Mark Holmes, the former executive director of the Asbury Park Housing Authority and a former Lawrence Township councilman and mayor, is under investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and federal housing officials over allegations of misuse of state and federal funds.
Mr. Holmes, who lives on Drift Avenue, served on Township Council from 1998 to 2008, when he resigned because of personal and professional commitments. He served as mayor in 2004 and 2008. His term would have expired in December 2009.
Christopher Gramiccioni, the first assistant prosecutor for the county prosecutor’s office, confirmed that Mr. Holmes is under investigation and that it is ongoing. He declined to comment further.
The Asbury Park Housing Authority asked for the investigation after a review of its 2009-10 audit showed some suspected financial irregularities, said Kenneth Foster, chairman of the authority’s board of directors. Mr. Holmes served as its executive director from 2008 to last month, when he stepped down unexpectedly.
”The audit does appear to show some irregularities,” Mr. Foster said, adding that the authority’s board is still reviewing the audit. The alleged irregularities were called to the board’s attention by its auditor, and the board and its auditor were obligated to report those issues to the prosecutor’s office and federal officials for investigation, he said.
Among the irregularities are two charges on the housing authority’s credit card for visits to strip clubs that were made during two professional conferences, which is a misuse of funding, Mr. Foster said. Those expenditures were uncovered by the auditor during a review of the housing authority’s records, he said, adding “that’s what we know of right now.”
”If Mr. Holmes went there for a soda, the investigation will come out (with that information),” he said. “The investigation will show what happened with the credit card. We are still looking into the audit. There are about 80 or 90 pages, and that’s a lot to comb through. Many things are unfolding.”
Mr. Holmes was offered an opportunity to appear before the board of directors in private or in public to explain what had happened, but he declined, Mr. Foster said. Instead, Mr. Holmes turned in his resignation June 9 for personal reasons.
Contacted Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Holmes referred calls to his attorney, Raymond Hamlin.
Mr. Hamlin said he was not aware of the allegations, and that Mr. Holmes resigned “in good standing.” He said he was retained by Mr. Holmes to handle outstanding sick leave and vacation pay that is due to his client.
”There were no issues presented to Mr. Holmes (regarding his employment),” Mr. Hamlin said. If that were the case, the board would have taken action against Mr. Holmes but that did not occur, he said.
Mr. Holmes accepted the executive director’s job at the Asbury Park Housing Authority after he resigned from his job as the executive director of the East Orange Housing Authority in 2007. He was required to resign from his job at the East Orange Housing Authority as part of a settlement reached with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel because of possible violations of the federal Hatch Act.
The Hatch Act does not permit a person who is employed by municipal, county or state agencies and who has duties in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by federal loans or grants to seek office in a partisan Democratic or Republican election. The possible penalty for violating the Hatch Act is removal from the job and being prohibited from working for a state or local agency in the same state for 18 months.
The issue of possible Hatch Act violations was raised by Mercer County Republicans during Mr. Holmes’ successful re-election campaign in 2005. Mr. Holmes, who is a Democrat, began working at the East Orange Housing Authority in 2003. He was elected to the council in 1997 and re-elected in 2001 and 2005.
A formal investigation into Mr. Holmes’ circumstances by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel was launched in December 2005 at the request of former Mercer County Republican Chairman John Hansbury. The office recommended sending the case to the Merit Systems Protection Board in February 2007, but he reached an agreement that called for him to resign from the East Orange Housing Authority.
