Sources at school raise questions about influence of Sen. Lesniak
By Cheryl Hehl, Staff Writer
Kean University officials denied this week that powerful state Sen. Ray Lesniak wields too much influence at the Union-based college, despite what some faculty members maintain.
Lesniak, who did not respond to repeated phone calls seeking comment, has his sister and his nephew’s former wife on the Kean payroll.
According to eight Kean professors, who preferred to remain anonymous, Lesniak not only managed to get his sister Margaret Devanney a position at Kean for $86,800 a year, but also the ex-wife of his nephew, George Devanney, the former Union County manager who retired abruptly Aug. 1.
Devanney’s ex-wife, Audrey Kelly, an employee of the university since 1998, makes $129,000 a year as the executive assistant of Kean’s board of trustees since July 2004 when she was appointed to this position. This was just a year after Dawood Farahi became president of the university.
Farahi and Lesniak have close ties, according to sources close to the issue. In fact, the Kean Federation of teachers said in 2010 the president was hand picked by Lesniak for the position. In return for appointing trustees to the board that were friendly to him, Farahi put Lesniak’s relatives in high paying positions.
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