Statewide intel. Local accountability.
Publisher & Editor — Jersey Intel
Julio Reynoso is the Publisher and Editor of Jersey Intel, an independent investigative newsroom covering state, county, and municipal government, campaign finance, public contracts, and OPRA public-records investigations across New Jersey. Have a news tip or public document? Email jerseyintel@gmail.com.
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Accountability
Pemberton Township, N.J. Mayor Matthew Bianchini rushed toward a man in the audience at the Oct. 21 council meeting and was held back, the township’s own video shows. A man in the audience then demanded police arrest him.
Accountability
The New Jersey Senate voted Oct. 22 to bar non-disclosure deals that hide data-center plans and passed the S4729 solar bill 39-0, while an election bill on its list got no vote. Newark, N.J. awarded a $5.9 million contract to its only bidder, and Clifton, N.J. split 4-1-1 on its health broker.
Accountability
Essex County, N.J. commissioners voted Oct. 21 to self-fund worker and retiree health benefits starting Jan. 1, 2027, and hired five vendors in an item not on the Oct. 16 agenda that lists no dollar amount. The county did not respond to Jersey Intel’s questions by the deadline.
Accountability
Monmouth County, N.J. commissioners are set Oct. 22 to approve a three-year, $243,923,950.98 contract with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey to run the county’s self-funded health plan, including $3.7 million in administrative fees and profit.
Accountability
Paragon Asset Management’s application for four five-story buildings at 179-183 Carroll Street in Paterson, N.J., is marked withdrawn with prejudice on the Planning Board’s Oct. 26 agenda. Its attorney’s letter says the YWCA’s owners declined a split with a neighboring church.
Accountability
Vineland, N.J.’s council is set Oct. 27 to introduce a $1,797,176 purchase of a half interest in 64.88 acres from the Vineland Development Corporation and to approve up to $240,000 for a sports consultant the records don’t name. A 2021 resolution called for the same loan fund to pay for those lots.
Accountability
Newark, N.J.: Spectraserv Inc. was the only bidder again for the Pequannock sludge-lagoon job, now $5,919,420 for two years. City records show it has held the contract since 2017, four of six rounds drew a single bid, and the award has grown about fivefold.
Accountability
Resolution K-1 and Ordinance O-2026-00013 would move Essex County workers and retirees out of the State Health Benefits Plan and into a self-funded plan on Jan. 1, 2027. The agenda, the ordinance and the county’s backup memo list no cost, claims administrator or stop-loss insurer.
Accountability
Ordinance 6330 would let CenterPoint Butler Urban Renewal LLC pay a $758,013 annual service charge, with increases, instead of regular taxes on a 207,800-square-foot warehouse. The council’s posted records don’t give the project’s cost, which the state’s 2% floor is based on.
Accountability
Acting Superintendent Jeanne Hengemuhle is the only nominee on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Oct. 22 agenda. A bill that would let her serve without reenrolling in the State Police pension system has waited for a Senate vote since June.
