Officials continue
to defend 2002 switch
to Commerce Bank
Candidate: E.B. should
end dealings with bank
Officials continue
to defend 2002 switch
to Commerce Bank
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK — A Republican contender for the Township Council is calling for the township to end its relationship with Commerce Bank.
After learning of the recent indictments handed down to top Commerce Bank executives, GOP council hopeful Walter Decker said he believes East Brunswick should stop investing its money in the bank. He also questioned Mayor William Neary’s sale of the Dairy Queen property he owned on Milltown Road to Commerce Bank last year.
The sale — and the Planning Board’s April 2003 approval for Commerce Bank to build a branch on the site — took place around the same time as the township’s 2002 decision to switch its banking services to Commerce Bank.
Neary has denied any wrongdoing, and when Decker raised the issue at Monday’s meeting, Township Attorney Michael Baker responded that the process through which Commerce Bank received the township accounts was fair and open.
Decker, 75, a retired state police captain, noted how Commerce Bank has its headquarters in Cherry Hill, has among its employees former New Jersey Democratic state Sen. John Lynch and George Norcross, a power broker in Democratic politics. He also noted how the bank has been a major underwriter of bonds sold in the state, and pointed out allegations that the banking giant has used political and economic influence to get towns to place funds with it.
"Corruption in New Jersey is so rampant, we have to start some place," he told the mostly Democratic governing body.
He suggested the township stop doing business with Commerce Bank, especially in light of the indictments and the bank’s links with the Democratic party, though trials for the numerous officials indicted have yet to take place.
Township Business Administrator James White responded that East Brunswick does business with several banks and said a town would be foolish to invest or keep all its money with just one bank. Commerce Bank, he said, does not hold the township’s entire budget.
Decker also noted how he asked Neary publicly last year why the township made the switch in banking accounts, and Neary’s response was because it would save taxpayers money. Baker said Monday that it saved the township $50,000. Neary has also said the negotiations with Commerce Bank regarding the township accounts were handled by White, Finance Director L. Mason Neely and Baker.
Officials have said the bidding process was fair and open, but Decker said he wants to see documentation that proves that claim. He said he would like the information to be included in the packages given to council member for the next meeting.
Decker also asked if the township has a contract with Commerce Bank regarding the amount of time the funds must remain in the account.
Baker said the contract is for two years, and that another bidding process will be undertaken at the beginning of next year.
Baker also said Commerce Bank’s response to the request for bids was "far and away" the best among the respondents, reiterating officials’ statement at the time that Commerce offered the best interest rates. Documentation, he said, is available from Neely or the municipal clerk, he noted.
Also, it was the council, Baker added, that voted to authorize the account change from PNC Bank to Commerce, and not Neary.
At the time, all council members were Democrats.
Neary, who did not attend Monday’s meeting, has denied that he did anything wrong in his dealings with the bank. He recused himself from negotiations over the banking switch, and defended the fact that his Dairy Queen property earned more than the surrounding properties also purchased by Commerce Bank — his sold for $600,000 while the other two fetched $395,000 and $380,000 — by explaining that his was the middle piece and the only one with an operating business.