This is the $800 million in Sandy money that Jim Keady protested out at Belmont last week. It's the RREM program, set up in part to benefit working poor whose houses were trashed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
This is not the entirely different, non-Sandy $800 million tied to the NJ Transit-Port Authority-Wolff & Samson-coerce Hoboken's mayor-Zanadu/American Dream-Light Rail access-Bridgegate scandal. (Yeah, blocking George Washington Bridge was the very least of that steaming xxxxpile.)
This $800 million is part of Phase I Federal Sandy response. Proposed by President Obama. $1.1 billion in total -- $219 million spent, $800 million locked -- all of it Federal money. Every dime of it should have gone out in 2013 or early 2014 at the latest.
This is the RREM program: Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation and Mitigation and it includes 100% of the Federal residential housing projects related to Hurricane Sandy. One part of RREM is the Sandy Homebuyer Assistance Program. And here, down in the details, we get to major Federal help going solely to working poor. And this is where RREM becomes an anathema to Ayn Rand followers, class warriors such as Christie.
Applicants for RREM's Homebuyer Assistance Program have to meet the following requirements:
-- Applicant must purchase a home in the nine most-impacted counties.
-- Applicants’ income must be less than or equal to 80% area median income.
-- Applicants must have minimum credit score of 620.
-- Applicants must qualify for first mortgage to purchase the housing unit.
That's the working poor. And yes, these families tend to vote Democratic by 70:30, 60:40 ratios. In Toad's mind, based on his statements to party bigwigs here in New Jersey and elsewhere, that makes these families his enemies.
There are also Phase II and III commitments to follow. Together these funds make for another $2 billion in Federal money coming in to New Jersey. Such was the design out of Housing and Urban Development. Such was the implementation approved by Congress, including a recalcitrant House of Representatives.
Except that it's not happening. The Feds did not anticipate "Duce the Toad." His goals in life are different from what the designers of RREM intended. Help working poor ??? Even poor White people? Maybe if they live in Republican municipalities, but otherwise No Way.
Helluva toad:
This $800 million is what is left in what "Duce the Toad" has used as one helluva slush fund. Money goes where "Duce the Toad" wants it to go. It gets released in areas controlled by Duce's political allies. They're not stealing the money directly; they just want to get reelected and they want their cuts where that can be arranged as fees.
It's a shell game, sure thing. The repairs side of this RREM money is supposed to go down The Shore to pay a max of $150,000 a home for repairs and putting houses up on stilts before the next big blow. There's also rental money included. Max of $50,000 a unit to get rental housing back in use. But not unless either you're in a Republican town. Or if you pay up by getting a Republican firm to manage your application.
You know "Duce." Not d-e-u-c-e. Corporate MSM treat him like he's the second coming of Il Duce, the great leader and dictator of Fascist Italy. This guy:
NJ's version of "Il Duce" can't help himself. "Shut up and sit down !!" -- might as well be on Christie's calling cards.
Running a RREM program is straightforward. Contractors have to be "qualified." Projects have to be qualified. All of that should be easy, similar to other disaster programs such as Florida's hurricane response projects. The tricks here in New Jersey go to controlling information, tweaking work flow, and then having state officials bend rules for the determinations. Instructions that went out online and were handed out to contracting firms by Duce's minions have proved inaccurate time after time over the last two years.
What documents do you need? Originals or certified copies? Which appraisers can you use? Who can file bids?
Even which counties and which local municipalities are eligible for which parts of the program? What is a flood plain?
Big xss shell game. Except for the pay-to-play routes. With "Duce the Toad" it's all about control.
Of course there are winners. That's the $219 million in projects so far. And there are Republican run towns and cities that don't know there is a problem getting RREM funds for their residents. Live in the right place and the paperwork flies right through. No problemo !!
Reward political friends, punish your enemies. Manage $1.1 billion in slush to enforce it.
