LONG BRANCH -- Three of five City Council members, the city attorney and a Sewerage Authority commissioner work for or own shares in a local bank with which the city does millions of dollars in business, an Asbury Park Press investigation has found. Three council members who own shares in the bank - Anthony Giordano III, Michael A. DeStefano and David G. Brown - also have approved city redevelopment projects that were later financed by the institution, Monmouth Community Bank.

The involvement of so many public officials in the same business - particularly a bank that stands to benefit from city investment and from new business generated by Long Branch's sweeping redevelopment efforts - has raised questions about possible conflicts of interest and some doubts about whether city officials have entered relationships that could impair their independence of judgment, several residents and officials said.

Mayor Adam Schneider, who does not own shares in the bank, said the three council members' ties to Monmouth Community Bank will be reviewed by the administration with an eye toward removing any appearance of a conflict of interest.

"I don't want anyone thinking what we are doing might not be right," Schneider said. One solution may be for the city to close its account with Monmouth Community Bank; another may be for some council members to sell their shares, he said.

Former Sewerage Authority Commissioner William J. McLaughlin, 64, of Ocean Avenue, said such close ties between the city government and a local bank smack of "one big, happy family."

"They transfer money to the bank. They are shareholders," he said. "If the bank is making money, the stock goes up, and they make money. Where is the ethics in that?"

But Monmouth Community Bank often provides the city with higher rates of interest and better services than its competitors, said city officials, including Finance Director Ronald J. Mehlhorn, who is responsible for the day-to-day handling of city money.

The city had $5.6 million on deposit with the bank at the end of September, up from just more than $2 million at the end of 1999, a year after the bank opened for business, according to city finance records. It is the city's second-largest depository.

The Bank of New York, which also has a branch in the city, holds the most city money: $11.8 million as of September. All told, the city had $21 million in five banks, as of September.

The Sewerage Authority had $1.5 million in Monmouth Community as of September, which was 24 percent of the authority's cash and investments.

City and Sewerage Authority money at Monmouth Community Bank accounted for approximately 4 percent of the bank's total deposits of $163.7 million, as of September.

More connections

Not all of the bank's connections to city business involved taxpayers' money.

City Attorney James G. Aaron's law firm represented Solomon Dwek of Deal, a real estate investor involved in buying land in the city's lower Broadway redevelopment zone, according to a review of property tax and corporate records. Dwek also sits on the bank's board of directors with Aaron.

Aaron, who owned or co-owned approximately $775,000 in shares of Monmouth Community stock as of July 1, attended meetings in which the city's lower Broadway redevelopment plan was discussed, according to Councilman Giordano and the city's planning consultant, Pratap Talwar.

Giordano also said Aaron occasionally passed along information to the redevelopment team from the city's redevelopment attorney, Peter Buchsbaum, when he was absent. Aaron is listed on the lower Broadway design guidelines booklet as a member of the redevelopment team.

Aaron also received e-mails from Buchsbaum describing basic elements of the plan in the days prior to its approval, according to city records.

Over the past two years, when many of the redevelopment meetings took place, Aaron's law firm - Ansell Zaro Grimm & Aaron - represented Dwek. Aaron confirmed that his firm has represented Dwek.

Aaron knew enough about the lower Broadway plan to answer questions on it at public meetings, but he said last week that he was not involved enough with the planning process for it to present a conflict with his firm's representation of Dwek in lower Broadway property transactions.

"I never had any input into the creation of the plan, the drafting of the plan, or the presentation of the plan," Aaron said. "And I could take no action with respect to that ordinance if it affected any client of my firm. We are more attuned to that as the redevelopment process takes hold because more and more of our clients may very well get involved in Long Branch."

The Press investigation also found these city officials with an interest in Monmouth Community Bank took the following actions related to movement of taxpayer money into accounts there:

• Councilman Giordano, 37, chief financial officer and senior vice president for Monmouth Community Bank, owned 712 shares worth $10,481 as of Nov. 1. As a councilman, he voted to approve monthly bill lists that included transfers to the bank. Two such bill lists in 1999 included transfers of $1 million each. He abstained from votes that approved the bank as an official city depository. He said he sees no conflict in approving transfers already made by the city's finance director, who controls the city's day-to-day cash flow.

