Municipal Cars for Private Daycare Center, Mayor's Ex
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At a time when many cities are cutting costs, Union City, New Jersey's mayor appears to be wasting money. Located just across the river from Manhattan, Union City is the most densely populated city in the United States. Fox 5's Arnold Diaz, in an investigation that spanned four months, found the Union City mayor could be playing favorites at the taxpayers expense.
Katia stack is director of The Union City Day Care Program, and is Mayor Brian Stack's former wife. The day care is housed in a city building, but Ms. Stack acknowledges it's not a city program--it's private. She also gets a city supplied car with free gas, and free insurance. Taxpayers are on the hook for those expenses.
So just how did she get a municipal car, which used to belong to the police department? Well, the police chief and the mayor, who is also a New Jersey State Senator, assigned her a vehicle. Her private day care has at least one other public vehicle.
Joseph Blaettler is the former Deputy Police Chief of Union City and was once Mayor Stack's police liaison. Now a private investigator, he provided Fox 5 with information about Katia Stack using a municipal vehicle.
But Mayor Stack told Fox 5's Arnold Diaz that he, himself, doesn't take home a personal vehicle. He only drives with a city employee in a city car from time to time. But the Fox 5 investigation showed that over a number of days the mayor was getting picked up and driven around.
It's not just the issue of city cars. Fox 5 News has learned the private day care center, which has more than 200 students and a $6 million budget, leases its building from the Union City government. Do you know how much rent they pay the city? Nothing. Not a cent.
The mayor says the free rent agreement and the assignment of city cars began before he became mayor 10 years ago. Fox 5 News asked for proof of that agreement and never got it. Mayor Stack insists his administration has done nothing wrong.
Fox 5 News did notice that after it started asking questions, the city car Katia Stack had been using as her personal vehicle was back in the police department parking lot.
Arnold Diaz, the winner of 36 Emmy awards for his consumer investigative reporting, joined Fox's WNYW-TV in March 2006. He continues his longstanding investigative career with his infamous "Shame, Shame,
Arnold Diaz, the winner of 36 Emmy awards for his consumer investigative reporting, joined Fox's WNYW-TV in March 2006. He continues his longstanding investigative career with his infamous "Shame, Shame, Shame" pieces His reports regularly expose wrongdoing and incompetence by private industry and government agencies, and often lead to actions by law enforcement officials, as well as the enactment of legislation.
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