Thursday, March 11, 2004
BY STEVE CHAMBERS
Star-Ledger Staff
Five generations of the Halper family farmed their Piscataway land since the 1920s, even as the town grew around them into a booming bedroom community.
As the last working farm in the township, the 75-acre tract was sought by developers. In a battle that began in 1998, town officials pressured the family to keep the land open space, to the point they threatened to condemn it.
 |
All of that angered and embittered family members, who said they, too, wanted to preserve the land but also felt politicians were conspiring to cheat them out of a fair price.
Now, one of the owners, Mark Halper, has emerged as a figure in a wide-ranging criminal probe into political fund-raising. The investigation focuses on the selling of political favors, and investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding a $10,000 donation the Halpers made to the Democratic State Committee in December 2002.
Federal investigators have subpoenaed the records of state Democrats and various governmental offices, including the farmland preservation program that 18 months ago offered the Halpers a deal they dismissed as "woefully unrealistic and incredibly inadequate."
Mark Halper's anger was apparent in a letter he wrote to the State Agriculture Development Committee.
"What has happened is the program that we sought as relief was manipulated by the very politicians seeking to exile us," he said in the Aug. 8, 2002, letter.
Sources say Halper is cooperating with federal officials in their investigation.
The passions central to the Halper land case have become familiar in New Jersey's housing wars, as sprawling development has touched off aggressive open-space purchasing and zoning changes by local officials bent on slowing growth.
Countless property owners have hired lawyers to fight efforts to downzone their property or take it from them by force in the name of open space. Piscataway won the latest round in its protracted court case to take the Halper land, but the family has appealed.
While the Halpers have long vowed to keep farming their land, they also have had offers from major developers and long-running battles with local officials that made both sides mistrustful of one another.
"I call it a pig sty," Middlesex County Freeholder Camille Fernicola said of the Halper property. "Ever since I've known of that place, they've always thumbed their nose at the township and never cooperated with zoning and building laws."
It was at the urging of Fernicola, who lives in Piscataway, that the Middlesex County Agriculture Development Board sent the Halpers a letter on June 6, 2000, seeking a meeting to discuss the farmland preservation program.
That was the same day Piscataway won the first legal round to acquire the Halpers' land, with Superior Court Judge Robert Longhi ruling that open-space funds could be used to condemn their property. An earlier appraisal by the town set the land value at $4.3 million.
Mark Halper and his twin Larry had been railing at local officials, causing scenes at public meetings and condemning their effort as theft. They lined the property along Metlars Lane and Washington Avenue with signs bashing various politicians, made up T-shirts, and tried to force the farm's fate as a campaign issue in elections.
All the while, the Halpers vowed to keep their land in farming, but township officials said publicly they didn't believe them. The letter offering to discuss farmland preservation was, in a sense, an effort to call their bluff.
But the Halpers followed up on the offer, saying later they did so with extreme trepidation. The county, after all, had offered to help fund the town's condemnation effort.
The state eventually offered the Halpers $3 million for the development rights -- meaning the family would keep the property but agree never to develop it -- prompting their angry reply.
Developers had offered much more for the land, which is zoned for half-acre lots.
In 1995, Toll Brothers offered the family $12.3 million, and two years later, an offer for $12.8 million came in from Westminster Realty Corp., a major development firm owned by Charles Kushner, McGreevey's top campaign contributor.
The Halpers also have had business dealings with Commerce Bank, which offered to purchase a separate six-acre property from them to build a branch. South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross sits on the bank's board of directors and is the chairman and CEO of Commerce Insurance Services, a subsidiary of the bank's holding company.
James Stuart of Stuart Appraisal Co. in Freehold, who established the $3 million value that state preservation officials offered the Halpers, said the price was eminently fair. He said developers typically include "parachutes" in their contracts, offering a maximum price contingent on certain building approvals with decreasing prices based on other scenarios.
"Just because a builder is offering $13 million doesn't mean you're going to get $13 million," said Stuart, who has been assessing farmland for 25 years. "Frankly, $13 million without parachutes would have been far and above what I would be considered to be the market value for that land."