• Council President DeStefano, 47, said he owns 260 bank shares. They were worth about $3,600 as of Friday. He voted every year since 1999 to include Monmouth Community Bank as one of the city's depositories. He voted to approve monthly bill lists that included transfers to the bank. Two such bill lists in 1999 included transfers of $1 million each. He said his stake in the bank is minimal and poses no conflict.

• Council Vice President Brown, 55, has been employed since April by the bank as a messenger. He also has owned an unspecified number of shares since the bank opened in 1998. He has voted to approve monthly bill lists that included transfers to the bank. Two such bill lists in 1999 included transfers of $1 million each. He voted every year since 1999 to include Monmouth Community Bank as one of the city's depositories. He said his stake in the bank is minimal, and he sees no conflict.

• City Sewerage Authority Com-missioner John A. Brockriede, 67, vice chairman of the bank's board of directors, owned, or had an interest in, 66,613 shares of bank stock worth $959,227 as of July 1, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A day after the City Council appointed him to the authority, Brockriede voted to include Monmouth Community Bank on the authority's list of depositories. However, he abstained on another measure that day that also allowed the authority to do business with the bank, and he abstained again the following year, according to authority minutes. He voted in 2001 and this year to maintain the bank as a depository and keep particular accounts open. "If I voted on it, I screwed up," Brockriede said. "I probably didn't pay that much attention to it."

• Councilwoman Mary Jane Celli, 68, said she owned shares for about a year after the bank opened in July 1998, but she has since divested herself. She voted to approve the bank as a depository on March 23, 1999, less than a year after the bank opened.

Conflicts seen

Brown's vote this year naming the bank an official depository, cast after he started working for the bank, and Brockriede's votes also naming the bank a depository, presented clear conflicts of interest, said William J. Kearns Jr., general counsel for the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.

"If you are employed by or an officer of the bank, you've got to avoid voting on something that is in the bank's self-interest," he said. "That's pretty basic."

Council members have asked Aaron for legal advice concerning potential conflicts of interest with the bank. But they said Aaron told them he does not believe their votes regarding Monmouth Community Bank were improper.

"Obviously we look to him," DeStefano said. "If it was a conflict, I hope he'd tell us, and, if it was, we'd have to resolve it."

Officials with the state Department of Community Affairs, which oversees local government operations, declined to comment on the council members' relation-ship with the bank, said spokes-man E.J. Miranda.

According to the city's ethics ordinances, a city official is prohibit-ed from engaging in any business transaction or from having "any financial or other personal interest, direct or indirect, which is incompatible with the proper discharge of his official duties in the public interest or would tend to impair his independence of judgment or action in the performance of his official duties."

The ordinances say further that any officer or employee who violates any ordinance related to conflicts of interest "shall be deemed guilty of misconduct in office and liable to removal from office."

Giordano said his employment by the bank became an issue in his unsuccessful bid last month to re-place the late Thomas S. Smith Sr. in the state Assembly. He and the rest of the city administration have requested a second legal opinion about the council members' involvement with the bank, he said.

Outside counsel needed

Council members won't be able to seek the advice of Assistant City Attorney Steven C. Rubin be-cause he is also a bank shareholder and is on the bank's advisory board, Aaron said.

The council also won't be able to consult with lawyer Mark R. Aikins, who has worked in the past as a special counsel to the city, be-cause he is also a bank shareholder and a member of the bank's board of directors, Aaron said.

Aaron would not comment on which law firm would be hired to render the opinion.

Mayor Schneider said there may soon be changes as a result of the council members' ties to the bank.

Options include the three council members selling their shares in the bank, the city closing its ac-count with Monmouth Community Bank, or some other effort to assure the public that city officials are acting above-board in their dealings with the bank.

"The opinion may come back that what we are doing is 100 percent permissible," Schneider said. "But how does it look? Will people think, 'That's great, they are get-ting a better interest rate here,' or are they thinking, 'Hey, that might not be right?' I don't want anyone thinking what we are doing might not be right. That higher standard is more important to me than the city making an extra point a year on some investment."

