Noticias

Dale Caldwell, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, possesses a long and distinct résumé: Centenary University president, pastor, school board member, tennis community leader, and more.

A less eye-catching role of his was the presidency of the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey, a little-known but wide-reaching procurement cooperative that secures contracts for more than 700 school districts and local governments throughout the state.

Caldwell served as a top official at the commission for more than two decades, during which the agency transformed. The commission started as a Middlesex County-based co-op that helped local schools secure contracts on services ranging from utilities to health insurance. By 2016, the commission had partnered with hundreds of districts across the state’s 21 counties, even changing its name to reflect its new statewide mission.

Last year, Caldwell resigned from the commission, as well as his longtime role on the New Brunswick Board of Education, to devote more time to his work at Centenary.

But last July, shortly after Caldwell departed, the Office of the State Comptroller published an audit that found the commission improperly procured contracts, amassed an excessive surplus of taxpayer money, and failed to consider alternative health insurance providers.

“The routine lack of compliance with procurement laws and sound financial controls is a red flag because it raises the risk of waste,” acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh said at the time.

Now, Caldwell is running for lieutenant governor alongside Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who is seeking to keep the governorship in Democratic hands. If Sherrill wins, Caldwell will be tasked with leading a state-level agency (the Sherrill campaign has not announced what department Caldwell would lead).

“During Dr. Dale Caldwell’s time as board chair of the Educational Services Commission, the organization was a lifeline for some of our most vulnerable students in New Jersey, and was able to help save taxpayers millions of dollars by providing shared educational and business services to school districts throughout the state,” said Sherrill campaign spokesperson Sean Higgins.

ESCNJ presidents don’t necessarily oversee day-to-day operations; the role is more akin to a chair of the Board of Directors. Caldwell held the role of president for 22 of his 25 years at the commission, according to TAPinto New Brunswick. He first joined the commission via his service on New Brunswick’s Board of Education — each Middlesex County school district sends one representative to ESCNJ.

Though day-to-day responsibilities fell to ESCNJ’s staffers, the comptroller’s office found faults with the commission’s topline budget, a matter within Caldwell’s purview. The audit found the commission collected “substantially” more revenue than needed to cover its costs, eventually reaching a $69.6 million surplus in fiscal year 2023. The audit also found the commission did not have an official plan for the extra money. The ESCNJ reportedly said the money was needed to cover operational expenses and $29 million in future projects, but the audit found most of those capital projects had not yet been approved and that the commission lacked an official process for determining an appropriate surplus.

“[The audit] found ESCNJ had no officially approved plans for capital projects, nor did it have a process or policy in place to identify how much general fund balance is necessary to maintain or when to return funds or reduce fees when revenues far exceed what is spent,” the comptroller’s office said in a release. “As a result, the ESCNJ fund balance grew to more than $69 million in FY 2023 and likely resulted in higher costs for local governments, school districts, and taxpayers.”

The $69 million surplus exceeded those at similar cooperatives in the state, according to the New Jersey Monitor.

“[When] an entity has tens of millions of dollars sitting around, along with these red flags, the potential for waste grows exponentially,” Walsh said.

The audit also found improper contract procurement practices. ESCNJ awarded seven contracts worth a combined $14.6 million without seeking competition, according to the comptroller.

Since 2008, state entities have also been required to submit contracts worth more than $2.5 million to the comptroller for review. The commission didn’t do so until 2024, when a draft of the audit was given to the ESCNJ. In fiscal years 2021 and 2022, the audit found “ESCNJ failed to submit about 43 contracts valued at more than $900 million.”

The commission largely accepted the audit’s recommendations, according to the New Jersey Monitor, including a more concerted effort to comply with contract review policies.

In addition to its contract services, ESCNJ operates six special education schools and provides busing for some 14,000 students. The ESCNJ said that regardless of the audit’s findings, the commission has succeeded in lowering costs for the state’s school districts, pointing to research that shows between $2 million and $7 million in savings.

The post Caldwell-helmed co-op faced audit over contracting, surplus practices appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

Megan O’Rourke, who resigned her position as lead climate scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture after President Donald Trump attacked her work, raised more than $175,000 in her first day as a candidate for Congress in New Jersey’s 7th district — an impressive haul as the latest entrant into a growing field of Democrats seeking to take on two-term Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield). 

“We knew early support and resources would be crucial to establishing a foothold in this primary, and I’m so grateful for everyone who has chipped in to be part of this campaign from my hometown, from the science community and beyond,” O’Rourke stated. “As a scientist, you never go in without a plan, and that’s exactly how we’re approaching this campaign. This is my home and these are my people, and I couldn’t be more proud of the campaign we’re building to advocate for local families and workers.”

Her fundraising relied exclusively on donors and not on personal funds.

O’Rourke is the seventh Democrat to join the race to oust Kean, joining former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, former Biden administration official Michael Roth, businessman Brian Varela, physician and former Obama and Biden administration official Tina Shah, former Summit Councilman Greg Vartan, and Valentina “Vale” Mendoza, an attorney from Rahway.  Beth Adubato, a college professor and former News 12 reporter, said earlier this year that she plans to get in the race, but she hasn’t yet launched her campaign.

