Shortly thereafter, the Newark city council voted to stop paying its $1.6 million annual contract fee to the agency, and to seize more than $3 million in city funds resting in the agency's account. Besides being executive director of the NEDC, Faiella is also deputy mayor for economic development.
The apparent political connection between the two events has made the whole thing an issue in the current mayoral race, pitting incumbent Sharpe James against councilman Cory Booker in the Democratic primary. In the meantime, the loss of city financial support has made NEDC functionally insolvent, according to its chairman, Prudential VP Ed Rytter.
Layoff notices have gone out to staffers, and the organization is expected to shut down within the next month, leaving the city itself to apparently pick up its marketing, promotional and economic development-related functions.
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