Belmar Councilman Takes Issue With Doherty’s Veracity On AshBrit Contract
Doherty says he maintained the highest ethical standards. Charges Councilman Jim Bean with his own conflict
UPDATED
Belmar Councilman Jim Bean, a Republican, says that Mayor Matt Doherty, a Democrat, “kind of lied” when he told MMM that he recused himself from voting on the borough’s contract with AshBrit, the Florida company that was hired by the Christie administration for Superstorm Sandy cleanup.
We asked Doherty if he had recused himself from voting on the borough’s business with AshBrit because we had documentation that his wife, Maggie Moran, was acting as a sales agent for the company in its efforts to secure lucrative business in cleaning up municipalities impacted by Sandy. He said he did. But that was not the whole story, according to Bean, who said that the borough council’s vote to authorize payments to AshBrit occurred two weeks after Doherty signed the contract.
Bean sent along an email exchange between him and Doherty to back up his complaint:
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Councilman Bean,
Because we are operating in a Declared State of Emergency, I have the authority to execute contracts and appropriate money as I deem necessary for the welfare and safety of the of the town during this emergency.
Please refer to Local Finance Notice 2012-29 from NJDCA if you have any further questions.
Matthew J. Doherty
From: Jim BeanDate: Sun, 11 Nov 2012 12:45:08 -0500To: Matt Doherty; Bill YoungSubject: infoMayor, I am concerned with some of the contracts that I have heard have been signed. I was also informed that the generators provided by Broadco are now being replaced with yet another company. I would like to know what contacts were signed for how much and when also where the money is being appropriated from since no vote was held to provide you with these funds.Please respond by email the best way possible to get me this information.Jim Bean
Doherty repsonded by saying he never signed any contracts with AshBrit. Nor did he make the decision to hire the firm. Instead, he delegated that responsibility to the then Borough Administrator Bill Young. “I told Bill to choose whomever he wanted, but he would be held responsible for their performance. ” He provided MMM with a copy of the contract with AshBrit, signed by Young on behalf of Belmar.
Doherty said he did not vote on any AshBrit contracts or to pay any of their bills. He referred to Belmar’s website to back that up.
Bean has his own conflict regarding AshBrit, according to Doherty, “What I do find as ironic, is that Councilman Bean works for Stavola who did work for Ashbritt in Sea Bright, while Bean voted to give Ashbritt a contract in Belmar. That is a clear conflict of interest.”