By Patricia Alex, Staff Writer, The Record
Kean University’s controversial $219,000 custom-made conference table was already ordered, built and on a boat from China by the time a required public vote was taken to approve the purchase, internal emails show.
The president of the university, Dawood Farahi, apparently gave the go-ahead for the luxury purchase — without advertising and competitive bidding — months before trustees at the state school approved the spending, a step required by both the school’s own policies and state law.
The purchase of the 22-foot round multimedia table, at far above market value, prompted a state investigation after it was first reported in The Record late in 2014, and now the emails raise more questions about how the deal unfolded and whether Farahi overstepped his authority in spending public money.
The table purchase and another state college’s recent botched attempt to buy a closed casino to turn it into a second campus have prompted concerns about accountability at New Jersey’s largely autonomous colleges and universities.
“These are rogue actions,” said state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge. “As the chair of the budget committee, it’s alarming; of course it is.”
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