NEWARK — U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone has fired the first volley in what could be a contentious primary battle with Newark Mayor Cory Booker for the 2014 U.S. Senate nomination.

Pallone sent a scathing letter to Booker last week accusing the city of failing to fund its obligations to the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, a non-profit based in New Brunswick that helps house and treat patients with HIV/AIDS. Booker administration officials said they have not received the May 10 letter which was obtained by The Star-Ledger, but said the funding process is following its normal course.

"Since these contracts require a level of reimbursement from Newark, Hyacinth has been paying out bills on behalf of its patients, most of whom live in Newark, totaling $124,000 that the city now owes the organization," Pallone wrote to Booker. "That total will rise to $147,000 at the end of May. This is simply unacceptable."

Booker spokesman James Allen said funding for Hyacinth was on track to be approved earlier than last year.

"These contracts are moving through the same review process they go through every year. In fact, the Hyacinth funding is on track to be approved shortly — and months earlier than last year," Allen said in a statement.

Allen, the head of communications for the city, said the letter has yet to be received by City Hall.

In the letter, Pallone alleges that the program is being mismanaged by City Hall and accuses Booker of "shirking (his) responsibility."

"When Hyacinth has dealt with the city's program administrator, her response was that

Hyacinth should stop being a provider because she can never guarantee when the contracts will be signed," Pallone (D-6th Dist.) writes. "Their latest correspondence with the program administrator revealed that 24 contracts are sitting in front of 3 different attorneys in the city's law department and none of them have moved."

But the Booker team refrained from firing back.

"We look forward to working in good faith with Representative Pallone on Hyacinth funding and the other important issues facing Newark and our state," Allen said.

The program is headquartered in Pallone's district but serves a large population of Newarkers, which is why the city dedicates federal funds to the program each year.

The letter underlines Pallone's likely line of attack against Booker as the two rivals head toward the June 2014 primary — the mayor's management of City Hall.

For years Booker's critics have accused the celebrity mayor of not being more present in city governance. The mayor's extensive travel schedule has only fueled that criticism.

In recent weeks, Booker has been on a whirlwind tour of fundraisers and speaking engagements, raising money for his primary run. That tour will continue throughout May.

In the meantime, the city's business administrator, Julien Neals, was out on extended sick leave.

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