Shut Out: New Jersey Strikes Down Suspicious Bidding

Shutting out legitimate competition on a consistent basis can present a number of ethical, legal and practical problems, but in New Jersey, there's a call to arms.

After numerous complaints from contractors, manufacturers, consultants and private citizens, the State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation looked into the matter. Last September, it released a scathing 118-page report entitled Waste and Abuse: Public School Roofing Projects. The investigation began in 1997 and eventually looked at 115 roofing projects costing $37.8 million in 39 school districts throughout New Jersey. Irregularities were found in 59 percent of the school districts examined. The report concluded that $6 to $10 million dollars of "waste and abuse" were uncovered in a persistent and pervasive enterprise that continues to this day. Costly repairs, unnecessary replacements, safety concerns, payroll irregularities, subversion of the bidding process, and incompetent oversight by school officials are some of the charges leveled by the report, which includes a 68-page appendix containing rebuttals from those criticized.