Boss Tweed
Bergen County switches insurance broker to new firm led by Boss George E. Norcross
Friday January 18, 2013, 11:07 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN AND JEFF PILLETS
STAFF WRITERS
The Record
Bergen County has switched insurance brokers for the first time in a decade, shifting its business to a company headed by South Jersey political boss George E. Norcross, a firm recently cited by state investigators for its role in a hidden fee-sharing arrangement that was potentially wasteful of public funds.
The move by the administration of County Executive Kathleen Donovan has sparked a complaint from the prior broker, Brown & Brown Insurance, whose attorney contends the county failed to follow the proper procedure and that the decision should have gone before the freeholders.
County officials contend they complied with the law in designating Norcross’s firm, Conner, Strong & Buckelew, as the county insurance broker for 2013. Norcross, the executive chairman of the company, is generally acknowledged to be one of the most powerful political insiders in the state. A prominent Democratic power broker and political fundraiser, he’s a close political ally of state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester.
County Administrator Ed Trawinski said the move was based solely upon which company could do the best job when it came to the county’s self-insurance program.
“I wouldn’t know George Norcross if I fell over him,” Trawinski said Wednesday.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/Bergen_County_switches_insurance_broker_to_new_firm_led_by_big_political_player.html
