Nepotism (And Revolving Door) At The Murphy DEP – It’s Dirty
Former DEP Deputy Commissioner And His Hired Wife
Moriarty Deleted His Incriminating Linked In Biography Account Today
(Caption: former Murphy DEP Deputy Commissioner Sean Moriarty (center) grabs the mike to speak at NJ BIA conference panel of former DEP high level managers, 6/4/24)
DEP issued another self serving and highly spun press release today. No biggie – the sun rose in the east.
But I was intrigued by the anomalous stormwater award to flood prone Lambertville (of all places), as well as this quote: (boldface in original)
“There is a lot of work to be done to upgrade our state’s stormwater infrastructure and to improve water quality and reduce flooding, but these benefits cannot be achieved without the cooperation between the state and local communities. Lambertville has proven to be an invaluable partner in these efforts and a true leader among municipalities,” said Jennifer Moriarty, Assistant Commissioner for Watershed and Land Management.
Yes, Lambertville has chronic and severe flooding problems (and the town just so happens to be threatened by a 200 housing unit development by K. Hovnanian on a forested parcel of land on steep slopes just above downtown). Just look at downtown photos after tropical storm Irene (8/28/11):
But aside from the absurdity of a stormwater award to a Delaware Riverfront town that faces chronic flooding – but regardless is approving a massive new 200 unit development on steep forested slopes on bluffs just above town – just who is DEP Assistant Commissioner Jennifer Moriarty?
Well, it turns out that she just so happens to be the wife of former DEP Deputy Commissioner Sean Moriarty –
It appears that she was hired during his tenure – a man I recently filed an ethics complaint to the State Ethics Commission, see:
I followed that complaint up with addition information, see:
Yet despite the pending State Ethics Commission review of Moriarty’s post employment work, Mr. Moriarty brazenly and flagrantly violated ethical post employment restrictions at the NJ BIA conference (I guess he couldn’t help himself being amidst all those fellow former DEP manager revolving door hacks).
Having seemingly been ignored by my alleged post employment violations by Mr. Moriarty, today, after learning of his wife’s position, I called Nepotism on his Assistant Commissioner wife and filed another complaint to the State Ethics Commission:
Dear State Ethics Commission:
Please consider the following *June 4, 2024 remarks by former DEP Deputy Commissioner Sean Moriarty as a private attorney (and ELEC regulated lobbyist) at the NJ Business and Industry Council’s conference panel on “How To Improve Regulatory Programs At DEP”, see:
https://njbia.org/videos/how-to-improve-regulatory-programs-at-njdep/
At the time, Mr. Moriarty was acting as a private attorney and ELEC regulated lobbyist seeking to influence government policy.
He clearly was making statements based on his confidential experiences at DEP, and he was sharing information and expertise “otherwise not available to the public” within the post employment timeframes under ethics code.
I urge your investigation of Mr. Moriarty for compliance with NJ ethics laws, including the situation outlined in the email below.
Bill Wolfe
Here is the “below email” on Nepotism I sent to the ethics Commission and to DEP Commissioner LaTourette:
Dear Commissioner LaTourette:
I am writing based on disturbing information I obtained in the DEP press release issued today (see https://dep.nj.gov/newsrel/24_0040/
I am sure that you must know that your current Assistant Commissioner for Watershed Management and Land Use, Jennifer Moriarty – who is quoted in that press release – is the wife of former Deputy Commissioner Sean Moriarty (who recently left DEP and is now in the private sector representing clients with business interests and appearing before DEP), see:
https://nj.gov/dep/commissioner/orgchart.pdf
I thought that your appointment of current Deputy Commissioner Jane Rosenblatt, the daughter of former DEP high level managers Dave Rosenblatt and Liz Semple, was highly suspect with respect to nepotism. Worse, Ms, Rosenblatt clearly lacked the qualifications and experience to fit that Deputy Commissioner position when you appointed her.
These appointments raise serious revolving door, post employment restrictions, nepotism, and conflict of interest issues. They also seriously impair you judgement and professionalism.
Frankly, I am appalled and therefore via this email am referring this situation to the State Ethics Commission for investigation.
Bill Wolfe
In a followup post, I will be writing a more detailed expose about all the interconnecting corrupt relationships between Moriarty, his wife, other DEP managers, K Hovnanian, and the corrupt Lambertville 200 unit development.
Amazingly, corrupt indicted machine politician George Norcross is involved as well.
But for now, I leave it with this revealing episode.
Almost immediately after I posted a critical comment that exposed the fraud, Mr. Moriarty took down his Linked in site.
But I was sure to save this comment – She desperately wanted so badly to be part of the “Club”:
How can Sierra Club’s director praise this corruption?