to collect the same hourly rate as attorneys representing other defendants in the case, and that a board approved these fees in a written resolution.
Cresci denied withholding records from the BPA, but said the BPA requests were unclear as to which records they wanted him to produce.
Raval, however, said written, specific requests have been issued to Cresci to provide proof of these resolutions.
“When I went into the Parking Authority offices, they were bare,” Raval said. “If those resolutions exist, Mr. Cresci has them, and he has not given them to us.”
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.