Giordano, DeStefano and Brown voted to approve redevelopment projects near the city's water-front; the projects later were partially financed by Monmouth Community Bank.

The Applied Development Co.'s two projects on the waterfront, in the Pier Village and Beachfront North sections, received short-term financing from the bank for property purchases, according to Gregory S. Russo, vice present of Applied.

The entire council except Celli, who was absent, voted to choose Applied, of Hoboken, as the developer for Pier Village on May 2, 2000, according to the city clerk. The entire council except Giordano, who abstained, voted to approve Applied as a developer in Beachfront North on Nov. 9, 1999, the clerk said.

DeStefano and Brown voted to approve the Promenade Beach Club at the site of the former National Guard Armory on the waterfront at Cooper Avenue. Promenade is a private club with exclusive seasonal access to the adjoining beach.

Giordano, whose wife's uncle is among the developers, abstained on the vote. Aaron confirmed that the project received some financing from Monmouth Community Bank. The amount was not made public.

Those approvals were key steps in the city's broader redevelopment effort, which has proceeded in fits and starts for more than a decade but gained momentum - and millions of dollars in state funding - during the past few years. Long Branch is redeveloping 135 acres in four waterfront zones and a fifth zone just west of Ocean Avenue.

Applied Development recently began construction of the $95 mil-lion Pier Village project, which will include 100,000 square feet of commercial space and 420 housing units.

Council members said they do not know who will finance a redevelopment project until after the city gives its approval.

"Usually they go for financing after the fact," DeStefano said. "I would suspect the only way there would be wrongdoing would be if any of us made it a condition that you must go to Monmouth Community Bank, and I don't see that ever happening."

The bank's fortunes played no role whatsoever in council votes designating redevelopers or ap-proving guidelines for redevelopment zones, Giordano said.

"Every bit of work we do on be-half of the city, whether it's voting or anything else, is always done only with the best interests of the city and its residents in mind," he said. "That's the truth."

Resident's concerns

But such financial relationships among city officials, and the sense that the same group of people is involved in the bulk of the business going on in the city, make some residents wonder about whose interests are being served, said Leila Poch, 71, president of the Elberon Voters and Property Owners Association, who said she was only speaking for herself.

"If people aren't worried about it, there has to be something wrong with us," she said. "Personally, as an active citizen, it is very disturbing to me. I don't have the facts to accuse anybody but it's just the appearance that is disturbing. The potential profit motive for public servants makes you very leery about what could happen."

A process with more public announcements of possible conflicts and fewer closed-door meetings would help ease residents' concerns about back-room deals, Poch said.

"You have to wonder when it is the same people involved in every single aspect of these things," she said. "We're in the midst of re-building and revitalizing a city, and everything related to that should be done in the public eye. Let people come to their own conclusions."

The bank is one of seven financial institutions designated as city depositories. Day-to-day management of the money is handled by Mehlhorn, the city's finance di-rector, not by the council. But the council approves the employment contract for Mehlhorn. His last five-year contract, with an annual salary of $124,154, was approved in 2000.

Mehlhorn said the council members never tell him where to de-posit the city's money. He said he seeks out the best service and interest rate possible when making a transfer.

When the city's certificates of de-posit come due, city Comptroller Thomas Seaman calls various banks to check interest rates and make sure accounts are earning as much as possible, Mehlhorn said.

"I would be remiss if I knew of a place that gave me more interest, and I went to a place that gave me less," Mehlhorn said. "Every dollar you raise on interest on investment is a dollar less you have to raise from the taxpayers."

A review of interest rates over the period in question shows that Monmouth Community Bank's rates were competitive with those of other banks. As of September, a $3.4-million city ac-count at Monmouth Community in what Mehlhorn termed a "liquid certificate of deposit" was earning 2.35 percent in interest. The next highest rate was at Sovereign Bank, which offered 1.85 percent interest, Mehlhorn said. The city also has two short-term CDs for more than $1 million each with Monmouth Community.

The Press was unable to effectively compare CD rates over time because, as banks compete for government business, they of-ten customize the terms that are available to the general public. They also provide other services, such as free checking or payroll assistance, to entice municipalities to make deposits.

