Townhouse Crackers

Carol Segal, a retired electrical engineer, wants to build townhouses on six acres of land he owns in Union Township, New Jersey. He's been trying to get government approval for the project for several years. And he says in meetings with city officials they kept suggesting people he should partner with on the project. After he rejected all of those proposals, the township committee voted unanimously to seize Segal's property and name its own developer to build the townhouses. Three days before that vote, two other developers hosted a fundraising dinner for Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, who is also head of the local Democratic Party, that raised more than $70,000. Cryan and the five town council members,who are all Democrats, say it is just coincidence those are the developers they are negotiating with to build the townhouses.