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The Star Ledger
James' travel tab for final 3 months climbs to $48,000

Monday, September 25, 2006
BY IAN T. SHEARN Star-Ledger Staff

During his final three months in office, former Newark Mayor Sharpe James spent at least $48,000 in travel, dining and entertainment expenses, city records show. From March 27, when he announced he would not seek re-election, until he left office June 30, James traveled to Puerto Rico, Brazil, Martha's Vineyard and Detroit, often accompanied by bodyguards and aides.

Some of James' travels, including a $6,500 trip to Rio de Janeiro during his final week in office, previously were reported by The Star-Ledger. But additional records obtained through the state's Open Public Records Act reveal the magnitude of the mayor's spending during his lame duck period and also suggest he was a chief executive who had little oversight of where he traveled or how much he spent.

For example, James, unlike other city employees, was not required to have travel requests pre-approved, and came and went as he pleased, said former Newark Business Administrator Richard Monteilh. The records also show James' expenses often were reimbursed without an explanatory voucher. The revelation of the new expenses before James left office comes amid mounting evidence that state and federal investigations into his spending are widening.

Federal investigators, who already have demanded a wide range of documents from City Hall, recently subpoenaed four of the ex-mayor's police bodyguards to testify before a federal grand jury, an attorney involved in the case disclosed on Friday. State investigators also have questioned several people with knowledge of James' credit card charges, and plan to bring in others for interviews, a state law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the case said last week. Both officials declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the investigation.

James, a state senator who now heads the Urban Issues Institute at Essex County College, did not return phone calls to his home and office seeking comment. When questioned about his travel this summer, he said all the trips were for city business. Desiree Peterkin-Bell, spokeswoman for Cory Booker, who replaced James as mayor, declined comment.

FEW DETAILS
Most credit card statements contain few details of James' trips beyond hotel and restaurant charges. The documents do not include the length of his stay or the purpose of the trip. But in the previous interview, James said his five-day visit to Brazil in June was justified by an hour-long meeting with the consul general in Rio. While in Rio, James, an aide and two bodyguards stayed at one of the city's best hotels and dined at some of its finest restaurants during the World Cup soccer tournament.

He brought bodyguards, he said, because Rio is a notoriously dangerous place. During the same interview, James said a trip to Puerto Rico in late April was to observe the Puerto Rican Police Olympics, an event Newark officers have participated in for years. The Newark cops, James noted, paid their own way. James, according to records, did not.

With two bodyguards and two aides in tow, his credit card tab topped $9,500, records show. He stayed at the InterContinental San Juan Resort, Spa & Casino and the Wyndham El San Juan Hotel & Casino. The statement also reflects a $337 charge for "Ticket Pop Coliseo de Hato Rey," a popular venue for concerts and sporting events.

Those are the only trips James addressed during the interview this summer. He promised to gather his travel records to better discuss other trips, but has thus far failed to do so.

James' credit card statement also reflects a $1,580 charge for the Sea Spray Inn, a bed-and-breakfast in the Oak Bluffs section of Martha's Vineyard, Mass. The transaction date was May 25, the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend. The statement does not reveal how long he stayed or if anyone accompanied him. Owners of the bed and breakfast, which is now closed, could not be reached for comment. Martha's Vineyard, and particularly Oak Bluffs, has been a favored destination of James.

Over the past three years, he has traveled there five times on taxpayer money, records show. He went twice in 2004 -- once in March for 10 days, staying at the Sea Spray ($1,141), and again for four days over the Labor Day weekend. He also stayed in Oak Bluffs over the Labor Day weekend in 2003. That time, he rented a car, stayed at the Wesley Hotel and ate at various restaurants. His bill exceeded $3,000. His credit card statement shows he also stayed at the Wesley Hotel two weeks earlier.

BILLING THE CITY
James' expense money came from several sources, including two city credit cards issued in his name: one paid by City Hall, the other by the Newark Police Department. On the police credit card, he charged nearly $23,000 in expenses during his final three months, documents show.

In addition to the trips, James used that card in late June to pay for a public storage space for a year, dined at several area restaurants and took in a movie in Clifton. Newark officials, however, refused to release recent statements for James' City Hall credit card, claiming it could jeopardize investigations by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the state Division of Criminal Justice, which last month subpoenaed those records. But other financial documents obtained under the Open Public Records Act show the city paid more than $25,000 for charges on the mayoral card after James announced he would not seek re-election.

That came in addition to $25,000 he receives annually in his paycheck to cover expenses. There are no public documents that detail how that money was spent. The federal and state agencies investigating James' travel declined comment. But Anthony Fusco, a Passaic attorney who frequently represents police officers, said Friday he has been retained by "several officers who have been called to testify before a grand jury" in connection with the investigation, and that "we will comply with the U.S. Attorney's subpoenas."

Fusco would not divulge the names of his clients, but two sources familiar with the investigation said they are police bodyguards Jerome Ramsey and Robert Moore, who accompanied James to Rio de Janeiro, as well as Lucinda Simmons and Harvey Phillips, two other security detail members who went on other trips with James. According to incomplete records, James, who was mayor of Newark for 20 years, charged more than $200,000 on the two credit cards over the past 4 1/2 years, with more than $125,000 attributed to travel expenses.

Some charges were closer to home. On June 11, he charged $11.50 at the AMC Clifton Commons movie theater in Passaic County. Over the past four years, his card shows 13 visits to that same theater. It also shows 32 visits to an Applebee's restaurant in the Clifton Commons shopping center.

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