MORRIS COUNTY — Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced charges against an attorney stemming from a major corruption probe by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) that previously led to five former public officials and political candidates in New Jersey being charged with taking bribes.

Elizabeth Valandingham, 47, Morristown, was served with complaint-summonses on Wednesday, June 17, charging her with second-degree false representation for government contracts and second-degree misconduct by a corporate official. (Click here to view complaints.)

Elizabeth Valandingham was listed as an attorney on O’Donnell McCord, PC website. In an article posted in New Jersey Globe, it was stated “The central figure in a sting operation that has led to bribery charges against five officials is in the process of closing his law firm, the New Jersey Globe has learned.” Also in New Jersey Globe, it was reported “The whistleblower told state and federal authorities that O’Donnell and his law partner, Elizabeth Anne Valandingham, have moved substantial amounts of money through relatives, employees, and friends who have made large campaign contributions. Valandingham’s sister, Vanessa Brown, and her brother-in-law, Christopher Brown, have contributed more than $107,000 to New Jersey candidates since 2010,  according to records filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.” (Click here to read article).

The charges against Valandingham relate to alleged conduct between 2012 and 2017 at the law firm where she worked. One of her duties at the law firm was to prepare and submit annual proposals to various municipalities in order for the firm to garner public contracts for legal services.

Between 2012 and 2016, Valandingham submitted proposals to the Township of Bloomfield to provide legal services for the years 2013 through 2017. For each submission, Bloomfield required the firm, as a material part of its submission, to disclose any reportable political contributions the firm made to an enumerated list of candidates and party committees. For each year, Valandingham indicated the firm made no political contributions, and for each year, Bloomfield awarded the firm its contracts for legal services, valued in the aggregate at approximately $120,000. It is alleged, however, that in each year for which Valandingham indicated no reportable political contributions, the firm, in fact, made contributions.

It is alleged in the complaints that Valandingham, along with an unnamed co-conspirator, recruited friends and family members to act as straw donors— people who made political contributions and would subsequently be reimbursed in cash by the firm for those contributions. It is alleged that, in total, during the time that Valandingham indicated that the firm made no contributions, the firm made tens of thousands of dollars in straw contributions.

In 2016, Valandingham submitted a proposal for legal services to the Borough of Mount Arlington for the year 2017. Mount Arlington required that Valandingham certify that the firm made no reportable political contributions in the year preceding the award of the contract. She certified that no reportable contributions were made in 2016, and the borough awarded the firm a lucrative contract, earning the firm in excess of $470,000. It is alleged that, in fact, Valandingham made contributions through her straw donors to Mount Arlington officials in the amount of $7,500 in 2016.

The defendants initially charged in the OPIA investigation – former Jersey City School Board President Sudhan Thomas, former State Assemblyman and Bayonne mayoral candidate Jason O’Donnell, former Morris County Freeholder John Cesaro, former Mount Arlington Councilman John Windish, and former Morris County freeholder candidate Mary Dougherty – face pending charges of second-degree bribery in official and political matters for allegedly taking thousands of dollars in bribes from a cooperating witness in the form of campaign contributions.  In return, the defendants allegedly promised the cooperating witness – who is a tax attorney – that they would vote or use their official authority or influence to hire or continue to hire his law firm for lucrative government legal work.

Valandingham is charged in connection with conduct that is not directly related to the bribery allegations against the other five defendants.

The investigation is being conducted by the OPIA Corruption Bureau, under the leadership of OPIA Director Thomas Eicher. Deputy Attorneys General John A. Nicodemo, and Anthony Robinson are prosecuting the cases, under the supervision of Corruption Bureau Chief Peter Lee and Counsel to the Director Anthony Picione.

Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Attorney General Grewal created the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability in September 2018 to combat corruption and strengthen public confidence in government institutions. In December 2019, the Attorney General issued a directive codifying OPIA and making it a permanent part of the Attorney General’s Office. That directive established the OPIA Corruption Bureau as the lead office within the Department of Law & Public Safety for the investigation and prosecution of state criminal violations involving corruption and abuse of public trust.

MORRIS COUNTY — Residents of long-term care facilities will be able to have outdoor visits with loved ones in designated outdoor space under a directive to long-term care facilities issued by the state Department of Health.