Once the Halpers walked away from the $3 million offer, the township renewed its efforts to preserve the land without them.
Six months later, in early December 2002, Judge Longhi ruled that the town could take Cornell farms, a decision the Halpers have appealed.
Twenty-eight days later, members of the Halper family made a $10,000 contribution to the Democratic State Committee in the name of their business, Cornell Dairy Farms.
Feds focusing on fund-raiser's talk with farmer
Thursday, March 11, 2004
BY JEFF WHELAN AND MARK MUELLER
Star-Ledger Staff
Taped conversations between a fund-raiser for the state Democratic Party and a Middlesex County farmer who made a $10,000 contribution have emerged as a key piece of evidence in a federal corruption probe that has reached into the McGreevey administration, two sources familiar with the investigation said.
One of the sources said the fund-raiser, David D'Amiano, solicited the $10,000 donation from Mark Halper and promised to use his influence to help Halper settle a long-standing dispute over the fate of his property, the last farm in Piscataway Township.
|
It could not be determined what actions, if any, D'Amiano took on behalf of Halper, who has been cooperating with investigators, sources have said.
Since last week, D'Amiano has been the subject of subpoenas to the office of Gov. James E. McGreevey and other state agencies, part of an inquiry into whether favors have been traded for campaign contributions.
The investigation has led the governor's office, high-ranking former state officials and Democratic Party officials to retain lawyers from outside the administration, sources said.
A McGreevey spokesman, Micah Rasmussen, said last night the governor's office "sought the advice of counsel to ensure full and complete compliance with the U.S. Attorney's requests."
Rasmussen would not elaborate or name the lawyer, but two sources identified him as William E. Lawler III, a nationally known criminal defense lawyer based in Washington, D.C. A former federal prosecutor, Lawler specializes in trial work, grand jury proceedings and government investigations.
Others who have hired lawyers, according to the sources, include the Democratic State Committee; Kevin Hagan, the DSC's director and a former deputy chief of staff under McGreevey; Stephanie Babek, the DSC's former finance director; Amy Mansue, also a former deputy chief of staff; and Jackie Ruocco, a Democratic fund-raiser.
The state Treasury and Agriculture departments, also served with federal subpoenas last week, were in the process of hiring attorneys as well, the sources said. The process had not been completed by last night, the sources said.
The flurry of legal moves comes amid daily revelations about the federal investigation. Much of what has emerged so far has focused on D'Amiano, 44, whom McGreevey has described as a casual friend he first met in high school.
D'Amiano, an Edison resident who owns waste-hauling and recycling companies in Carteret, has raised money for the governor and for the Democratic Party since 1997, and he served on the finance committees for two of McGreevey's gubernatorial campaigns.
Federal investigators are examining, among other things, whether state officials gave D'Amiano preferential treatment in allowing him to settle $432,000 in state tax debts, sources have said.
D'Amiano's involvement with the Middlesex County farming family adds another dimension to the probe.
Mark Halper, who owns Cornell Dairy Farm with his twin Larry and several other relatives, has been waging a bitter fight with Piscataway Township officials since 1998.
The town wants to seize the farm through eminent domain to preserve it as open space. D'Amiano, according to a source with knowledge of the federal investigation, told Mark Halper he could help resolve the dispute.
D'Amiano also pressed Halper for the $10,000 contribution to the Democratic State Committee, the source said. Records show a $10,000 contribution in the name of Cornell Dairy Farm to the committee on Dec. 30, 2002.
Just 28 days earlier, a judge had ruled that Piscataway officials could proceed with the condemnation of the Halpers' land. The decision has since been appealed.
D'Amiano later invited Halper to a Democratic fund-raiser in August of 2003, where Halper met the governor and posed for a photo with him, according to a person who attended the event.
Halper contributed $500 to the Democratic State Committee to attend the function, held at the Florham Park residence of Andrew Fiore, who is in the waste-hauling business.
Two sources said several conversations between Halper and D'Amiano were tape-recorded. And while one of the sources declined to say how the recordings were made, the other source said Halper did not wear a wire but that the conversations were picked up in other ways.
Halper yesterday declined to comment on the investigation or on whether he played any role in it.
