Bills redacted to freeholder
By Nathan Mayberg
NEWTON — An elected county freeholder claims she tried for two years to find out how much consultants to Sussex County were being paid for work relating to the $27 million SunLight General Capital solar panel project and had to file an Open Public Records Act request to get invoices from county officials.
The bills were heavily censored.
Freeholder Gail Pheobus, who has questioned Sussex County's actions in regards to $26.7 million in bonds the county guaranteed for a solar panel project headed by the now insolvent SunLight General Capital, wants to know why county officials heavily redacted the invoices sent to the county by the law firm of Inglesino, Pearlman, Wyciskala & Taylor, LLC.
Attorney Stephen Pearlman, who along with attorney John Inglesino, are considered the architects of the three-county deal to finance the solar panel projects. Morris, Sussex and Somerset are all in debt for money owed by SunLight General Capital, a company with Wall Street and French connections and which had only recently been formed when the deals were made.
Copies of the invoices, as provided by her attorney Dan Perez, show the amount and hours billed by the firm but the reasons for the billing are blacked out.
The invoices were part of $353,406 in bills for work done by firms between 2011 and 2013, including Gabel Associates and NW Financial Group.
Emails provided by Perez received from the county appear to show the county treasure's office communicating with Pearlman's firm Pearlman & Miranda regarding the redacting of the invoices.
"Information is being withheld from an elected freeholder which should concern people greatly," Perez said.
"It's dreadful than an elected freeholder has to go through the expense of OPRA requests," Pheobus said.
Messages left with county treasurer Bernard Re and County Administrator John Eskilson were not returned by press time.
Pheobus said she was told by Eskilson that the information would have been provided to her, if she had just asked.
Pheobus said she had requested the information from Eskilson, Re and county counsel Dennis McConnell in the past but had been given general answers.
Perez said he believes Pearlman is still being paid by the county to consult on the project.
The invoices received by Phoebus for Pearlman's work begins in 2012 when he was with the firm of Inglesino, Pearlman, Wyciskala & Taylor and ends in 2013.
Phoebus said the county should immediately end any relationship with Pearlman. She said his contract with the county ends this summer.
It is not clear as to who the county will be relying on for its information regarding the solar panel work.
The county is banking on tax credits and revenues from its solar panels to alleviate much of the debt owed to the Morris County Improvement Authority.
Phoebus said she is kept in the dark about decisions made by the freeholders.
"Everything happens behind closed doors," Phoebus said.