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November 10, 2006
Records show $410K spent on legal fees
The Independent Press [Bloomfield, NJ]
By Seth Augenstein
The financial documents track checks issued from a Bloomfield Township escrow account from 2004 to March 10, 2006. A request to see additional checks issued after March 10 was denied.
The escrow account run by the township of Bloomfield keeps a balance of $50,000 that is used to pay the balance of the township’s representation for redevelopment matters to the law firm of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole and Wisler. The money in that escrow account is replenished through periodic payments from redeveloper Forest City Daly and its subsidiary, Forest City Bloomfield, according to township officials.
However, DeCotiis Attorney Catherine Tamasik and several township employees said that the exact amount that had been spent in the eminent domain proceedings was not public record, since the funds are essentially Forest City’s money.
In short, Forest City is paying for the legal and planning fees for Bloomfield's redevelopment plan, which has been trying to use eminent domain to take private property from local small businesses.
More on the history of Bruce Ratner in Bloomfield:
New Jersey Eminent Domain Redevelopment: Forest City Ratner coming to Bloomfield
Judge Tosses Condemnation Case
Forest City Ratner Bloomfield Project in Jeopardy as New Jersey Loses Eminent Domain Case
Posted by lumi at November 10, 2006 7:39 AM