The Shore stays busted up which leads to Red Blooded American protest. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Signage is a cottage industry here, big on anti-Duce posters and signs. The Shore has hundreds of different signs up. For example, we have a two sided design suited to 30" by 24" display. Feel free to deploy these signs anywhere, or any time the living breathing "Duce the Toad" goes out for a photo op:
Together with identifiers:
Let's make a couple things clear. Chris Christie is a slimy crook. A liar and proud of it. What he and his gang go after is public money and they do multimillion dollar scams. In another example their attacks on public schools include "privatizing" Special Education operations -- raising costs from a typical $43,000 a year per student up to more than $90,000 a year. With not a hint of shame.
Christie For President 2016
This is Top Drawer for what the GOPers have for a presidential candidate ???
Maybe, but more likely "Duce the Toad" is out front in 2014 and 2015 as a pacer for Jeb Bush. The GOPer angels have to know he's tainted. "Duce" was too dirty in 2012 for the Vice-President role with Mitt Romney.
For Democrats, "Duce the Toad" and his gang present a first rate opportunity. The gang go nuts where there's money to be stolen. And for class warfare. Same time, corporate MSM keep "Duce" out front for the GOP. They put television cameras on him every chance they get.
On the evidence corporate MSM think "Duce" has the charisma of history's "Il Duce." They love his speaking voice. He gives them a Rush Limbaugh #2 surrogate without the burdens of sex perversion and drug use.
So make corporate MSM pay for it. Wipe Duce's slime on their faces. This RREM pay-for-play scheme forms up as a parallel to Romney's disdain for "the 47%." People who lost their houses to Hurricane Sandy are getting screwed. The working poor are treated like stray dogs.
For more on the RREM program and how "Duce the Toad" junk rolls, please follow below le trump l'orange:
Jim Keady got it right: "Christie, you are sitting on $800,000,000 in Sandy recovery money. Get it to families in need.”
You have to sympathize with Jim. He wants to believe that "Duce" is not a crook. He hates partisan fights.
Consider this appraisal of the situation where audits of state operations are controlled politically:
(Consider these concerns) about the Sandy Federal fund monitoring.
The 30 firms that are on a qualified list that the State has approved include some JOINT BIDDING firms and at least one of the firms is Wolfe Samson, whose name is NOT listed as the "monitor" as the auditing firm's name is listed but in fact, the bid package that was accepted by CC's administration includes both the auditing firm and Wolf Samson in it's response to the proposal for auditing assistance.
Reading that joint response lists Lori Grifa as Wolfe's main contact person for David Samson's law firm.
I believe a similar situation exists with William Palatucci, who is listed on Gibbons PC law firm web site as leading a team specifically formed to assist the state of NJ.
If anyone is concerned with Todd Christie as a Director of a 175,000 person auditing firm of E & Y bidding, they should be more concerned with either Samson/Grifa or Palatucci getting any part of the auditing contract over the use/misuse of the Federal Sandy billions.The 30 firms that are on a qualified list that the State has approved include some JOINT BIDDING firms and at least one of the firms is Wolfe Samson, whose name is NOT listed as the "monitor" as the auditing firm's name is listed but in fact, the bid package that was accepted by CC's administration includes both the auditing firm and Wolf Samson in it's response to the proposal for auditing assistance.
Reading that joint response lists Lori Grifa as Wolfe's main contact person for David Samson's law firm.
I believe a similar situation exists with William Palatucci, who is listed on Gibbons PC law firm web site as leading a team specifically formed to assist the state of NJ.
If anyone is concerned with Todd Christie as a Director of a 175,000 person auditing firm of E & Y bidding, they should be more concerned with either Samson/Grifa or Palatucci getting any part of the auditing contract over the use/misuse of the Federal Sandy billions.The 30 firms that are on a qualified list that the State has approved include some JOINT BIDDING firms and at least one of the firms is Wolfe Samson, whose name is NOT listed as the "monitor" as the auditing firm's name is listed but in fact, the bid package that was accepted by CC's administration includes both the auditing firm and Wolf Samson in it's response to the proposal for auditing assistance.
