August 12, 2009
 | BIONDI: CORZINE SHOULD FIRE DDD |
Following the release of a state audit which identified millions of wasted taxpayer dollars at the Department of Human Services’ Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), Assembly Republican Conference Leader Pete Biondi today said Governor Jon Corzine should immediately dismiss the Assistant Commissioner of DDD and every employee involved in this latest discovery of abused and mismanaged public funds.
“For more than three-and-a-half years, Governor Corzine has whined about the state’s budget deficits, repeatedly telling middle class families and seniors they need to sacrifice to fill the gaps,” said Biondi, R-Somerset and Morris. “In the meantime, we’ve seen audit after audit of various state programs and departments revealing billions in wasted taxpayer money, but nothing has changed. The audit reports are released and the governor praises the fact that mismanagement has been discovered, but he takes absolutely no corrective action. No one is fired, criminal charges are never filed and no funds are ever recovered.
“Instead, he has the audacity to pat himself on the back for a job well done,” he continued. “It’s an insult to every hard working taxpayer in this state. Instead of singing his own praises, he should immediately fire Assistant Commissioner (Kenneth) Ritchey for allowing this fiscal abuse to occur under his watch.”
The state’s latest audit of 10 adult training programs at DDD found the state agency wasted $1.4 million by paying for more individuals than were actually receiving services. Total overpayments could reach as high as $10 million.
In addition, Millennium Radio today reported the audit “uncovered a string of inappropriate expenses paid by DDD to a provider whose CEO is a former DDD director.”
According to the Millennium Radio report, expenses included $111,851 for cruises to the Mediterranean and Caribbean taken by the provider's management, staff and developmentally disabled clients; $3,681 for a restaurant tab in Spain after returning from the Mediterranean cruise; $13,383 for purchases with little or no supporting documentation, including a non-itemized receipt at the Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar in the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City for $2,690; $2,499 to install a GPS navigation unit in the CEO's company car and to pay the CEO's car insurance deductible, despite the absence of proof that an accident occurred, and $746 for six tickets for provider management to attend Cirque Du Soleil at Madison Square Garden and more.
“For nearly four years Governor Corzine has promised everything, but has delivered nothing,” stated Biondi. “He promised us accountability and transparency, yet where are the consequences for all this waste of taxpayer dollars at DDD and at other state agencies? The SCC squandered $8 billion in taxpayer money and we have nothing to show for it. Little, if any funds were recovered and no criminal charges were ever filed. Instead the Corzine Administration slapped a new name on the commission and handed officials billions more.
“Same with the Abbott School audits – millions have been wasted during Governor Corzine’s tenure, and all we hear is ‘we’re putting safeguards in place,’” he added. “Yet the audit results are always the same, but no one has been fired or even reprimanded. The buck needs to stop here at DDD and since Governor Corzine is the man in charge, he needs to step up to the plate and end the gravy train now by relieving Mr. Ritchey of his duties for this inexcusable waste.”
Biondi also noted that Governor Corzine should instruct the state Attorney General to investigate and pursue criminal charges in this matter where applicable.
