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New Jersey Going Strong
New Jersey Going Strong
"Chalk Art" +
:30 TV ad from May 21, 2013.
[Music]
Lyrics: It's in our blood, our DNA;
It's
who
we
are,
we're here to stay;
'Cause
we're
stronger
than
the storm.
Woman: The Jersey Shore is
open.
Man: The word is spreading.
Gov. Christie: Because
we're stronger than the storm.
Girl:
You
bet
we
are.
Notes: The State of New Jersey
used Sandy aid funds for a $25 million marketing
campaign to encourage tourism on the Jersey Shore. As part of that several "Stronger than the
Storm" TV ads highlighting the Jersey
Shore's recovery were produced (other were "Surf's Up," "See Plane,"
and
"Light House"). There were :15
versions as well. The ads were very upbeat and featured a short
clip of Christie and family towards the close.
Congressman
Frank Pallone questioned the campaign (see release and letter
below). The audit by HUD, not a "federal investigation" as was
reported, was released on March 7 and cleared Christie.
January 13,
2014
HUD Inspector General Will
Audit NJ Tourism Marketing Campaign
in
Response to Pallone Letter
Washington,
DC
– Congressman
Frank Pallone, Jr. announced today that the Office of the Inspector
General at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
will audit the State of New Jersey’s use of $25 million of Sandy aid
funds for a marketing campaign to promote tourism at the Jersey
Shore. At issue is the bidding process for the campaign and
released documents which raise questions as to why the state chose to
award the contract to a firm that charged the state over $2 million
more than a comparable bid for similar work.
When
drafting its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery
(CDBG-DR) Action Plan, the State of New Jersey requested a waiver to
spend $25 million of its CDBG award on a marketing campaign to promote
the Jersey Shore and encourage tourism, to which HUD agreed. In a
letter sent August 8, 2013, Congressman Pallone wrote to HUD Inspector
General David A. Montoya to request an investigation into the
utilization of this federal funding and whether it was spent
appropriately.
“I
commend the HUD Office of the Inspector General for investigating
whether the state properly utilized taxpayer funds for this marketing
campaign,” Pallone said. “Working with my New Jersey colleagues,
we had to fight hard to get the Sandy aid package passed by assuring
others in Congress the funding was desperately needed and would be
spent responsibly. I also raised concerns that Governor Christie
and his family appeared in taxpayer-funded advertisements during an
election year.”
Last
year, in response to Pallone’s letter, HUD’s Office of the Inspector
General conducted a survey, or basic review, of the matter in order to
determine if an audit of the State of New Jersey's actions was
warranted. Last week, the Inspector General’s office notified
Pallone that they have found enough evidence to justify a full-scale
audit of the state’s usage of the federal funds. The audit will
be complete in several months at which time an official report will be
issued.
Following is the full text of Pallone’s August 2013 letter:
August 8, 2013
David
A. Montoya
Inspector
General
U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
451
7th Street, SW
Washington,
DC 20410
Dear
Inspector General Montoya,
I
write to you today regarding the State of New Jersey’s Community
Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Action
Plan. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
provided a waiver for the state to spend $25 million of its CDBG award
on a marketing campaign to promote the Jersey Shore and encourage
tourism. While promoting tourism at the Jersey Shore in the wake
of Hurricane Sandy is certainly a worthy endeavor, recent reports have
led me to believe that the state has irresponsibly misappropriated
funding allocated by Congress from the Sandy aid package and taken
advantage of this waiver for political purposes. I respectfully
request that you review and investigate the contract, bidding process
utilized by the State of New Jersey, and appropriateness of the content
of this marketing campaign.
Recently
released documents relating to the bidding process and
contract award for this marketing campaign show that the contract was
awarded to a firm that is charging over $2 million more than the next
lowest bidder to develop the marketing plan. The winning firm is
being paid $4.7 million for their work, while a comparable firm
proposed billing the state $2.5 million for similar work. This
large discrepancy between the competing proposals raises concerns as to
whether these federal funds are being spent in the most cost effective
manner, and should be reviewed by your office.
I
am also concerned that the winning bid proposed including Governor
Chris Christie in the advertisements, while the lower cost proposal
that was not selected did not. As you know, the Governor is
running for reelection this year in a high profile race. It is
inappropriate for taxpayer-funded dollars that are critical to our
state’s recovery from this natural disaster to fund commercials that
could potentially benefit a political campaign. In these
sensitive circumstances, even the appearance of a conflict of interest
should be avoided.
The
fact that this particular proposal was chosen despite an obvious
conflict of interest, in addition to the higher costs, raises serious
concerns with the entire process. I fought hard for passage of
the Sandy aid package in Congress by assuring my colleagues that this
funding was critical to our recovery and that it would be spent
responsibly without waste, fraud and abuse. Many in Congress
objected to this funding precisely because of concerns their citizens’
tax dollars would be misspent. In that regard, the state’s
mismanagement of taxpayer funds for this marketing campaign is
extremely troubling, especially when there are so many New Jersey
residents still in need of assistance to recover and rebuild from this
historic storm.
Once
again, I ask that you investigate the state’s actions regarding
this contract selection process, the appropriateness of the Governor
appearing in taxpayer-funded advertisements in an election year, and
report back to Congress with your findings. We must ensure all
taxpayer funds from the Sandy aid package are being spent
appropriately. Thank you for your attention to this important
matter.
Sincerely,
FRANK PALLONE,
JR.
Member of Congress