Reading that joint response lists Lori Grifa as Wolfe's main contact person for David Samson's law firm.
I believe a similar situation exists with William Palatucci, who is listed on Gibbons PC law firm web site as leading a team specifically formed to assist the state of NJ.
If anyone is concerned with Todd Christie as a Director of a 175,000 person auditing firm of E & Y bidding, they should be more concerned with either Samson/Grifa or Palatucci getting any part of the auditing contract over the use/misuse of the Federal Sandy billions.
And this:
The ACLU filed an OPRA case on behalf of the Education Law Center regarding the refusal of the Schools Development Authority to release reports on health and safety conditions in urban school buildings. Oral argument in the case is scheduled for next week.
-- www.edlawcenter.org/news/archives/school-facilities/sda-refuses-to-release-reports-on-health-and-safety-conditions-in-urban-school-buildings.html
And this:
-- GoomahGate: Christie is failing to confirm the worst kept secret in Trenton, his relationship, with Michelle Brown. He refuses to release the documents about the hotel stays and his failure to reveal more about paying Brown's mortgage. Folks here understand "goomah," right?
-- American Dream mall: $800,000,000 in NJ tax dollars are being issued as Bonds under Christie and Bergen County government for the [Zanadu/Zanapoo/American Dream] shopping mall, making it the largest junk bond municipal issuance in the USA. And the law firm is none other than Wolf & Samson and the fees are NOT market rate including the lobbyist for the developer, Bergen GOP Party Boss Alan Marcus.
Then we get to RREM and the simple directions. Here's what people who had been wiped out by ocean waves during Sandy:
...Fill in the online pre-application for the applicant.
The required pre-application will ask for basic household and income information:
-- Names and Date of Birth of all household members;
-- Income for all household members;
-- Contact Information (address, phone number, email address); and
-- Race/Ethnicity/Gender (this information is strictly for statistical purposes only).
Once a pre-application is received by HMFA, applicants will be contacted by an HMFA-contracted Housing Counselor to complete the full application process.
Household Eligibility
To be eligible for the Sandy Homebuyer Assistance Program, applicants must meet the following requirements:
-- Applicant must purchase a home in the nine most-impacted counties.
-- Applicants’ income must be less than or equal to 80% area median income.
-- Applicants must have minimum credit score of 620.
-- Applicants must qualify for first mortgage to purchase the housing unit.
Eligible Homes
The eligible property must meet the following requirements:
-- After purchase, the home must be the applicant’s primary residence;
-- Must be located in one of the nine (9) impacted counties; and
-- Must be a one-family residential property (attached, detached, condominium, or manufactured home with a permanent foundation)
That's simple enough, eh? Then we get what happened to Democratic municipality residents. 80% of New Jersey applications were rejected incorrectly. Come May of 2014 this mess finally got through Federal Court and produced an agreement whereby HUD would intervene.
Settlement agreement: HUD and Latino Action Network and New Jersey National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Fair Share Housing Center and State of New Jersey
The State of New Jersey received 16,605 RREM applications related to Hurricane Sandy. Then eventually there had to be a "friendly" suit that allowed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the State of New Jersey to review all of the rejected applications.
One specific issue goes to individuals with limited English language skills. The Christie Administration provided nothing in the way of help for these individuals.
Another part of this settlement requires the state to direct Hurricane Sandy funds to the hardest-hit communities, including the three most impacted counties — Ocean, Monmouth and Atlantic.
Nothing
And nothing happens. Applications are good. HUD approves. Contractors do what they do.
"Duce the Toad" sits on it. Waiting out the non-cooperating, no pay-to-play home owners looks to be the tactic.
Applicants with Republican and pay-to-play cred get checks. Otherwise, fergeddaboudit. Phase II and III never got off the blocks. That's another $2 billion of New Jersey and nothing happens.
Maybe they can blame it on ObamaCare. Or Hillary Clinton.