Star Ledger Chief Editor says “uncle” to me….


The obvious rebuttal to his last email exchange w/ me (see below) is

“facts are funny things, they always seem to get in the way of a good opinion”….

So while he thinks I’m simply “wrong”, he can’t provide even one editorial where the Star Ledger demanded Mayor James step down…not one that even demands he be held accountable.

Pathetic….Given the overwhelming evidence that I provided (see below), one can see why he decided just to fold his hand and move on….

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:51:54 -0500
Subject: Re: Follow up to our conversation
From: JWILLSE@STARLEDGER.COM
To: churchill1717@hotmail.com

Mr. Churchill ...

I appreciate the time you’re putting into this and only wish I could do the same. Your point seems to be that we gave Sharpe James a pass. You’re wrong.
Thanks for writing.


On 12/11/08 5:45 PM, "churchill1717@hotmail.com" wrote:

Dear Sir,

I have read the 86 page Federal indictment of Sharpe James and spoken to any and all that have any knowledge of this issue with the federal government. I have to tell you that what they are saying – and the evidence of public records that I have found, show it was ONLY after people in and out of his administration started talking to the Feds with the catalyst being twofold: the various Grand Jury subpoenas being issued and the people of Newark realizing that Mayor Sharpe James was soon to lose his “king’s crown” and power. The Grand Jury subpoenas started flowing to the Newark government’s office from the early days of Mayor James administration.

What I do find in researching the Star Ledger reporting of this issue can be characterized as thus:

1) Reporting of former Deputy Mayor of Economic Development Alfred Faiella’s actions but no mention of Mayor James culpability;

2) Reporting of other people –but not James, profiting from these land deals. Reporting mentioned developers and co’s that profited.

3) A change in the Start Ledger’s reporting following public awareness of US Prosecutor’s probe of James.

4) Once it appeared that Cory Booker was going to win the election, the Star Ledger’s reporting took a much different tone – much more hawkish on James. It started mentioning Mayor James by name in these land deals. The Feds also mentioned that once the people in the James administration realized that James was on his way out, they started to talk.


I cannot find any reporting the Star Ledger of Mayor James involvement in any type of corruption prior public awareness that Mayor James was under investigation.

What one would expect from the nation’s 15th largest paper and the paper of record for New Jersey is some sort of attempt to conduct the type of investigative reporting that columnist Paul Mulshine conducted vis à vie Robert Menendez. Instead what a Star Ledger reader would find prior to the probe becoming public knowledge is the Ledger mentioning people around Mayor James but the paper never questioning James’ ethics, motives and only a cursory attempt to hold him accountable. For example, in 2005 the paper tried to ask the Mayor questions about this subject, but he declined. Paper went no further. The paper submitted certain O.P.R.A requests but when the city didn’t complied, the paper went no further. Where is the front-page article demanding that the Mayor state what he knew and when did he know it and why is there a former felon (Faiella) running the land development of the City? I cite the following article as an example of the water-downed reporting of the Star Ledger from April 12, 2005: http://blog.nj.com/ledgerarchives/2007/07/in_citys_housing_boom_a_select.html

The paper gave Mayor James a pass on this right up to the time when it was clear he was no longer going to be Mayor. Where is the Star Ledger editorial proclaiming “The Buck Stops Here” and Mayor James must be held accountable his subordinates activities-not to mention his own?

Do we really need to wait for a federal prosecutor to announce tapes of phone calls (Illinois corruption) before we demand higher morals from our public representatives?

If you show any reporting to the contrary please tell me as my research does not show it. If you have any articles from the 1990s or early 2000s refuting my criticism then I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you.

