Inspectors General from across nation and world come to Newark for three-day event to share best practices and success stories
Newark, NJ - November 4, 2010 – Mayor Cory A. Booker delivered opening remarks at the 2010 National Inspectors General Conference yesterday at the Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott Hotel. This three-day annual conference, which wraps up on Friday, is hosted this year by the City of Newark’s Office of the Inspector General, and brings together Inspectors General from across the nation and world to discuss critical issues in ensuring the integrity, honesty, and efficiency of government workplaces. In New Jersey, Essex and Mercer Counties have Inspectors General. However, the City of Newark is the only municipality in the state that has an Office of the Inspector General.
We are proud and honored to host this year’s National Inspectors General Conference. Since we created the Office of Newark Inspector General in 2007, Inspector General Wright and his team have made great strides in ensuring the integrity of Newark’s municipal government at all levels, by imposing strict codes of ethics for all government operations, which are most prone to ethics violations. Newark, New Jersey is determined to be a national model in government reform, said Mayor Booker.
At the conference, Mayor Booker participated in a panel discussion titled, Creating an Office of Inspector General from an Elected Official’s Perspective, with Newark Inspector General James Wright, Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo and Essex County Inspector General Dominic Scaglione. The panel discussion was moderated by Melinda Miguel, Chief Inspector General of the State of Florida, and president of the Association of Inspectors General.
Newark Inspector General James Wright is the first person to hold this title in the City’s 300-year history and said, This is the first time that the City of Newark is hosting this very important conference. Since our office opened, we have saved over $3 million in three years, had 19 indictments and 19 guilty pleas, and are getting trust from community and employees. Everybody thought this office was symbolic, but we’re taking it to a whole another level. People in the community and employees see us and see progress. There are greater accomplishments to come, he added.
The title of Newark Inspector General was created in 2007 to address the city’s need to effectively improve the quality of life for all residents. The position serves as the City’s Chief Ethics Officer and receives and investigates complaints of fraud and misconduct. The Inspector General also ensures that the Mayor, Municipal Council and all department heads receive mandatory ethics training.
Since being established on August 2007 the Office of the Inspector General has had the following accomplishments:
- Indictments: 19 which all closed out with guilty pleas
- Money saved from salaries due to suspensions, terminations, and resignations: $2.5 million
- Projected savings from investigations: $1.6 million
- Closed Investigations: 271
- City employees arrested: 91
- Cases handled administratively: 40
The focus of the conference, and in particular the session Mayor Booker participated in, emphasized the importance of the roles of Inspectors General and elected officials in fostering public trust, efficiency and integrity in government. The Mayor invited us here, hosted us, and I thank him for his hospitality and supporting role of Inspectors General by his presence today. The time he gave to serve on our panel was very valuable for our attendees. He has a great level of commitment to his Inspector General said Association of Inspectors General President Miguel.
Steven Pasichow, the Assistant Inspector General for the Port Authority of NY and NJ, spearheaded bringing the conference to Newark this year and said, I’ve been affiliated with the association for 13 years and I was an officer and board member. We’ve established a New York-New Jersey Chapter in area, including all Inspectors General from federal agencies and two states. With New Jersey getting more involved and having new Inspectors’ General offices in New Jersey, it’s a great time to hold a conference here. You get to meet colleagues from across the nation, learn from them, gain experience from their failures and successes, and exchange best practices we can bring to our agencies. All for the greater good of making government work better, he said.
Among this year’s conference participants is Mrs. NDour Nafy Ngom, the Auditor General of Senegal and President of the Association of African Inspector Generals. She said, I am very happy to be here. The conference is very important for me because I am fighting fraud and corruption. I hope to get all the information from the conference that can improve my work and bring best practices back home to Senegal. This is a partnership between the United States and Senegal; so I’m here to give and receive, and for Senegal.
Louisiana’s State Inspector General Stephen Street applauded the conference and said, These conferences are fantastic, to see the whole communities of Inspectors General from across the world; and the common issue we have, which is anytime you have public money that’s available, you will have public corruption that’s associated with it, and we have to deal with that issue. I’s just great to be with all these different people, and to be in Newark and see all the positive stuff going on with the IG’s office here.
Featured speakers of the three-day conference include U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Michael Fishman, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General Kenneth M. Donohue. Attendees will receive valuable training and continuing professional education hours, while networking with various law enforcement, audit professionals, inspectors generals and their staffs at the federal, state, local government levels including colleagues from academia and private sector companies from across the United States. For more information on the Association and the conference, visit their website at http://inspectorsgeneral.org/fall2010/