Monmouth Community Bank first opened its doors July 28, 1998. Since its inception, bank officials have said that having directors with deep ties to the community is a key strength, one that helps the bank provide better service and attract new business.

The bank's directors, advisers and shareholders include Dwek, the local real estate investor, and Jacob L. Jones, the city's director of community and economic development.

Long Branch businessman Philip Konvitz, 92, formerly sat on the board, but he resigned in January 2002 after the FBI raided his home and Neptune office.

Konvitz was indicted last month on federal charges of bribery and influencing public officials in As-bury Park and Ocean Township. As of July, Konvitz owned 54,862 shares in the bank that were worth approximately $790,000, according to SEC filings.

The bank has had an average annual rate of return of 12.4 per-cent for stockholders since 1999, said James S. Vaccaro, the bank's chief executive officer. The price of the bank's stock has risen from $10 per share in 1998 to $14.10 per share as of Friday.

Part of a community bank's role is to understand its community and to serve the community's particular financial needs, Vaccaro said.

Inevitably, the city's interests and the bank's interests will coincide - when the bank finances projects that are good for the city, for example - and that is as it should be, Vaccaro said.

"But the way we operate is that neither party can benefit from those relationships beyond the natural merits of the transactions, and that way we can stay away from conflicts," he said. "Corporate integrity and ethics are two of the founding principles of this organization, and we would accept no deviation from that."

City will sever ties with bank

Published  11/27/02

Long Branch to avoid appearance of conflict of interest

LONG BRANCH -- The city plans to close its accounts with Monmouth Community Bank in hopes of avoiding any appearance that City Council members who own shares in or work for the bank have conflicts of interest, Mayor Adam Schneider said yesterday.

The decision -- likely to take effect sometime early next year, Schneider said -- comes after residents and city officials raised questions about possible conflicts and two days after the Asbury Park Press detailed officials' ties to the bank in a story Sunday.

 

DARYL STONE/Staff Photographer Harold "Pudgy" Cooper strikes a Wild West bandit pose, warning the City Council about perople's perceptions.

"I think what we are doing is 100 percent legal," Schneider said. "But it is not unreasonable for people to ask questions about whether this is appropriate. It is clear to me that the easiest way and the smartest way for us to end this is for the city to simply stop doing any business with the bank."

Three of the five City Council members, City Attorney James G. Aaron and other officials, including Sewerage Authority Commissioner John A. Brockriede, have stock in the bank.

The council members who own shares are Anthony Giordano III, who is also the bank's chief financial officer; David G. Brown, who has worked as a bank messenger since April; and Michael A. DeStefano. DeStefano says he has owned 260 shares since the bank opened in 1998. Brown says he owns fewer than that but declined to say how many.

Giordano has served as chief financial officer from the start and said he has owned shares since more than a year after the bank opened. As of Nov. 1 he owned 712 shares worth $10,481, according to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

Giordano said yesterday that the City Council must weigh two responsibilities somewhat at odds with one another in this case - that of earning the most money possible on the city's investments and that of removing any appearance of conflicts of interest.

"I have had a lot of response from a lot of residents supporting keeping money at whatever bank offers the best rate, and if that happens to be Monmouth Community Bank, fine," he said. "But weighing everything, it probably makes sense if the city severed its relationship with the bank going forward."

Deposits total $5.6M

All three council members with ties to the bank have voted to approve bill lists that include transfers of money into the bank by Mehlhorn. Two such bill lists in 1999 included transfers of $1 million.

DeStefano and Brown have voted to keep the bank on the list of official depositories in 1999 and each year since.

Residents at a sparsely attended council meeting last night expressed mixed views on the city officials' connections to the bank.

Joe Skidmore, former chairman of the city's Urban Enterprise Zone program, spoke out in defense of the council, saying the Press story on Sunday presented unfair implications of impropriety.

"I was offended on behalf of these people I have known and worked with," said Skidmore, 58, of Eastbourne Avenue.

But even if city money was placed on account at the bank with the city's best interests in mind, the council members should be more aware of how their connections and actions will be perceived, said Harold "Pudgy" Cooper of Seventh Avenue.

"I am not up here to question your integrity, but I am here to tell you that to the people, in many instances, you look like this," he said, raising his scarf to cover the lower half of his face. "A desperado. A crook. . . . You have to understand, people scrutinize you."

