Semeraro’s Republican Alliance

The political action committee (PAC) Republican Alliance was founded by Mark Semeraro and exists for one reason—to provide cover to Scott Rumana as he plays kingmaker with dirty money. You’d better believe the cash flow into (and sometimes out of!) Republican Alliance is dirty.

The PAC has received money from some of the most crooked players who prospered under former Bergen County Democrat boss Joe Ferriero’s rule. For example, Republican Alliance has taken money from IMPACT PAC (run by Robert Pimienta), which received hundreds of thousands from the county as an eminent domain consultant:

A Hackensack developer whose political action committee has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Bergen County Democrats has a no-bid contract that’s paid him more than $230,000 in county taxpayer dollars for real estate deals since 2003.

Robert Pimienta, a registered Republican from Franklin Lakes, gets a cut every time the Democratic-controlled county government signs a lease or buys property. He’s paid an hourly fee when his company does research, up to $10,000 this year. And if he saves the county money, he gets 10 percent of what he calculates as the savings.
(The Record, March 9, 2008)

Republican Alliance has also taken donations from engineer Richard Alaimo who steered $27,500 to Ferriero in 2002.

That’s not all. Semeraro’s PAC routinely receives money from companies with contracts in Wayne Township or Passaic County, including:

Alaimo Group
R-05-685 Resolution authorizes retaining the services of Alaimo Group to perform services necessary to review the Passaic County Solid Waste Plan and perform the necessary Phase I consulting services. (Passaic County Board of Freeholders Agenda, 12/27/2005)

UHY Employee Benefits Consulting Services
UHY has a contract with the Borough of Ringwood where Mark Semeraro just happens to be a township attorney.
2008-69 Reappointment of UHY Employee Benefits Consulting Services
(Minutes for council business, Borough of Ringwood, 1/31/08)

D.T. Allen Contracting Company
*** ORDINANCE NO.20
Bond ordinance providing for the acquisition of property in and by the Township of Wayne, in the County of Passaic, New Jersey. Appropriating $3,225,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $3,071,000 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof (Sports Dome – Block 3800 Lot 3)” (Wayne Twp Agenda, March 4, 2009)

Langan Engineering
Site Feasibility Study, contracted by City of Wayne on 9/9/2008 for $7,855

Public Works – Resolution approving a change in the scope of work by Langan Engineering for Preakness Healthcare Building #4 in Wayne, for asbestos/environmental consultant deleting air testing, and adding UST removal/and contaminated soil, all as noted in the Resolution
(Passaic County Meeting Minutes, Feb 9, 2010)

John Bleeker of Bleeker Architectural Group in Wayne
(co-chair of Republican Alliance) he is “currently a member of the Passaic County Construction Board of Standards and Appeals.” Also the North Haledon School Board President, in 1999 Bleeker pushed his partner out of a lucrative, $35,000 deal in Little Falls (Architect sues ex-partner, The Record, 10/20/00).

On the other side of the ledger, Republican Alliance has funneled cash to crooks, such as convicted former Passaic City Councilman Jonathan Soto, whom Rumana backed to the very end.

The Passaic County Regular Republican Organization under Chairman Scott Rumana is determined to distance itself from the party’s corrupt heritage.

That’s why I’m scratching my head over last Thursday’s “mandatory” meeting of the Passaic City Republican Committee, led by none other than Jonathan “The Sky’s The Limit” Soto, the former city councilman whose trial of bribery and extortion charges is to begin today in Trenton.

Soto, apparently blind to irony, ordered the meeting at Carl Ellen’s Bail Bond Shop (The Political Stile, The Record, 2/17/09)

You may also be interested to know that the accountant for Republican Alliance is John Traier’s firm.

Share