Commissioner calls for ‘sweeping ethics reforms’ in Ocean County government and at OCC

TOMS RIVER - Ocean County Commissioner Frank Sadeghi is calling for “sweeping ethics reforms” in the county government and at Ocean County College, in the wake of an Asbury Park Press investigation into former OCC President Jon H. Larson’s extensive travel to the Middle East in the final years of his tenure.

“Former President Larson’s abuse of county resources is beyond embarrassing and we as a Board of Commissioners need to ensure it never happens again,” Sadeghi said. “Moreover, we expect the Board of Trustees at the college to be held accountable for failing to police the president and all other faculty and staff who joined these trips.”

The Press reported in January that the Larson administration spent more than $300,000 on lavish travel to the Middle East between 2016 and 2023, related to its now-failed bid to break into the online education market in Egypt, according to internal billing records obtained by the Press.

In response, Larson has said the accommodations were not extravagant and that the trips were necessary as part of his administration’s plan to focus on enrollment growth that shifted to new markets that he contends are in scarce supply in Ocean County alone.

Sadeghi said better safeguards are needed in county government and at the college to prevent future abuses in official travel. He has proposed a ban on first class or business travel by employees of the county college or county government when on official business; a cap on nightly lodging costs and per diem spending on meals and entertainment that aligned with U.S. State Department guidelines on official foreign travel and the U.S. General Services Administration guidelines on domestic travel.

“While I am open to discussion with my colleagues on the Board of Commissioners, the new college president and the Board of Trustees about my ideas, I have no intention of stopping at just talk,” Sadeghi said. “I am committed to enacting new reforms at the county college and in county government that protect taxpayers and tuition payers from having their dollars abused like this ever again.”

Larson’s successor, OCC President Pamela J. Monaco, who took office in July, has since ended the Middle East program.

While the county Board of Commissioners has no jurisdiction over the operation of the community college as Commissioner Virginia E. Haines pointed out at a recent board meeting, the commissioners do appoint almost all of its trustees and this year expect to appropriate $18 million in taxpayer aid to the college.

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“Ocean County College appreciates the opportunity to work with the Commissioners on ways the college can align with all other county organizations in serving the public interest,” Monaco said in response to a request for comment for this story.

Monaco said the college has been extremely fortunate over the years to have strong working relationships with the county commissioners and its liaisons, particularly Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr., who died in 2018 (and for whom an academic building on campus is named) and now Haines.

Monaco said she would reach out to her fellow college presidents to learn what travel policies their institutions have in place, “and we will certainly begin discussions with our Board of Trustees and college community.”

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Sadeghi, who took office in January, said he also wants to enact term limits for the college Board of Trustees and form a special committee made up of representatives from the county administration, the Board of Commissioners, the county general counsel and the county director of the Department of Employee Relations.

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“In my research, it appears many of our ethics policies in the county haven’t been updated in years —and in some cases decades — and that lack of attention is preventing alignment with the best policies and practices across the state and in other states,” Sadeghi said. “By initiating a full review, we can give county taxpayers confidence that we are serious about not only running fiscally efficient government, but also government that adheres to the highest ethical standards.”

Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Commissioner calls for ‘sweeping ethics reforms’ in Ocean County NJ