Newark city hall.JPG

A view of Newark city hall.

(Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger)



NEWARK — After a months-long cold war over Newark Mayor Luis Quintana's hiring practices and his approach to city budgeting, state officials today raised the specter of a takeover of the city's finances.

Local Government Services director Thomas Neff raised the specter of a state takeover of Newark’s budget.

Thomas Neff, director of the state’s Division of Local Government Services, said in a letter to Quintana that his division, at its meeting on Wednesday would soon begin discussing “the level of financial stress in Newark and Newark’s lack of compliance with certain budget laws.”

However, he said, “the board will not be taking a formal vote with respect to placing Newark under supervision at this meeting,” Neff said.

Almost from the minute Quintana was appointed mayor in November, the city and state budget monitors have had an icy relationship.

The mayor ruffled feathers in Trenton when he went on a hiring spree, firing former Mayor Cory Booker’s department directors and appointing replacements without state approval, violating a memorandum of understanding between the city and state.

Quintana was appointed mayor when Booker was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Neff sent numerous letters indicating the state's displeasure with Quintana's actions, but his letter Friday was the most ominous to date.

If a state takeover were to happen, the state would likely have the final say over how Newark allocates its resources, who it hires and fires, and how much it charges in taxes.

Such actions would almost certainly draw widespread backlash from within the city. Newark’s schools are already under state control and the police department is expected to fall under a federal consent decree within the next few weeks.

“This serves as a wake up call to the city,” North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos said. while urging Quintana to introduce a budget for the 2014. “Until we have an approved budget, the administration must impose a hiring freeze and a moratorium on pay raises unless mandated by contract.”

State guidelines require that a budget be introduced by the end of February. The 2013 city budget totalled $640 million.

In addition to the new appointments Quintana made, the city has added 68 other people to the payroll since November, including five police officers and 24 firefighters.

The new salaries represent a significant budget increase in a year when forecasters are already predicting a $35 million deficit. The city failed to do an advance tax lien sale that could have yielded millions for the 2014 budget.

Neff and others also raised concerns about the qualifications of several of Quintana’s proposed hires.

The Star-Ledger earlier this year reported that Amos Crudup, Newark's public works director, was convicted of drug dealing in the late 1990s.

The newspaper also revealed the city's fire director, James Stewart, was ensnared in separate state and county investigations after allegations surfaced that he tried to give firearms to employees who were not allowed to carry guns, and that he shoehorned an unqualified politically connected candidate into the fire academy.

“The City has been in regular communication with the state with regard to its budget and is well aware of state concerns with regard to the City’s fiscal health,” said city spokeswoman Esmeralda Diaz Cameron. “Because the state operates on a fiscal calendar and has to certify certain City budget line items, the City usually cannot adopt a budget until after July 1 of any given year.”

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