Monmouth Community Bank, one of seven official city depositories, has offered the city high rates of interest and excellent service, according to Mehlhorn, who has day-to-day control over the city's money. Mehlhorn has said he has autonomy to invest city money wherever he gets the best rates, with no interference.

Mehlhorn has not consistent written records of interest-rate bids sought from other banks over the years, but has said he plans to do so from now on.

Attorney: No laws broken

The council members' stake in the bank is tiny, nowhere close to the 10-percent ownership of a company that would constitute a "financial interest," as defined in state conflict of interest statutes, Aaron said.

Aaron was the "beneficial owner" of 53,862 shares in Monmouth Community Bancorp as of July 1, according to the SEC - shares then worth about $775,000. A beneficial stockholder is someone who has voting or investment power over stock that he owns, co-owns or of which he is a trustee, according to the SEC.

City Attorney James Aaron in another BIND

LONG BRANCH -- City Attorney James G. Aaron said he may have made a mistake last year when he gave the city government opinions concerning a development whose investors were clients of his private law firm.

Last year, the city's health department wanted to rescind a zoning permit for the Renaissance condominium project that would have allowed the developer to install an aluminum fence along the beachfront during construction. For safety reasons, health officials had wanted the developer to fence an area along the seawall that was not included in the permit.

Among the backers of the Renaissance was Philip Konvitz, 92, a city businessman who sat with Aaron on the board of directors of Monmouth Community Bank until earlier this year. Konvitz resigned from the bank board after the FBI raided his home and Neptune office in January.

Konvitz was indicted last month on federal charges that included bribery and influencing Asbury Park and Ocean Township officials.

For the 87-unit Renaissance on 9.2 acres off Brighton Avenue, Aaron's firm -- Ansell Zaro Grimm & Aaron -- served as the corporate registering agent and did other legal work for the investors.

Peter S. Falvo Jr. was the attorney who represented the project before the Planning Board in 1998. Falvo joined Aaron's law firm in May 2001, after the planning approval was granted but before the project was completed.

Despite his firm's and Falvo's work with the developer, Aaron gave the city advice on the condominium project on several occasions.

In a July 5, 2001, letter to city Business Administrator Howard H. Woolley Jr., Aaron said he could not support the health department's attempt to pull the fence permit, in part because the company already had ordered the $30,000 fence. The fence later was erected between the Renaissance buildings and the beach.

"Firstly, as a city attorney, legally I can see no justification that would be backed by law that could substantiate that kind of a position," Aaron wrote. He went on to explain why he thought the permit should not be rescinded. Part of the condominium complex is open, and part of it remains under construction.

"In hindsight, if I had known we were a registering agent (for the Renaissance), to avoid anything, I probably wouldn't have written the letters -- just to be safe," Aaron said last week. "I may have made a mistake."

City OKs funds for land buy

Published  11/13/02

Long Branch to spend $5.6M to acquire properties for new school, fitness center

LONG BRANCH -- The city is close to acquiring nearly 20 out of some four dozen properties on which a new elementary school and fitness center will be built north of Broadway, City Business Administrator Howard H. Woolley Jr. said last night.

The City Council has approved borrowing $5.6 million to pay for all of the properties, a sum that includes a supplement of $1.3 million approved by the council last night. The supplement, added to borrowing approved in June, was required in part because the land will be more expensive than expected, Woolley said.

The city plans to hand the properties over to the Board of Education, which will build a new Gregory Elementary School and a fitness center with a pool.

The partnership between the city and the Board of Education is meant to help the school district get the most out of its state money, freeing the district from having to buy the land, and helps the city in its efforts to revive the lower Broadway redevelopment zone, a 72.2-acre area running from Second Avenue west to the railroad tracks.

The school will house a gymnasium and other recreational facilities. The fitness center will include a pool. The facilities will be available to the public year-round, during evenings and weekends when school is in session.

"These will be strong neighborhood anchors and serve needs the neighbors have mentioned repeatedly," Woolley said. "It will be of tremendous benefit to all of our citizens, not just the students in the schools."

