New Jersey lawmaker blasts state treasurer for skipping hearing on Sandy contract

New Jersey Treasurer Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff.
New Jersey Treasurer Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff.
New Jersey Treasurer Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff.GALLERY: New Jersey Treasurer Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff.
By James Osborne, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: February 09, 2013

New Jersey Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Vincent Prieto threatened to subpoena the state treasurer Thursday after he did not appear for a hearing on a controversial cleanup contract for Hurricane Sandy.

"It just blows my mind, and it's an insult not just to this body but all the residents of New Jersey," Prieto (D., Hudson) said at the hearing about the failure of Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff to appear. "He's not just the governor's treasurer. He's the treasurer for all the residents, and he needs to answer these questions."

The shot across the administration's bow was fired amid mounting questions over an emergency contract Gov. Christie awarded two days after Sandy to AshBritt Inc. - a politically connected Florida-based firm - to clean up hundreds of thousands of tons of debris from the devastated shoreline.

More than 40 towns have signed on with the contractor, but Democratic leaders are asking whether they could have gotten the work done at a cheaper price.

At the hearing, the committee moved legislation that would install "integrity monitors" to watch for cost overruns as $50 billion in federal aid begins to flow to the Northeast.

Sidamon-Eristoff's absence - to which he alerted the committee with a phone call in the morning - was the fourth time he had been called and failed to appear before the budget panel in recent months, Prieto said.

A spokesman for Sidamon-Eristoff declined to comment.

At the hearing Thursday, Republicans defended the treasurer's absence, promising he would appear at a later date to answer questions about Sandy-related contracts.

David Rousseau, who served as treasurer under Gov. Jon S. Corzine, said treasurers rarely appeared before the legislature outside of the annual budget hearings.

"It's very rare for any cabinet member. Of course, I had a Democratic legislature and governor, so they could come to my office. We were all one team, in quotes," he said. "This clearly was going to become a confrontational hearing."

Contact James Osborne at 856-779-3876 or jaosborne@phillynews.com or follow on Twitter @osbornja.

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