Inaugural Ceremony of Governor Chris Christie and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno

Gov. Chris Christie, shown at his inauguration, used Sandy funds to help kick start an affordable housing project for seniors in Belleville.

(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie helped channel $6 million in federal Hurricane Sandy recovery dollars to a project conceived years before the storm struck, in an Essex County town that was not particularly hard hit, records show.

The funding, pushed for personally by the Republican governor, was announced less than two weeks before the town’s Democratic mayor formally endorsed him for reelection.

The development is an $18 million senior center and housing complex in Belleville called Franklin Manor. One third of the cost — $6 million — is being paid for by a $1.8 billion pot of federally funded Community Development Block Grants to help the state recover from Sandy.

Christie administration officials say the project will help those displaced from the storm from other towns, and was approved partly because it was already planned and would quickly fill that need. But statements from the governor and officials from Essex County and Belleville at the project’s unveiling barely mentioned storm recovery, focusing almost exclusively on how the 137-unit housing project would help keep Belleville’s seniors in town.

Now — With the George Washington Bridge scandal raging and the mayor of Hoboken claiming top Christie administration officials blackmailed her by threatening to withhold Sandy funds — an affordable housing advocate and a prominent Democrat are questioning whether the Christie administration is fairly distributing federal Sandy aid.

"We don’t know the whole story of what happened here yet. But Governor Christie should not be ordering Sandy funds directed to pet projects," said Adam Gordon, a staff attorney for the Fair Share Housing Center.

"What it points to is the need for further inquiry into how Sandy funds were part and parcel of the governor’s campaign for reelection," said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union). "And how they were misused for political purposes rather than going to those who really in need."

The project, which had been in the works for years, was jump-started in the spring. In late April, Belleville Mayor Raymond Kimble had a breakfast meeting with Christie and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo at McLoone’s Boathouse in West Orange. It was the same restaurant where the two men, along with many other Essex County Democrats, would endorse Christie on June 11.

On May 1, when The Star-Ledger asked about the breakfast meeting, Kimble said he planned to endorse Christie and "I think the governor is going to help the town of Belleville with certain projects we need."

On May 29, Christie was in Belleville for the ceremonial ground breaking of the complex that included Kimble, DiVincenzo and others .

Kimble praised the governor at the event. "Because of Gov. Christie’s commitment, senior citizens will be able to remain in their hometown, where they belong," Kimble said.

Christie then described his direct involvement.

"When Joe and the mayor and the council came to the state, came to Commissioner Constable, came to the HMFA and said ‘can we help?’ This project was so worthy and to be honest so overdue that I felt like there was no time to wait," Christie said. "...I start calling (Department of Community Affairs Commissioner) Rich Constable and (New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency Executive Director) Anthony Marchetta every day and we get on them and things get done, and I think that’s what people expect of government now," Christie said.

During 20 minutes of remarks, there was only one passing reference to Hurricane Sandy, made by Essex County Joseph DiVincenzo. And it had nothing to do with the senior center. Instead, speakers talked about how Belleville had long been in need of a place for its seniors.

"This is where many of you have raised your families, where you’ve lived your lives," Christie said. "And you shouldn’t have to leave the place where you raised your children and lived your lives in order to be able to have affordable housing for yourself as you get older."

Before the state could get the federal funds for Sandy recovery, it had to develop an "action plan" for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which it submitted in March.

Part of the grants would go toward creating affordable rental housing for displaced residents in the nine counties hurt the most by the storm, which included Essex. And, according to the state’s action plan, "priority will be given to projects serving communities most impacted within these counties."

While Belleville suffered some flooding, downed trees and week-long power outages for some residents, Kimble in a phone interview said he did not know of any residents who were displaced. "Not to my knowledge," he said.

A May 29 press release from Essex County did mention, deep down, that "since the project is located in one of the nine counties most impacted by Sandy, the project may assist senior citizens affected by the storm." And DiVincenzo told a local publication that "the priority is going to be for [accepting] Belleville seniors," but that "when you take money from various levels of government, you can't stop people outside Belleville from coming in and using the facility."

Despite the low emphasis on Sandy victims, Christie administration officials said it was appropriate to channel recovery money into the project, and that it would help seniors whose homes were wrecked by the super storm.

"The (Community Development Block Grant) funding was gap financing that helped 35 projects get off the ground," Anthony Marchetta, the executive director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, said in a phone interview. "We use criteria issued by the agency and the action plan to determine which projects got funded. This project met those criteria."

Marchetta said the project would be marketed to those displaced by Sandy. And he said it’s common for projects that were planned long before Sandy hit to get help from state government to create more affordable housing. "These types of projects take a long time to get to the point where you can actually fund and go forward and approve," he said. "It takes a lot of lead time."

Marc Ferzan, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Recovery and Rebuilding, noted that Essex County was determined by the federal government to be one of the hardest-hit counties by Sandy and that the new housing in Belleville will free up space for displaced residents, whether or not it’s taken up by Sandy victims.

"There’s a certain rental population out there, and if the Belleville stock is depleted, that population has to go somewhere else. And that puts a strain on rental costs. So it is all inter-connected," he said.

Ferzan said that about 20 projects were approved along with Belleville's, and that it’s important to create rental housing near residents who were hurt by Sandy: "You’ve got to find shovel ready opportunities in the individual counties that can be built in real time, because otherwise these folks are twisting in the wind."

A spokesman for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which supplied the funds, declined to comment.

Gordon, of the Fair Share Housing Center, said he sees nothing wrong with the project itself. But Christie’s involvement in securing the funds, as well as the project’s vague connection to Sandy recovery, raises red flags, he said.

"When the governor makes these kinds of demands, it undermines the public’s faith in the fairness and openness of Sandy recovery. The governor needs to allocate critical Sandy aid based on objective criteria," Gordon said.

The state judged projects that applied for the fund on several criteria, including whether it was in one of the nine most affected counties by Sandy, rent affordability, local support and readiness to proceed. Franklin Manor scored a 70 out of 105, according to documents provided by DCA. The minimum score was 55.

Ben Smilowitz, executive director of the Washington-based Disaster Accountability Project, said such issues always arise with large infusions of recovery funds.

"Does this reek of politics? Sure. But so does everything else," Smilowitz said. "Anyone looking at this can see what’s going on here. But is it within the governor’s powers? Probably."

Kimble emphasized that the developer, not the town, applied for the money and that his endorsement of Christie "had nothing to do with him releasing those funds." He also noted that Belleville did not get other Sandy recovery funds that many towns received.

"If you look at that list, you can see Belleville received nothing. We deserved some funds," he said.

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