About $3.2 million will go toward the purchase of more than 6 acres of land between Liberty Street and Rockwell Avenue, just north of Monmouth Avenue, Woolley said. That parcel, which comprises roughly 20 residential properties and some vacant land, will become the site of a new Gregory Elementary School to replace the existing school on Seventh Avenue.

The city will spend roughly $2.4 million to acquire the site for the fitness center -- about a dozen properties between Monmouth and Union avenues next to the new Jerry Morgan Park.

The city has offers out to all property owners and has reached contract agreements with the owners of nearly 20 properties, Woolley said. The City Council last night authorized the use of eminent domain proceedings to acquire the properties if negotiations fail.

Not all property owners have been satisfied with the city's offers to date, and as negotiations over sale prices continue, the prospect of losing land to eminent domain looms.

Eugene Ray, owner of Chesapeake Exterminating Co. at 41 Louis Ave., received a letter dated Oct. 2 from City Attorney James Aaron that said in part:

"We prefer to acquire property by mutually acceptable agreement and do acquire most property in this manner. However, if we are unable to reach a negotiated agreement with an owner at what appears to be fair price, the city is authorized by law to resort to statutory condemnation proceedings."

Ray, 65, of Middletown, whose property is part of the proposed fitness center site, would not say how much he was offered, but emphasized that it was not enough. He said the city's letter took him aback and prompted him to hire an attorney.

"I was flabbergasted," he said. "I was totally down, let me tell you. I had no idea this would be coming about like that, and now I am in a very vulnerable position."

Money for the new school will come out of roughly $158 million awarded to Long Branch schools as a result of the Abbott vs. Burke state Supreme Court decision ordering the state to help its neediest districts pay for infrastructure improvements, said Schools Superintendent Joseph M. Ferraina. Money for the fitness center is to come out of the Board of Education budget, Ferraina said.

The board has been looking to build a pool and fitness center for the students for some time, Ferraina said, and if the city's goals for lower Broadway can be served at the same time, so much the better.

"The bottom line is we have to come up with a plan that is mutually agreeable to have a good facility," he said. "This is a good opportunity for us to help in the redevelopment of the city."

The fitness center project is expected to go out to bid soon, he said.

Man found hanging from Bayonne tree

CORRUPTION PROBE WIDENS: Feds to issue detailed document

A probe of corruption in Monmouth County is expected to enter a new phase soon with the imminent release of a detailed federal document that will identify major targets, either by name, title or description, of an almost three-year-long investigation centering on local power broker Philip Konvitz.

A source said the document will point toward officials and others who have been corrupt without necessarily naming names, and will outline how public corruption works. It will be a kind of reference tool for prosecutions that follow, the source said.

"There's a significant number of people in Monmouth County at various levels of government who have a whole bunch to worry about," Edward J. Kahrer, special agent in charge of the FBI's Red Bank field office, said last night.

He declined, however, to comment on the existence of the document or its pending release.

The investigation came to light in January when the FBI raided the homes and offices of five current or former Asbury Park officials, among them Terrance D. Weldon. Weldon resigned as Ocean Township mayor and Asbury Park city manager earlier this month and pleaded guilty to the extortion of $64,000 from three developers who sought approval to build in Ocean.

The probe, conducted jointly by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service, began with an investigation of Konvitz, a 90-year-old millionaire who is influential in Shore area public affairs. Konvitz is not a target of many of the cases, but during the investigation, the FBI wiretapped his Neptune office and his home in the Elberon section of Long Branch and planted bugs in both locations.

One source familiar with the case said a document extensive enough to provide a "road map" of corruption could only mean Konvitz is to be indicted and information gleaned from the tapes is included. A federal grand jury met Monday, but if it returned an indictment, it remained sealed last night.

The document reportedly will point at public officials in several Monmouth County towns, most of whom hold elected offices, but some of whom are law enforcement officials. The probe also will target developers, real estate agents and bankers.

A source said the probe has found evidence of elected or appointed officials accepting payoffs and developers making them, and real estate agents and bankers also are likely to be accused of wire fraud. They reportedly will be charged with rigging phony appraisals or participating in phony land transactions to secure overvalued mortgages.

