More On Bashaw and the CRDA

The Mid Atlantic Center for the Arts (MAC), located in Cape May, New Jersey, is a non-profit organization that promotes the restoration, interpretation and cultural enrichment of greater Cape May for its residents and visitors.

Partners (business associates?) of MAC include Congress Hall and The Virginia. Curtis Bashaw is the owner of both Congress hall and The Virginia. Bashaw is also the executive director of the Casino Reinvestment and Development Authority (CRDA).

This coming Monday (8 August), the CRDA is holding a meeting to provide MAC $637,000 to restore the WWII bunker at Cape May Point. CRDA has already agreed to fund a proposed convention center in Cape May.

The Press notes the the benefits the oldest seaside resort has had since Bashaw went to the CRDA:

The two hearings, along with the decision by the CRDA to help fund a new convention center in Cape May, represent a continuing trend in the city to seek money from the agency since local businessman Curtis Bashaw became its executive director. “We’re getting a lot more of that money out of Atlantic City,” Carroll said.

(Tom Carroll is the former proprietor of the Mainstay Inn.)

To Recap

  • Bashaw’s grandfather owned both Congress Hall and The Virginia. He did not pay property taxes on these properties for years claiming they were religious institutions.
  • Bashaw took possession of the properties about 20 years ago.
  • Through a mix of grants and loans, he first renovated The Virginia and then Congress Hall.
  • During this time, Bashaw was on the advisory board of Sun National Bank.
  • Sun National Bank provided much of the loan money Bashaw used to renovate Congress Hall.
  • Sun National Bank got a sweetheart deal from the CRDA when it sold a property it owned to the CRDA for well over its value.
  • Sun affiliate, Vineland Construction, was able to purchase 11 properties in Atlantic City for $ 10 from the CRDA.
  • Vineland Construction also received development rights to a project in Atlantic City.
  • Sun provided campaign funds to former Governor McGreevey and many of his associates.
  • Bashaw was appointed executive director of the CRDA by Governor McGreevey.
  • Bashaw is a stock-holder of Sun.
  • When Bashaw re-structured his debt (after securing another loan from Sun) making it so Sun the first priority, over the federal loans he had, the Economic Development Authority provided approval. Bashaw sits on the EDA even though he recused himself from this decision.
  • The CRDA is financing projects with partners of Bashaw in Cape May.

This sure sounds like pay-to-play. This is the very thing which the would-be governor, Jon Corzine, has taken his opponent to task for.

For months, Forrester has railed against no-bid deals, saying “we have to stop no-bid contracts.” Yet as these newly-revealed facts show, at the very same time that Forrester has been criticizing this nefarious practice, he’s been profiting from it (and using the proceeds to fund his gubernatorial campaign.)

Matt Stoller, Corzine’s professional blogger, refuses to answer direct questions regarding why his candidate will not hold the current administration to the same standard he holds his opponent. As another person in the thread mentioned, Bashaw is a Republican, so there should be no hesitation on Corzine’s part to blast away at the apparent corruption at the CRDA. All I am asking for is leadership from Mr. Corzine. He is the one who is championiing to rid New Jersey of corruption, favoritism and fraud. Why will he not step up to the lectern now and show us how he will do so?

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