Regards,

John Churchill

===================
Below is a synopsis of the article related to James and his corruption investigation…they are in chronological order (from most recent to oldest)


.) Feds' probe of James now takes close look at Newark land deals
Author: IAN T. SHEARN AND JOHN P. MARTIN STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: November 28, 2006
Word Count: 875
Document ID: 115B1FBB06B6D388
A federal investigation into the administration of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James has expanded, with more subpoenas delivered to City Hall and agents now scrutinizing real estate deals that benefited some of the ex-mayor's biggest supporters, according to sources close to the probe.
FBI agents in recent weeks have interviewed a number of city employees, and prosecutors also have demanded additional records from Newark City Hall, among them personnel files of at least four

One phone call gave momentum to James inquiry
People talked once he left office
Author: JOHN P. MARTIN AND IAN T. SHEARN STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: July 15, 2007
Word Count: 2016
Document ID: 11A69527D16D1710
While Sharpe James was building a larger-than-life persona as Newark's mayor and chief cheerleader in the 1990s, prosecutors and FBI agents were dropping hundreds of grand jury subpoenas at City Hall.
They won corruption convictions against two Newark City Council members, the police director and the mayor's chief aide. James, meanwhile, kept winning elections.
So no one had high hopes last summer when the newly inaugurated mayor, Cory Booker, called


) Indictment rumor swirls around James
Newark mayor probed in graft
Author: IAN T. SHEARN AND JOHN P. MARTIN STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: July 12, 2007
Word Count: 674
Document ID: 11A599E4AE6D5C58
Federal authorities plan to announce "a major development" today in the long-running FBI corruption investigation into former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, according to two law enforcement sources.
For weeks, a federal grand jury in Newark has been considering evidence involving city land deals and travel expenses that James billed to the city while he was mayor, The Star-Ledger has reported. That grand jury meets Thursdays, so each week that day has brought new

Newark records reveal the art of the cozy land deal
Author: IAN T. SHEARN STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: June 25, 2007
Word Count: 1241
Document ID: 119FFF6395655738
Before he left office in 2002, Newark Deputy Mayor Alfred Faiella redrew the city's redevelopment boundaries, adding acres of land to the list of vacant properties Newark was willing to sell at a discount. The city sold 53 of those tracts in the West Ward two years later to a company half-owned by one of Faiella's close friends, Joanne Harz. Her firm paid $1 a square foot for the parcels, roughly 25 times less than the going rate for vacant Newark land at the time,


0.) Newark official involved in land deals resigns
City investigating Hilliard-Johnson's below-market house purchase from a developer
Author: IAN T. SHEARN STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: February 6, 2007
Word Count: 615
Document ID: 11723540DEE4FF20
A top Newark development official has resigned amid an investigation into her business relationship with one of the city's major developers of surplus municipal property.
Karen Hilliard-Johnson, 55, a director in Newark's Department of Housing and Economic Development, which oversees the city's residential redevelopment efforts, submitted her resignation last week and will leave the job March 1, according to Desiree Peterkin Bell, a spokeswoman for



152.) Newark official involved in home deal resigns
City probing below-market purchase from developer
Author: IAN T. SHEARN STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: February 6, 2007
Word Count: 668
Document ID: 117235406D9265A8
A top Newark development official has resigned amid an investigation into her business relationship with one of the city's major developers of surplus municipal property. Karen Hilliard-Johnson, 55, a director in Newark's Department of Housing and Economic Development, which oversees the city's residential redevelopment efforts, submitted her resignation last week and will leave the job March 1, according to Desiree Peterkin Bell, a spokeswoman for


A builder, an official and a sweet deal
House worth $348,900 bought for $200,000
Author: IAN T. SHEARN STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: January 7, 2007
Word Count: 662
Document ID: 116853450F7CA538
A top Newark development official bought a house far below market value in the city's South Ward five years ago from a builder who has since become one of the largest developers of city-owned land, a review of public records shows.
Karen Hilliard-Johnson, a director in Newark's Department of Housing and Economic Development, which oversees the city's residential redevelopment efforts, paid $200,000 for the four-bedroom, 3 1/2-bathroom house on March


New rules for Newark land deals
Booker's policy to highlight market rates, better value
Author: IAN T. SHEARN AND KATIE WANG STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: December 5, 2006
Word Count: 905
Document ID: 115D6DE1E2E9F530
Claiming Newark has squandered millions of dollars selling surplus land too cheaply, Mayor Cory Booker will soon propose new policy for selling municipal property that he says will bring greater value to the city.
Booker said that builders wanting to buy vacant lots and buildings from the city will have to pay market rates, or agree to include low- and moderate-income housing in the development or make other improvements to the neighborhood.
Under the administration of former



