Maybe D'Amico is the Figurehead

Deputy D'Amico has been calling for Monmouth County to have an Inspector General since he ran for Freeholder in 2007. Now that his party has control of the Freeholder Board, he is pushing hard to create the high paying position for a law enforcement type to root out waste, fraud and abuse from county government, "so that Operation Bid Rig doesn't happen again."

Apparently the disgrace of prosecution and jail time that the crooks who were snagged in the real Operation Bid Rig are not enough a deterrent to county workers in D'Amico's mind. Apparently the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office are not adequate in D'Amico's mind.

Giving Deputy Flippy the benefit of the doubt, maybe his mind has nothing to do with it. It seems that Trenton Democrats have been pushing counties to create these positions since at least 2004 when Mercer County (that's where Trenton is) created such a position.

Burlington County Democrats called for creating such a position in their campaign last fall. Here's an article from the Burlington County Times:

Dems look to create inspector general post
By: MELISSA HAYES (Mon, Sep/22/2008)

Three Democrats seeking county office are calling for the creation of an inspector general's position that would be responsible for eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in county government.
Freeholder candidates Chris Brown and Mary Anne Reinhart and county clerk candidate Tim Tyler raised the issue at a press conference Thursday with Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, who created a similar position in his county.
Reinhart and Brown are running against Republican Freeholders Aubrey Fenton and Stacey Jordan in the Nov. 4 election. Tyler is challenging Republican Gary Woodend for county clerk.
"Under our plan, every entity of government that receives funding from the county will be under the auspices of the inspector general," said Reinhart, adding that monthly reports would be submitted to the freeholders and made available to the public.
Fenton and Jordan criticized their opponents' plan, saying an Office of Inspector General could cost the county $250,000 annually and would create a duplication of services.
Fenton said Kendall Collins, first assistant county solicitor, already monitors all boards and commissions the Board of Freeholders oversees. Collins, however, is not responsible for monitoring all programs that receive county funds, like municipal alliances.
Jordan said Reinhart and Brown are simply creating another tax on residents.
But the Democrats argue that the inspector general position would pay for itself.
"I know that the number-one way to keep costs down is to root out waste and inefficiency," said Tyler, who is a member of the Fieldsboro Borough Council.
During the press conference held at the Enterprise Center at Burlington County College's Mount Laurel Campus, Hughes highlighted how the position has worked in Mercer County.
Hughes, an elected Democrat, created the appointed-position in 2004. The inspector general reports directly to him. The office consists of an inspector general and two investigators. The annual budget for the department is $201,687.
Hughes said Inspector General Robert Farkas has investigated many claims and forwarded information to the county prosecutor and U.S. Attorney General's offices.
Farkas once served as a Mercer County prosecutor and worked in the U.S. Attorney General's office before becoming inspector general.
Hughes credited Farkas with investigating a company that was accused of diverting solid waste from the Mercer County Improvement Authority. The case was referred to the attorney general who ordered the company to pay $500,000 in restitution.
Hughes also credited Farkas with instituting a county pay-to-play ordinance that limited the amount that professionals seeking work in Mercer County could contribute to political campaigns.
Fenton said Burlington County was the first in the state to implement a pay-to-play contracting policy and the freeholders require all employees to undergo ethics training. The Democrats said they think the county should have a stronger pay-to-play ordinance.
In 2005, the Board of Freeholders created a new policy for awarding professional-service contracts, including engineering and legal contracts, which are not legally required to go to the lowest bidder.
While the board must now request prices and qualifications from contractors seeking work, nothing in the policy compels the freeholders to select the lowest bidder. The measure also does not prevent those holding county contracts from donating to a freeholder's campaign fund.
Brown said the inspector general would have to be nonpartisan with a background in law. Because Burlington County does not have an elected county executive, the inspector general would report directly to the Board of Freeholders.
Brown said the inspector general would take the politics out of corruption investigations.
"In Burlington County right now it seems to be Democrats playing "I got you' with Republicans and Republicans playing "I got you' with Democrats," Brown said.

Obviously, D'Amico didn't think up this idea. He's doing the bidding of State Democratic Chairman Joe Cryan.