Elizabeth Board of Education, Perth Amboy government hit with state subpoenas
Two municipal entities in New Jersey have been served subpoenas from the state that request information on government contracts, POLITICO has learned.
The subpoenas went out last month to the Elizabeth School District and to the city government of Perth Amboy.
“The Elizabeth School District received a request for information from the state and is of course working to fulfill that request,” said Elizabeth schools spokesperson Pat Politano, who confirmed the information was requested through a subpoena.
Elizabeth received the subpoena Nov. 15. A subpoena went out to Perth Amboy’s city government on Nov. 19.
Perth Amboy Business Administrator Frederick Carr said in a phone interview the subpoena is from a state grand jury and seeks documents on requests for proposals, bid awards and contract payments and other information for about a dozen companies and organizations, mostly public contractors.
Many of the more than a dozen companies and organizations named in the subpoena are prolific campaign donors, though not all have contracts with Perth Amboy, according to a search of a database maintained by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.
“They just sent us a subpoena that said ‘please send me these documents’ and we have done so,” Carr said.
The subpoenas do not say why the information is being sought. The Attorney General's Office did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Two sources familiar with the Elizabeth subpoena who spoke on condition of anonymity said they believe it is related to a super PAC and nonprofit organization set up to influence its 2016 school board race. Two similar organizations, run by the same people, also participated in the Perth Amboy mayoral race the same year.
POLITICO reported in March 2018 that in 2016 political consultant Sean Caddle and Gianni Donates, a campaign treasurer for many super PACs set set up the two “social welfare” nonprofit organizations, which are not required to disclose their donors. The groups then donated tens of thousands of dollars to two super PACs the same men set up around the same time.
The super PACs spent the money on canvassing and campaign literature to elect Elizabeth Board of Education candidates and a mayoral challenger in Perth Amboy.
Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz said she was aware of the subpoenas, but “it has nothing to do with me.” Her campaign manager from the 2016 election, Patricia Campos Medina, said the super PAC aided one of Diaz’s unsuccessful opponents.
The Board of Education candidates the super PAC backed in Elizabeth were backed by the city’s Democratic establishment and won the seats.
Caddle, a longtime former political consultant to former state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.
Caddle’s consulting firm, Arkady, and Donates also set up a nonprofit organization and super PAC that unsuccessfully attempted to oust Orange Mayor Dwayne Warren in 2016. A call to Orange’s business administrator was not immediately returned.
