Sierra Club asks for Lacey's qualifications forMUA job

The Sierra Club of Ocean County is requesting a full and fair disclosure of the facts surrounding the controversial appointment of Freeholder James F. Lacey as the new Brick Municipal Utility Authority's (Brick MUA) executive director.

The Brick MUA, over which Mr. Lacey will preside, provides the drinking water for 100,000 residents in Brick, Pt Pleasant, Pt Pleasant Beach and Howell.

Arguably, this is political patronage at its worse, because ostensibly the paramount goals of protecting the environment and the public's drinking water supply are playing second-fiddle to politics and are being subverted.

To the best of the Sierra Club's knowledge, Mr. Lacey has no prior experience or expertise in managing or protecting the drinking water supply for 100,000 citizens. His prime qualifications appear to be political. However, in fairness toMr. Lacey, the Sierra Club reserves final judgment pending release of all of the facts. We ask the public to do likewise.

However, clearly Lacey is being gently eased out the door with the elimination of an unnecessary political job originally custom-made for him by the moribund Beachwood cog of the Republican county patronage machine. Beachwood residents should now happily thank their fiscally responsible new mayor for saving $100,000 in tax dollars. But with Lacey's political friends, he's luckily landed in the lap of the new Brick Republican administration.

After a full disclosure it may be that Freeholder Lacey was the most qualified applicant. But without full disclosure of both Freeholder Lacey's and the other applicants' qualifications, plus disclosure of his campaign contributions, if any, to politicians who could have influenced his hefty $135,000 appointment, the public should naturally be concerned.

Regrettably, Mr. Lacey and the BMUA have avoided such full disclosure. Without this information, the public cannot rest assured that the stewardship of a water supply that serves 100,000 people lies in good hands. Both taxpayers and environmentalists clearly deserve some answers.

Thus, the Sierra Club is requesting that Freeholder Lacey and the BMUA release any and all documents and records relating to his appointment before he takes charge on Feb. 15. We are also requesting that Freeholder Lacey immediately disclose his New Jersey political campaign contributions, if any.

Either with or without such cooperation, however, we're making an official New Jersey Open Records Act request and conducting a New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission search to find out all the facts. While we reserve judgment, this questionable appointment comes at a critical time. The Metedeconk River is the source for the Brick MUA Reservoir. The Metedeconk's watershed is presently under tremendous overdevelopment threats that could impair its water quality.

Critical decisions and challenges to the watershed are impending. The Sierra Club has been at the forefront in the fight to protect the watershed. The Sierra Club and everyone who relies upon the Brick reservoir for their water supply, need a strong, fully qualified and experienced ally in this fight to be the new executive head of the Brick MUA.

Simply put, we need pure water, not pure patronage. Thus, we felt compelled to speak out. Frankly, the Sierra Club is reluctant to interject its voice in debates involving political patronage. I mean that. Patronage, however unseemly, is an unfortunate fact of political life. We know. However, when political patronage, whether indulged in by either party, may compromise the environment or affect the drinking water of 100,000 citizens in Ocean County, it's incumbent upon us not to remain silent.

Trust me, if we see the Democrats pulling the same kind of nonsense, we'll raise our voice and do all we can to protect the environment and the public interest.

The Sierra Club is also concerned about potential conflicts of interest that might arise involving Lacey's position as a county freeholder and his new job as Brick MUA executive director. The Sierra Club is also questioning how he can responsibly attend to the serious demands of both taxpayer-funded jobs.

The Sierra Club is the largest citizen based environmental organization in America with over 1.3 million members and supporters nationwide and over 1,000 members and supporters in Ocean County.

A. Gregory Auriemma is the chairman of the Sierra Club of Ocean County