Bennett has raised $913,847 for her campaign so far. Varela has brought in $693,883 (with the help of $400,000 in self-funding). Roth has raised $302,880, and $157,021 for Vartan.  Shah entered the race after the Q2 filing deadline but announced that she raised more than $260,000 in just one day as a candidate.

A former university professor and Blairstown native, O’Rourke joined President Joe Biden’s administration in 2021 as a top official of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), overseeing roughly $200 million in funding annually.   She’s also a former union steward with the American Federation of Government Employees, worked as a Brookings Congressional Fellow and as a tenured associate professor at Virginia Tech.  She served in Cambodia as an environment advisor for USAID.

O’Rourke, 46, joins the race with an interesting life story: she grew up as the youngest of four children in a family that struggled financially, and put herself through college, eventually earning a Ph.D. from Cornell University while starting a small farm business with her husband; they raised three kids on less than $30,000 a year, relying on federal programs like Medicaid, WIC and Head Start to make ends meet.

Kean a former minority leader of the New Jersey State Senate and the son of a popular former governor, unseated Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) in 2022 in an expensive contest, four years after Malinowski unseated a five-term Republican in Trump’s 2018 midterm.

The district was more Democratic when Malinowski first won it — Democrats on the Congressional Redistricting Commission sacrificed Malinowski in 2022 in order to shore up neighboring seats – but it remains highly competitive, with Trump carrying it last year by a tiny 49% to 48% margin. National Democrats, who poured around $5 million into last year’s race, have identified the 7th district as a top target for 2026.

The post Megan O’Rourke raises over $175,000 in first day as NJ-7 candidate appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

The Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office has taken control of Franklin Township’s police department after its investigation into a shocking double murder-suicide reportedly perpetrated by a state trooper raised “serious concerns” about the department.

Ricardo J. Santos, a New Jersey State Police lieutenant, is said to have killed his 33-year-old ex-girlfriend, Lauren Semanchik, and a 29-year-old man she had been dating, Tyler Webb, last weekend. Santos, a member of the State Police’s Executive Protection Unit, later killed himself in a Middlesex County park.

Semanchik’s family told several news outlets that Santos stalked and harassed her for nearly a year, but said police failed to effectively investigate her concerns. The prosecutor’s office said Franklin Township officials have placed Police Chief Timothy Snyder and Sergeant Kevin Bollaro on administrative leave. 

“HCPO has determined that supersession of FTPD is immediately necessary following its active investigation into the homicides in the Pittstown section of Franklin Township on or about August 1, 2025, which has raised serious concerns about FTPD’s operations and effectiveness,” the press release read.

Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office Captain Paul Approvato will lead the department as officer-in-charge, according to the office. The release said investigations into the killings and FTPD are ongoing.

Semanchik worked as a veterinarian, and Webb was a firefighter.

Deanna Semanchik, the victim’s sister, told PIX11 that after Semanchik and Santos’ six-month relationship, he placed recording devices in her home and stalked her. Deanna said her sister went to local police for help and a restraining order, but was told there were no officers who could help her; she said her sister was waiting for a call back. 

Santos had previously protected Gov. Phil Murphy and former Gov. Chris Christie. He was most recently assigned to protect First Assistant Attorney General Lyndsay Ruotolo, the No. 2 person at the Department of Law and Public Safety.

The post Hunterdon prosecutor takes over Franklin police amid double murder investigation appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

Archer & Greiner P.C. announced the creation of a Political Law & Compliance Practice Group on Thursday.

In the Thursday release, Archer said the group will work with businesses, trade associations, nonprofits, political action committees, lobbying firms, candidates, political parties, and others involved with the political process.

“This new practice group reflects Archer’s continued commitment to staying ahead of our clients’ needs in a complex legal and regulatory environment,” said Christopher Gibson, the firm’s president. “The Political Law & Compliance Group will further strengthen our ability to deliver high-level, strategic counsel to clients involved in all facets of the political process.”

Partners Jason Sena and David Weinstein will co-chair the group. Archer is one of the state’s largest law firms.

“Our Political Law & Compliance Group is a natural evolution of Archer’s longstanding work advising clients at the intersection of law, public policy, and politics,” Sena said. “With heightened legal scrutiny and a rapidly changing regulatory landscape, clients need forward-thinking, practical guidance to stay compliant and achieve their goals.”

The group will offer counsel on campaign activities, ballot initiatives, political advocacy, campaign finance, lobbying regulations, ethics requirements, government contracting, and investigations.

“Our team understands both the complexities of the law and the operational realities of political engagement,” Weinstein said. “That combination allows us to deliver strategic, real-world counsel to help clients mitigate risk while navigating campaigns, elections, lobbying, and government processes.”

The post Archer law firms launches Political Law group appeared first on New Jersey Globe.