The charges to which Weldon pleaded guilty identified an "associate" who helped secure the largest of the three bribes. That associate was not named in the charges, but the description made it obvious he was Konvitz.

Until Weldon's plea, federal officials had expected to prosecute as many as 20 people by June. But they now have doubled that number, the source said.

Previous investigations had centered on allegations of corruption in Asbury Park but had not resulted in charges.

One former Asbury Park councilman, James Condos, whose home and office was searched during the January federal raids, had made light of it, saying the FBI didn't seem to be seeking anything different than what authorities have sought for four years.

But Weldon's plea convinced many people this probe was the real thing. And potential targets suddenly wanted to talk.

When the investigation began, Asbury Park had long been considered to be a hotbed of corruption. The FBI search warrants said they were looking for evidence of racketeering, bribery and extortion.

They also said in those warrants that they were interested in information regarding the long-bankrupt city waterfront redevelopment plan. Two homes that were searched during those raids belong to Condos and former Councilwoman Sheila Solomon, both of whom, with Konvitz, had opposed a state plan to create a waterfront development authority.

When a compromise was reached that would allow Konvitz to chair the new authority, he supported it -- and so did Condos and Solomon.

Konvitz had helped Condos finance a new bar business in the redevelopment area with a $35,000 interest-free loan the year before.Staff writer Peter Eichenbaum contributed to this story.

After it was reported that his phone was tapped as part of a federal corruption investigation in January, Phil Konvitz was asked to step down from his position as a director of Monmouth Community Bank.

James Vaccaro, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the bank, said, "Phil (Konvitz) was a director when the investigations first came out. We had a conversation and he resigned from the board as a director. It was in the best interest of the organization."

Konvitz, 91, of Ocean Avenue in Long Branch was among the founding directors of the bank.

While his name does not appear in the U.S. attorney general’s court filings in the recent extortion conviction of Ocean Township Mayor Terrance Weldon, information in those filings strongly suggests that Konvitz is the "associate" who is in discussions with Weldon about the matters for which Weldon pleaded guilty.

No charges have been filed against Konvitz relating to Weldon’s crimes.

Konvitz, despite his resignation, remains a major shareholder in the bank which has headquarters in the city.

Recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show he beneficially owns 54,862 common shares, or slightly more than 5 percent of the outstanding common shares of the company.

Konvitz, who could not be reached for comment, has substantial holdings beyond the bank, including real estate and a large interest in International Fidelity Insurance Co., Newark, an A.M. Best A rated provider of surety bonds, including contract and performance bonds for the construction industry, license and permit bonds guaranteeing the performance of small and medium-size businesses and bail bonds.

Vaccaro said he does have a general concern about the investigations by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a citizen, a CEO and for the local institution (the Monmouth Community Bank).

However, "none of the things we have seen thus far have any affiliation with our organization, nor will they," Vaccaro said.

Anthony Giordano III, a Long Branch city councilman, who is the chief financial officer for the bank and treasurer of its holding company, Monmouth Community Bank Corp., declined to comment about the situation regarding Konvitz and his role at the bank, but he did comment on Weldon.

"What Terry Weldon did in Ocean Township is disgraceful," said Giordano. "Unfortunately, it causes a bad reflection of the 99.9 percent of local elected officials who work very hard for their respective communities each and every day."

Regarding Long Branch specifically, Giordano said, "I am 110 percent confident that what happened in Ocean Township did not happen in Long Branch or any of the other local municipalities as well."

Regarding the bank, Vaccaro said, "Our only concern is for the well-being of this organization; nothing that I know of would impair that."

Vaccaro noted that he is not aware of any investigations into his bank regarding Konvitz.

While Konvitz is the only bank director to have stepped down as a result of the corruption probe, he is not the only director with ties to Weldon.

James Aaron of Muncy Drive, West Long Branch, also is one of the founding directors of the bank. He is a partner in the Ocean Township law firm of Ansell Zaro Grimm & Aaron and served as both the city and redevelopment attorney for Asbury Park during Weldon’s tenure as city manager there. Peter Falvo, another partner in Aaron’s firm now serves as city attorney in Asbury Park.

Falvo also was the attorney representing Rolling Meadows and Mark Place, two of the Ocean Township development projects that Weldon pleaded guilty to extorting.

