Is Your Building Construction Code Official and Zoning Officer personally benefiting from his government job?
By information supplied to us Mr. Martilini has profited $86,000 buying and selling property within the Borough of Glassboro when he personally lives over 40 miles away. Is this what the hard earning tax-payers of Glassboro are paying his salary for?
Click here for Example 1 (Blocks 216)
Click here for Example 2 (209 Deptford Rd.)
It has recently come to our attention that Mr. Martilini purchased property within the city limits of Glassboro, NJ. We have some specific questions regarding his purchases.
We are inquiring about Block 216 :Lot 6 purchased for $9,000 from Robert P. Tucker (Planning board member)on July 12, 2006 and Block 216 Lots 7, 8, 9, 10, & 11 purchased for $30,000 from Linda M. Emory (School Board Member) on March 31, 2006.
In addition, on May 21, 2007 Mr. Martilini sold Block 216 Lots 6, 7, & 8 to Richard Oliver, Inc. for $45,000 and on the same day Richard Oliver, Inc sold the same lots to Castle Development Services, Inc. for $65,000.
On January 24, 2007 Mr. Martilini also sold Block 216 Lots 9, 10, and 11 to Richard Oliver, Inc. for $50,000 and on April 16, 2007 Richard Oliver, Inc. sold Block 216 Lots 9, 10 to Castle Development Services, Inc. for $195,000.
In total, by our calculation Mr. Martilini made a personal profit of $56,000 from these transactions. Here are our questions regarding these purchases and the subsequent profits.
Both block 216 Lots 6, 7, and Block 9, 10, and 11 had city-run sewer provided by the Borough of Glassboro around that time which Mr. Martilini may have been aware of as he was the Construction Official, Building & Sub-Code Inspector and Director of Code Enforcement from 2006-2007, as well as the Borough’s Zoning Officer in 2006. For these services, he were paid a salary of $80,000 a year from the Borough of Glassboro. In addition, he also served as a Planning Board Member since 2002.
These positions have allowed Mr. Martilini to be privy to information regarding projected developments within the Borough, and creates a clear conflict of interest between his professional duties serving the Borough and his private property investments here in town. Can Mr. Martilini please explain how him and others in Borough Hall have addressed these conflicts to allow such purchases and sell property while overseeing the town’s housing and planning enforcement and policies?
It has also come to our attention that Mr. Martilini’s personal residence is in Galloway, NJ, located just over 40 miles from Glassboro, NJ hisplace of employment. How does one justify making such huge property investments in Glassboro when your family live in another county, 40 miles from Glassboro?
Our additional questions are as follows:
1. As the Director of Code Enforcement/Zoning Officer and an active member of the Planning Board, was Mr. Martilini privy to information that would have impacted the final purchase or sale price of any of the properties sold in 2006 or 2007? The deeds show that lots were merged and improvements, including city-run sewer lines, were installed to these properties. If these statements are correct, Mr. Martilini has committed blatant ethics violations on multiple counts using “insider Town Hall” information to personally benefit on the backs of hard working Glassboro tax-payers of who pay his salary.
2. Does Mr. Martilini have any relationship or business involvement with Richard Oliver, Inc, the company he sold property to in 2006 and 2007? If so, is this relationship tied to his positions within Borough Hall?
3. Did Mr. Martilini’s personal profits from the properties he purchased in Glassboro have any bearing on the inspections performed to Castle Development who ultimately ended up building on the blocks and lots he sold?
4. Did Mr. Martilini participate in the Planning Board vote to approve or deny the merger of Block 216 Lots 6, 7, and 8 and Block 216 Lots 9, 10, & 11 so they could become buildable lots? If so, this is a clear conflict of interest and he should have abstained from voting.
We do hope that Mr. Martilini’s answers reflect an upstanding public servant who was within ethical and legal boundaries to perform the actions above.
click here for PDF of Angelo Martilini’s Salaries and positions
click here for PDF of Titles and Deeds of transactions
Mr. Martilini also purchased 209 Deptford R. for $70,000 on 9/2/03 and sold it for $100,000 on 9/16/04. What is interesting is not only did Mr. Martilini profit $30,000 on this purchase but the only permits or improvements made according to Boro records was an 8’x12′ stick built shed. Mr. Eric Palumbo who purchased the property from Mr. Martilini sold it for $154,900 not even three months later in December of 2004. He profited what appears to be $54,900 also with no record of improvements from the Boro.
click here for PDF downloads of Deeds and permits