Feds probe dirt-cheap land deals
Former mayor of Newark sold lots to his supporters
Author: IAN T. SHEARN STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: December 4, 2006
Word Count: 1160
Document ID: 115D1A1A76F92A78
In the final months of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James' tenure, the city engaged in a flurry of last-minute real estate deals, selling municipally owned land at a fraction of its market value to politically connected developers, a new examination of property records shows. From March 27 - the day the five-term mayor announced he would not seek re-election - until he left office June 30, the city closed on 21 separate deals that involved dozens of lots and at least 20 acres


170.) Feds' probe of James now takes close look at Newark land deals
Author: IAN T. SHEARN AND JOHN P. MARTIN STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: November 28, 2006
Word Count: 875
Document ID: 115B1FBB06B6D388
A federal investigation into the administration of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James has expanded, with more subpoenas delivered to City Hall and agents now scrutinizing real estate deals that benefited some of the ex-mayor's biggest supporters, according to sources close to the probe. FBI agents in recent weeks have interviewed a number of city employees, and prosecutors also have demanded additional records from Newark City Hall, among them personnel files of at least four



201.) Newark halts land deals per judge's order
Author: JONATHAN CASIANO STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: June 8, 2006
Word Count: 535
Document ID: 11221ACDA180A489
The Newark City Council abided by a judge's order to stop selling city-owned land last night, tabling 13 deals until the council's next meeting. The land agreements on last night's agenda would have transferred 64 city-owned properties to a variety of private developers for the city minimum of $4 per square foot, a price well below fair market value. Proposed by developers from Newark to Burlington Township, most of the projects consisted of


202.) An easy layup for builders
Newark should quit giving away land to developers like Shaq's group and demand that they respect city history
Author: JOAN WHITLOW STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: June 2, 2006
Word Count: 942
Document ID: 11201C4BDAFBDC8B
Land. It's the one thing nobody is making more of, or so they say. Nobody makes buildings like the one that is currently home to Newark's Science High School. It is an old brick wonder, built in 1860 and decorated in what I'm told is art deco style. Look closely at the main entrance and you will see owls carved into the heavy wooden doors. Above that is a remarkable colored terra cotta panel showing human figures. One carries a torch. That could


203.) Newark council delays on land deals
Author: JEFFERY C. MAYS STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: May 24, 2006
Word Count: 421
Document ID: 111D24FF6E982E99
The Newark City Council deferred acting on a number of proposals from the administration of Mayor Sharpe James yesterday to sell land to developers building mostly two- and three-family homes for sale at market-rate prices. There were 10 proposals on the agenda to sell land at the city minimum of $4 per square foot. With between five and six council members present and Councilman Ras Baraka abstaining on most of the proposals, many simply did not have enough votes to


204.) End the Newark land rush

Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: May 24, 2006
Word Count: 381
Document ID: 111D24EF80F37221
EDITORIAL By the time Newark Mayor-elect Cory Booker is sworn in July 1, city-owned land that could be part of a well-planned, city-directed effort to rebuild Newark may all be gone - sold out from under him. The big land deals were made long ago, but the Sharpe James administration continues to send the city council proposals to sell bits and pieces at the bargain-basement price of $4 a square foot. In some cases, the development plans laid before council members lack




205.) Newark council delays land deals
Author: JEFFERY C. MAYS STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: May 24, 2006
Word Count: 421
Document ID: 111D24FF2CA4695C
The Newark City Council deferred acting on a number of proposals from the administration of Mayor Sharpe James yesterday to sell land to developers building mostly two- and three-family homes for sale at market-rate prices. There were 10 proposals on the agenda to sell land at the city minimum of $4 per square foot. With between five and six council members present and Councilman Ras Baraka abstaining on most of the proposals, many simply did not have enough votes to pass.