As with Konvitz, Aaron retains a significant proprietary interest in the bank, beneficially owning 53,862 common shares.

In addition to his professional relationship with Weldon, Aaron was named as a contributor to a legal defense fund created on behalf of the now former mayor and city manager.

He said his involvement in the fund did not extend beyond making a contribution and declined to say how much he contributed.

"That is between me and Mr. Weldon," Aaron said. "It is a personal matter."

Regarding Konvitz’s role at the bank and how that affects the institution, Aaron said, "He (Konvitz) did sit on the board of directors but he resigned immediately upon the investigation a year ago. He (Konvitz) had no decision-making power and was not involved in day-to-day operations of the bank.

He said his own relationship with Weldon should not be a concern for the bank or Long Branch, where he serves as city attorney. "Weldon and I dealt only in a professional capacity," Aaron said. "He gave me projects and I did them. What I did for him did not involve anything inappropriate at any time. My association with him was to provide professional advice to the council (Asbury Park) which Weldon did not have a vote in. I also assisted in redevelopment strategies approved by the mayor and council (in Asbury Park).

John Brockriede, another founder and director of the bank, said he is not concerned for himself or the bank regarding Konvitz.

Brockriede beneficially owns 66,613 shares of common stock in Monmouth Community Bank, which equates to 6.2 percent ownership. Brockriede said his only business dealings with Konvitz was the purchase of a lot behind the bank’s offices at 6 West End Court.

According to Brockriede, Konvitz originally intended to build a garage with an apartment upstairs on the lot.

Approximately two years ago, according to Brockriede, he and the bank’s other directors, not the bank, purchased the property from Konvitz for $60,000. According to Brockriede, Konvitz holds the mortgage on the property and owns approximately 6.7 percent of it.

"We wanted to give him 8 percent interest," said Brockriede, "but he would only take 6 percent."

As with the other directors, Brockriede has significant holdings beyond the bank. He is a principal owner of Monmouth Enterprises, a real estate management and investment business, which includes ownership of the Infiniti dealership in West Long Branch and several KFC franchises as well as sizable real estate holdings.

The other directors of the bank are: Mark R. Aikens, North Ward Avenue, Rumson; Richard O. Lindsey, Hutchinson Avenue, Burlington; Nicholas A. Alexander, West River Road, Rumson; Solomon Dwek, Crosby Avenue, Deal; John F. McCann, Bingham Avenue, Rumson; Harold M. Miller Jr., Rick Road, Milford; Carmen M. Penta, DeCamp Court, West Long Branch; and Mark G. Solow, Page Drive, Red Bank.

Vaccaro noted that the bank has strictly limited its dealings with directors and their other business interests.

"Our policy at the bank for the first two years of operation," said Vaccaro, "made it clear not to lend to any of the directors for the first two years."

As an example, he noted that the bank has no financing relationships with Dwek, who is a substantial developer of real estate.

County property tax records show that Deal Yeshiva, a business owned by Dwek, sold a parcel of property along West Park Avenue to Apple Farms Development, LLC, for $700,000 on Sept. 9, 1999. The developer is one of the three Weldon admitted extorting money from.

Bill McLaughlin is without a doubt the most vocal opponent of Adam Schneider and "The Harmony Boyz" (Former Mayor Skip Cioffi's tag of the City Council)  Former Sewer Authority Chairman, McLaughlin continued to monitor the actions of the City Council and The Mayor for at least the last 10 years.

Tuesday, October 22, 2002 the City Council voted on the redevelopment zone 6 plan.  Making themselves the redevelopment council, the City Council approved the plan and made it an Ordinance by a vote of 4.  DeStefano, Zambrano, Brown and Giordano - Mary Jane Celli was absent.

McLaughlin was missed because there was obvious confusion on the part of the business people who very well will loose their business and property as a result of the eminent domain powers now given the Redevelopment Council as they - themselves - passed this law.

What many are asking, Wednesday morning was where was McLaughlin when he was needed to cause this bunch to answer the questions asked, they went spun into confusing circles and moot points...  One citizen asked; "Could McLaughlin have been kidnapped and prevented from coming to the meeting to protect us?"