Liberal Forum

Christie Officials Fire Hurricane Sandy Contractor In The Dark: Editorial

Star-Ledger Editorial Board 1/23/2014

First, the good news: The Christie administration has fired the contractor that's been bungling the distribution of federal Hurricane Sandy relief money.

This Louisiana firm, called Hammerman and Gainer (HGI), got lambasted by Sandy victims at several legislative hearings. It was accused of losing applications, of giving people the runaround when they called with basic questions or tried to find out where they stood on the waiting list.

It's been faulted for unreturned phone calls and delays in getting people back into their homes -- not just in New Jersey but in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

So we're not sorry to see HGI go. But now here's the bad news: The administration fired HGI last month, and we are all just finding out about this now.

State officials apparently saw it fit to quietly terminate their contract with the firm, posting a notice of the settlement reached Dec. 6 on a Treasury Department website, without advising the public. HGI officially ended its $68 million contract Jan. 6.

Just two days later, Richard Constable, who oversees the state's rebuilding programs, testified for the first time before the state Assembly. He's in charge of these grant programs that HGI was screwing up. Did he not think it necessary to mention this firing when he defended the administration against its critics?

Constable didn't disclose it last week, either, when he cited new signs of progress in the state's relief efforts, including more grants finally being doled out, and letters sent to applicants on the waiting list to let them know where they stand. Could this be because the state is now trying to remedy HGI's mistakes?

Marc Ferzan, the so-called Sandy czar, also didn't bother to share the news in his phone conversation with reporters just three days ago. He had briefly poked his head out of his hole to defend his boss, Gov. Chris Christie, against accusations of political threats in Hoboken.

It was Ferzan's first public appearance since taking charge of the state's Sandy recovery process more than a year ago, aside from one semi-public event in April. Like Constable, he had refused to attend a series of legislative hearings to respond to complaints from Hurricane Sandy victims.

So mark this down as yet another crucial topic avoided. First Christie's officials publicly deny that HGI is mishandling their grant programs. Then they silently fire the contractor?

Ferzan promised us more transparency in the Sandy relief effort. When will we get it?