Observers and critics of NJ Transit sometimes wonder where all the agency’s budget goes. In the case of snow removal at the Trenton Transit Center, the answer may be “into a contract awarded not through competition, but through bribery”. According to reporting by Mike Frassinelli in the Star-Ledger (Nov. 22), the manager of station terminals awarded the contract after the company paid a bribe of $16,000 in October, 2012, to secure it. Unfortunately for supervisor Donna Schiereck, the money was paid first to another NJT employee, who turned out to be a federal informant. Schiereck insisted on splitting the money, and she was arrested and appeared in federal court in Newark on Nov. 21. Schiereck, 56, was a 33-year veteran of NJT and was paid over $79,000 last year. She retired from her position on November 19.