D'Amiano has not returned numerous calls placed to his office and home over the past week.
Among the documents sought by federal prosecutors are all records and correspondence between the Halpers and the state. At one point in their fight with Piscataway, the Halpers applied to the farmland preservation program. But they rejected the state's offer of $3 million as too low.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has made a similar request for records involving D'Amiano and the Halpers to Middlesex County, which handled the family's application to the farmland preservation program.
Asked if the governor knew of the Halpers' situation, a McGreevey spokeswoman, Kathy Ellis, said yesterday the governor was "aware" of the Halpers and their farm.
She added: "It would be irresponsible, however, to discuss any aspect of the matter further. Anyone who does could jeopardize the integrity of the investigation."
She declined to say when and how McGreevey became aware of the Halpers' land battle or whether the governor ever discussed the issue with any family members. She also declined to comment on the August 2003 fund-raiser where McGreevey and Halper met.
In Trenton, meanwhile, the hiring of high-profile lawyers by current and former government officials signalled just how seriously the investigation, headed by U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, is being taken.
Lawler, representing the governors office, is a former president of the Washington D.C. Bar Association. As a defense lawyer, he has represented the head of the FBI hostage rescue team in litigation and in congressional hearings about the Branch Davidian and Ruby Ridge cases.
Among the other attorneys hired are two former presidents of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey: Lawrence Lustberg and Justin Walder, a former Essex County prosecutor and deputy attorney general.
Lustberg, sources said, is representing the Democratic State Committee, while Walder is representing Mansue, the former deputy chief of staff.
Cherry Hill lawyer Carl Poplar, a one-time law partner of former Democratic Gov. Jim Florio, has been hired by Hagan, the Democratic State Committee chief, the sources said.
Staff writers John P. Martin, Josh Margolin, David Kinney, Kathy Barrett Carter, Robert Schwaneberg, Diane C. Walsh, Brian T. Murray and Kate Coscarelli contributed to this report.
Proposal for bank moves forward
Commerce branch sought in Piscataway
Friday, March 12, 2004
BY BETH KRESSEL
Star-Ledger Staff
Commerce Bank received approval from the Piscataway planning board to build a branch on land owned by a family involved in a federal corruption probe.
The board Wednesday voted unanimously to grant the Cherry Hill-based bank preliminary approval to build a 14,000-square-foot branch with second-floor offices at the busy intersection of Metlars Lane and Stelton Road in the township.
The property is owned by members of the Halper family, including Mark Halper, whose $10,000 contribution in December 2002 to the state Democratic Party, sources have said, has emerged as a key piece of evidence in an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office.
Sources familiar with the investigation said the Halpers' sale of the property to Commerce is not a focus of the probe.
The planning board's preliminary approval allows the 6-acre lot to be divided into two parcels instead of the original three. A Friendly's restaurant already stands on a portion of the 6-acre site adjoining the proposed bank.
One lot is owned by Ruth Halper and the other two are owned by Halper Family Holdings, the estate of Helen Halper, Ruth, Bonnie, Laurence, Mark and Ronald Halper, and Ruby Halper-Erkkila and Cindy Raiman.
The Halper family has been embroiled in a dispute with Piscataway over their 75-acre farm down the road at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Metlars Lane. The family has been fighting Piscataway's efforts to condemn the property, known as the Cornell Dairy Farm. The case was recently argued before the state appeals court and a decision is pending.
Planning board decision on the Commerce Bank branch comes more than four years after the Halpers and the Regency Realty REIT sought approval to build an Eckerd drug store on the 6-acre site.
Before the Halpers and Regency filed the application, the planning board changed the zoning of the site from commercial to residential, said Douglas Janacek, a Newark- based lawyer who represented Commerce before the planning board.
The Haplers and Regency took the township to court and after about two years of litigation, Regency pulled out, Janacek said. At that point, Commerce expressed interest in the land, he said.
Eventually a court mediator negotiated an out-of-court settlement in which the township agreed to return the zoning to commercial and to hear a site application for Commerce, Janacek said.
One month after Commerce filed its application with the planning board in May, Janacek said, the township council approved an ordinance to prohibit banks from being built on the site.
