Creatively tapping Brigantine public funds. Along the Jersey shore, it’s getting easier to lose track of the growing bucket of new real estate ratables.
With so much new money pouring in, thanks to new construction from 2nd homeowners, it opens the door to some creative, often questionable, contracts, invoicing and pay-outs.
One such example is from the company called Doran Engineering.
Brigantine Councilman Delucry has been the ONLY elected official to question the multiple, sometimes non-compliant, sloppy invoices & payouts connected to Matt Doran and Doran Engineering.
WATCH VIDEO below> Brigantine CFO Roxanne Tosto does NOT look like she’s doing her job:
South Jersey Shore: More Money and Less Voters = Recipe For Waste.
Mr. Matt Doran is also on the Brigantine School of Education, put there by former Mayor, Phil ‘Greenhead’ Guenther.
Doran Engineering always seems to get a pass with shoddy Brigantine invoicing. For years, many of the Doran Engineering / Brigantine contracts and invoices have been vague and poorly written.
And now, BrigantineNOW has learned that Ventnor has engaged with Doran Engineering. Mr. Doran is tight with Ventnor’s Ed Stinson and Lance Landgraf.
It’s good to have influential friends in high places.
Head-scratcher.
A quick Google search on Doran Engineering uncovered a sad & ugly story from 1973. Another member of the Doran family paid a huge price for inappropriate activity.
From the New York Times:
Atlantic County Engineer Gets 5 Years and Fine for Bribery
From The New York Times – Jan, 10, 1973 —Patrick J. Doran, the former County Engineer of Atlantic County, was sentenced today to five years in prison and fined $10,000 for extorting more than $150,000 from contracting and engineering concerns that sought county business. During his trial in Federal Court here, which ended last Nov. 24 with his conviction on bribery and extortion charges, Doran was shown to have received payoffs on every major Atlantic County highway contract from 1967 to 1972. Doran, who is 45 years old and lives in the Atlantic City suburb of Brigantine, contended that all the money he had collected had gone to the Atlantic County Republican organization. His lawyer said that it was “unfortunate that Doran was made the scapegoat for what essentially is a rather corrupt system.”
Doran Engineering long and well-documented history of highly questionable invoicing in Brigantine.
Ventnor Public Works Director, Ed Stinson, was once an employee of the firm called Doran Engineering.
Construction and engineering deals. That’s where the real money is. Especially if change orders and non-itemized invoicing are allowed.
Note: Atlantic City has STOPPED the bad practice of change orders. This is where the contractor can come back asking for more money due to ‘unforeseen’ circumstances.
Savvy vendors bid low to get the contract, knowing they can go back to the well. More than make it up using ‘change orders’.
Recent City Managers in Brigantine and most on Council, allow this sloppy contracting to continue.
Who’s the bad guy? Is it Doran Engineering or those that protect, coddle and encourage them to submit invoices with little to no detail?
More egregious is Doran Engineering’s preference of using percentages to get paid. That’s a no-no. NJ State statute clearly prohibits that way of invoicing. But hey, in Brigantine, a town known for non-stop City Hall ‘glitches’ and lost documents…. companies like Doran Engineering always seem to get a pass.
Brigantine officials, including Councilman Vince Sera, aggressively defend these bad practices. No matter how ridiculous. No matter how sloppy.
Brigantine Councilman Vince Sera is a very vocal, strong supporter of Matt Doran. What does that tell us about Vince Sera?
Defending Doran Engineering’s Bad Practices in Brigantine.
Good thing Doran has a friend in Brigantine Councilman, the ‘holier than thou’, Saint Vince Sera. The former lifeguard opens each Brigantine Council meeting with a prayer. This gives Saint Vince the much needed confidence and spiritual glow to overlook the fiscal malfeasance right before his eyes.
Too Many Cronies On The Brigantine Nipple.
With a declining population and smaller voter base, there’e less fiscal oversight with each year that passes. Every year, a smaller group of Brigantine insiders get to suck more money out of a system primarily funded by 2nd homeowners.
We suggest Brigantine taxpayers support the BTA, Brigantine Taxpayers Association. These types of organizations are flourishing in both Ocean City and Margate too. These taxpayer orgs making great strides in sticking up for Jersey shore homeowners. Especially those that don’t vote in their respective shore towns.
Municipal Monetary Monkey Business.
Stinson is still paid in Brigantine for his role as a ‘conflict’ engineer. Whatever that is.
READ MORE ABOUT BRIGANTINE and DORAN ENGINEERING > https://brigantinenow.com/?s=doran
Did you know? Brigantine’s Phil Guenther is running for a NJ Assembly seat. This Greenhead politician is a long shot. With Guenther’s long list of negatives, Greenhead Phil could do real harm to others running on the GOP ticket. Some asking for Guenther to drop out of the race. ‘He’ll hurt County Exec Denny Levinson if he stays in.’
From Tim Sneed: Been a 50 year part time resident. Your reporting is spot on.
Keep up the good work!!