Politically well-connected firm gets Paterson insurance broker contract
The school board's resolution picking Fairview Insurance of Verona as the district's broker for employee health benefits does not say how much the company will make from the contract. That's because Fairview's fees will be paid by the health care network working for the school board, and not by the district itself.
Officials speaking off the record estimated that Fairview will make more than $700,000 from the contract.
The school board's selection of Fairview comes two years after the city's education commissioners dropped the firm from a different insurance contract.That set in motion what political insiders say was a concerted effort by Fairview's powerful allies to run candidates for the school board aligned with them.
The four school board members who voted in favor of the Fairview contract on Wednesday night — Hector Nieves, Joel Ramirez, Mohammed Rashid and Kenneth Rosado — all were supported in their 2023 and 2024 election campaigns by the insurance company's allies.
In 2023, for example, the Fairview-connected super PAC, America's Future First, put out five campaign mailings backing Nieves and Ramirez.
Fairview's most recent pay-to-play report on the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission website says the firm received $2.8 million in public contracts in 2024 and made $137,424 in political contributions. The firm's gross income from government-related work was far higher than $2.8 million because many of the contracts are like the new one with Paterson schools, with the fees paid by a private third party, not the public entity.
In 2024, Fairview had more than 50 contracts with various public entities, including the city of Paterson, the Passaic County Board of Social Services, the Passaic Valley Water Commission, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, Passaic County Workforce Development, the Passaic Board of Education, the county of Passaic, and the Passaic Housing Authority.
Among the political contributions the firm made last year were $2,600 to the Friends of Andre Sayegh, Paterson's mayor, and $2,600 to Friends of John Bartlett, a Passaic County commissioner.
So far in 2025, Fairview has donated $5,500 to Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz's election fund and $10,000 to the Passaic County Democratic Committee.
Fairview's chief executive, John F.X. Graham, has been a member of the Democratic National Committee and has served as a superdelegate at the party's national presidential convention.
He also served as a campaign adviser or campaign finance committee member to two governors, Jon Corzine and Phil Murphy; two U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Bob Menendez; and three House members, including Bill Pascrell Jr.
One of Fairview's insurance consultants is Keith Furlong, a spokesman for Passaic County government and a close associate of John Currie, who is the powerful former state Democratic Party chairman and current head of the party in Passaic County. Furlong also has worked on election campaigns for numerous Democrats in Passaic County, including Sayegh.
Before picking Fairview, Nieves, Ramirez, Rashid and Rosado voted down Superintendent Laurie Newell's recommendation that the district continue using CBIZ Benefits and Insurance Services as its health coverage broker.
In contrast to Fairview, CBIZ's pay-to-play report for 2024 says the company made no political contributions last year.
Newell's suggestion to keep CBIZ was based on score sheets and an evaluation report compiled by a committee of three district administrators. That committee reviewed contract proposals by Fairview, CBIZ, and two other insurance firms — Brown & Brown and Connor Strong and Buckelew. Those documents have not yet been released to the public by the district.
Ramirez raised questions about the use of artificial intelligence by district officials in the scoring of the firms' proposals. Assistant Superintendent Luis Rojas told Ramirez that the original scoring ranking CBIZ first was done without AI. Rojas said he used AI to double-check the scoring.
Nieves, Ramirez, Rashid and Rosado gave no explanation during the board meeting for why they were voting for Fairview. Ramirez, Rashid and Rosado did not respond to messages from Paterson Press on June 12 asking about their votes.
Nieves said he backed Fairview because of his concerns over the use of AI in ranking the vendors.
Two board members, Corey Teague and Valerie Freeman, voted against the Fairview contract. Teague told Paterson Press that he thought CBIZ was doing a good job and should continue working for the district. Freeman said she doesn't think the board has the ability to pick a different vendor after rejecting the firm recommended by the superintendent.
Board member Kenneth Simmons abstained in the Fairview vote. He said he thinks his colleagues 'overstepped' their authority when they picked Fairview minutes after voting down the CBIZ contract.
Fairview is scheduled to start work for the district on July 1, the same date when Aetna becomes Paterson Public Schools' new health care network provider.
Charles Ferrer, vice president of the Paterson teachers' union, told the school board during the meeting that many employees have expressed concerns about the medical coverage changes.
The union president, John McEntee Jr., noted the timing of the change in an interview on June 12.
'This is a lot to digest on June 12,' McEntee said. 'My number one concern is to make sure my members know exactly who to contact if they have any issues on July 1.'
Employees said the health insurance broker, not the school district's human services department, handles complaints when workers are having problems with such things as getting a medical provider referral approved.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Politically well-connected firm gets Paterson insurance contract
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