The Halpers and Commerce again took the township to superior court where the judge decided in their favor, he said.
In November, Commerce appeared before the planning board for the first time.
Since November, he said, the planning board has heard the Commerce application several times, most recently on Feb. 11 when the board decided to hold off on a vote until its next meeting.
Janacek said he understood the planning board closed the public hearing portion of the application Feb. 11 and just needed to vote.
On Wednesday, the planning board granted approval under several conditions. Commerce must construct a deceleration lane along Metlars Lane to deal with added traffic caused by bank customers.
"It is the opinion of professionals ... that a deceleration lane is essential. ... The number of cars generated by this site ... dictates the generation of a deceleration lane," board attorney Chris Nelson said.
Parking spaces in the bank parking lot will be moved 5 feet away from Metlars. In addition, Janacek said the bank will comply with stricter storm water regulations recently enacted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
After Janacek addressed Nelson's concerns about parking, the deceleration lane and additional trees to border the bank parking lot included in the letter, the board took the deciding vote.
"It's going to be a very expensive project to build with all the requirements, but Commerce has agreed to do it," Janacek said after the meeting.
Ex-McGreevey aide quizzed in probe
Former deputy chief of staff meets with feds in scrutiny on corruption
Saturday, March 13, 2004
BY JOSH MARGOLIN AND MARK MUELLER
Star-Ledger Staff
A former member of Gov. James E. McGreevey's inner circle was questioned by federal investigators yesterday in connection with a sweeping corruption probe examining whether favors were traded for campaign contributions.
Amy Mansue, who served as a deputy chief of staff under McGreevey until taking a private-sector job last fall, met with representatives of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark, said her lawyer, Justin Walder.
|
"She cooperated fully and answered all of the questions asked," Walder said.
Mansue, 39, the president of Children's Specialized Hospital in Mountainside, is "solely a cooperating witness and not a target" of the investigation, the lawyer said.
Walder would not discuss the nature of the questions posed during the interview, but he said Mansue "confirmed that all of the matters (she was asked about) were handled appropriately and professionally."
Mansue's precise role in the investigation could not be determined yesterday. Sources with knowledge of the inquiry have previously said that a federal subpoena issued to the governor's office last week largely produced documents on matters involving Mansue and another deputy chief of staff, Kevin Hagan.
The subpoena, the sources said, sought all records and correspondence on a Democratic fund-raiser, David D'Amiano, 44, a longtime McGreevey supporter and friend.
Other subpoenas were served on the state Treasury and Agriculture departments, and records reflecting D'Amiano's fund-raising activities were seized from the headquarters of the Democratic State Committee.
Stephanie Babek, the committee's former finance director, has received an interview request from federal authorities, according to a source with direct knowledge of the overture. Babek and her lawyer, William Northgrave, declined to comment yesterday.
Federal investigators are examining whether D'Amiano received favorable treatment in settling $432,000 in state tax debts under the McGreevey administration.
In addition, sources have said, investigators are trying to determine whether D'Amiano, in exchange for a large campaign contribution, inappropriately used his influence to help a Middlesex County farmer involved in a lengthy dispute with Piscataway Township officials over his land.
The farmer, Mark Halper, made a $10,000 contribution to the state Democratic Party in December 2002. Six months earlier, Halper and his relatives rejected as too low a $3 million offer by the state to buy the farm's development rights. Halper, sources said, is cooperating with the federal probe.
The governor's office Thursday turned over the documents investigators had requested. The Agriculture Department was expected to do the same by the end of the day yesterday, said Robert Stahl, a private-practice lawyer hired by the administration to represent the Agriculture and Treasury departments.
Stahl, a former federal prosecutor practicing in Westfield, said that because of privacy rules, the tax records sought by prosecutors have not been turned over and will not be delivered unless prosecutors obtain either a court order or the consent of the taxpayer in question.
Stahl is one of several lawyers from outside the administration working on behalf of state agencies and officials.
Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, said state law allows for the hiring of outside counsel if the attorney general "concludes that such representation is in the best interest of the state."
Loriquet said there is no mandated cap on fees for outside counsel. Those fees are paid by the state.