206.) Newark council delays on land deals
Author: JEFFERY C. MAYS STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: May 24, 2006
Word Count: 310
Document ID: 111D24FA9D06EB91
The Newark City Council deferred acting on a number of proposals from the administration of Mayor Sharpe James yesterday to sell land to developers building mostly two- and three-family homes for sale at market-rate prices. There were 10 proposals on the agenda to sell land at the city minimum of $4 per square foot. With between five and six council members present and Councilman Ras Baraka abstaining on most of the proposals, many simply did not have enough votes to


207.) Newark council's land sales hit delays
Most deals lack the votes to pass
Author: JEFFERY C. MAYS STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: May 24, 2006
Word Count: 431
Document ID: 111D24F236247C3A
The Newark City Council deferred acting on a number of proposals from the administration of Mayor Sharpe James yesterday to sell land to developers building mostly two- and three-family homes for sale at market-rate prices. There were 10 proposals on the agenda to sell land at the city minimum of $4 per square foot. With between five and six council members present and Councilman Ras Baraka abstaining on most of the proposals, many simply did not have enough votes to pass.


208.) Newark council delays land deals
Author: JEFFERY C. MAYS STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: May 24, 2006
Word Count: 352
Document ID: 111D24FC8C5B89E3
The Newark City Council deferred acting on a number of proposals from the administration of Mayor Sharpe James yesterday to sell land to developers building mostly two- and three-family homes for sale at market-rate prices. There were 10 proposals on the agenda to sell land at the city minimum of $4 per square foot. With between five and six council members present and Councilman Ras Baraka abstaining on most of the proposals, many simply did not have enough votes to


209.) Newark council delays action on land deals
Author: JEFFERY C. MAYS STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: May 24, 2006
Word Count: 310
Document ID: 111D24FC4A8D3293
The Newark City Council deferred acting on a number of proposals from the administration of Mayor Sharpe James yesterday to sell land to developers building mostly two- and three-family homes for sale at market-rate prices. There were 10 proposals on the agenda to sell land at the city minimum of $4 per square foot. With between five and six council members present and Councilman Ras Baraka abstaining on most of the proposals, many simply did not have enough votes to


210.) `Cozy deal' strips city of $35M in assets
Private companies Faiella created in 1980s and '90s legally own structures built largely with public money
Author: MARK MUELLER AND IAN T. SHEARN STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: May 21, 2006
Word Count: 3030
Document ID: 111C2C9B758892AE
In the fall of 2001, Alfred Faiella's quarter-century reign as executive director of the Newark Economic Development Corp. came to an inglorious end. A group of activist trustees at the agency, the primary vehicle for luring investment to the city since 1964, had clashed repeatedly with Faiella over his development policies, and they wanted him out. Faiella, also a Newark deputy mayor, agreed to resign without a fight, a somewhat surprising stance given his reputation 211.) THE POWERFUL PAUPER
As Newark's development czar, he built the city's skyline, controlled its assets and grew rich. Now his creditors are saying: Show us the money.
Author: IAN T. SHEARN AND MARK MUELLER STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Publication: Star-Ledger, The (Newark, NJ)
Publish Date: May 21, 2006
Word Count: 3209
Document ID: 111C2C9B4B2C1677 Alfred Faiella just might be the richest poor man in New Jersey. In a Monmouth County neighborhood of $700,000 homes, Faiella lives in one of the largest. He drives a Cadillac STS valued at $67,000. His Newark office whispers executive posh, with cherry-wood accents and an ornate glass chandelier. There he runs a successful law practice and presides over companies that control $33 million in assets. In 2004, he made $665,000. It's a comfortable living for a man


From: WILLSE, JIM [mailto:JWILLSE@STARLEDGER.COM]
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 4:35 PM
To: churchill1717@hotmail.com
Subject: FW:


Mr. Churchill ..



I gather you are not aware it was our stories about James' expense account and land deals that led to the investigation. If you doubt that, just ask the US Attorney.



But thanks for taking the time to write anyway.

Dear Editor,

The Star Ledger's "investigative" journalism of the Rutgers University football team might be taken more seriously if the paper had at least shown an interest in investigating the mayor of the city in which the Star Ledger is headquartered. I mean the Mayor is indicted on federal charges for corruption -Sharpe James reputation was hardly a state secret to anyone in the City and the paper never even bothered to investigate him...shows willful blindness or worse.