The Health Department has received input and worked collaboratively with long-term care providers on developing this directive to accommodate visitors.

Prior to transporting a long-term care resident to a designated outdoor space, visitors must be screened for COVID-19 symptoms ­­– including a temperature check – and facilities must follow safety and infection prevention and control measures in order to allow visitation.

“Being apart from our loved ones has been one of the most difficult challenges throughout the pandemic—especially for long-term care residents and their families. This directive outlines the measures that must be in place to reduce risk to this vulnerable population while allowing visits outdoors,” said Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. “Virtual communication could never replace gathering face to face gatherings with loved ones. We hope these outdoor visitations bring joy and comfort to residents as well as their loved ones—while also protecting them.”

The directive applies to dementia care homes, long-term care facilities, pediatric transitional care homes, assisted living residences and programs, and comprehensive personal care homes.

Only two visitors will be permitted at a time and must stay six feet apart from the resident. Visitors and residents are required to wear face coverings, and a staff member—wearing a surgical mask—must remain with the resident during the visit. A resident who is suspected or confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 or quarantined for exposure cannot have visitors. A resident who has tested positive can have visitors after they have met the criteria to discontinue isolation.

Facilities must submit an attestation at least 24 hours before they begin outdoor visitation confirming that they have implemented the directive’s requirements, and have a location designated for visitation, sufficient staff and personal protective equipment, and a method to schedule appointments.

Facilities are required to communicate the visitor policy to residents, families, staff, and others, and must receive informed consent in writing from the resident and visitor that they will comply with the facility’s policies during the visit. As part of the consent form, visitors must agree to notify the facility if they test positive for COVID or have symptoms within 14 days of visiting.

MORRIS COUNTY  — Governor Phil Murphy announced increased indoor and outdoor gathering capacity limits as COVID-19 cases in New Jersey continue to decline.

Effective immediately, indoor gatherings are now limited to 25% capacity of the rooms in which they will take place, with a maximum of 100 persons.

Outdoor gatherings are now limited to 250 persons, and outdoor religious services and political activities will continue to have no numerical limits.

Indoor dining will return to New Jersey on July 2, Governor Phil Murphy.

Restaurants will be able to serve patrons indoors, provided they only use 25 percent of their usual indoor seating capacity.

“While we are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the commonsense public health measures that New Jerseyans have been complying with are now allowing for us to expand capacity limits,” said Governor Murphy. “We will continue to evaluate and make reopening decisions based on data, science, and facts. I thank the people of our great state for the collective effort that has enabled us to take steps like these.”

Before this Order, indoor gatherings were limited to 25% capacity, but with a maximum of 50 persons, and outdoor gatherings were limited to 100 persons, with the exception of outdoor religious services and political activities.

Furthermore, this Order clarifies that for the purposes of outdoor dining, “outdoor areas” are to be defined as open-air spaces without a fixed roof, besides a temporary or seasonal awning or cover.

To read Executive Order No. 156, click here.

MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County will close its COVID-19 drive-thru testing center at County College of Morris at the end of next week, with the last scheduled day of free testing set for Friday, June 26, announced county officials.

When testing began, there was a 43 percent positive rate among residents with symptoms and prescriptions who were tested at the county center, said, officials. Those positive numbers have now dropped dramatically, with positive results for the past few weeks at less than 1 percent of those tested, they said.

“The skills and organizational powers of the partners in this effort made the creation of the testing site a successful response to help residents who were affected by the devastating virus. Its ultimate success hinged on all the partners communicating seamlessly, rapidly resolving any issues, and caring about the physical and emotional toll on clients who used the site,” said Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon.

The drop in positive numbers as well as the numerous urgent care facilities and pharmacies across the count that now offer nasal swab and saliva tests, allows the current CCM site to close. The site opened on March 30 to help deal with the large numbers of people needed to get COVID-19 tests. While open, the CCM site provided nasal swab tests to more than 7,000 people.

“We are indebted to all of the agencies and volunteers that came together to operate this testing center during the height of the COVID- 19 crisis in our county”, said Morris County Freeholder Director Deborah Smith.