The executive director of the city Parking Authority, Anthony Scarduzio, has been using his $75,000-a-year post to solicit business and generate money for his wife, who sells long-distance phone service, interviews and records show.

Through his business contacts in the Parking Authority, Scarduzio helped secure contracts for PaeTec Communications Inc., a New York-based telecommunications firm that employs Janet Scarduzio as a sales agent.

In January 2000, the Parking Authority entered into a three-year contract with PaeTec. The company won the contract after a competitive bidding process that included two other long-distance suppliers. PaeTec was the low bidder.

Anthony Scarduzio's relationship with PaeTec is under investigation by the state Attorney General's Office.

The Local Government Ethics Law prohibits government officers and employees from using their official positions to "secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself or others."

Scarduzio's financial disclosure form for 1999, which was filed April 28, 2000, did not list any affiliation with PaeTec. It did,however, note that his wife was affiliated with two telecommunications companies, though PaeTec is not mentioned.

Anthony Scarduzio's work on behalf of PaeTec is evident from his dealings with at least two communities, Camden and Deptford.

In December, Camden signed a two-year $66,000 contract with PaeTec. PaeTec was the lower of two bidders. The other bidder was AT&T Corp.

"They gave us the best price," city purchasing agent Richard Felicione said Wednesday.

Felicione also acknowledged that it was Anthony Scarduzio who inquired about when the bid specification package would be ready to pick up.

"He called and wanted to know when they would be available," Felicione said.

Scarduzio also sent a memo on PaeTec stationery to Deptford's township manager, Joe Picardi, indicating that PaeTec could "blow away" the competition.

"Please have one of the girls make a copy of last month' s ACC long-distance bill and the Windstar bill so I can prepare an analysis," Scarduzio wrote to Picardi, in a letter dated Feb. 15 but did not include a year. "Call me and I'll pick up the bills when complete. When we looked at Windstar the last time, we could blow them away in cost."

Picardi said Friday that Deptford is still considering a a proposal from PaeTec. He was not certain whether an agreement with the company had been signed. He refused to return phone calls seeking comment about Scarduzio's dealings with the township.

Scarduzio did not respond to numerous requests, made over several days, for his comment on his relationship with PaeTec.

A Parking Authority source said that Scarduzio, working from his authority office, sells PaeTec's service to vendors who do business with the agency and has in the past used his former secretary to help. The source reported witnessing the activity.

"He sells it to vendors," said the source, who cited a fear of retaliation in requesting anonymity. "If they're there, he'll say, `I'm in the phone business, are you interested?' Almost all vendors there are using PaeTec."

A partial PaeTec client list shows that Waste Management and the New Jersey State Aquarium use PaeTec for their long- distance service. Both organizations do business with the Parking Authority.

Aquarium spokeswoman Vicki Scharfberg said PaeTec offered a rate 3 cents a minute lower than the other companies that bid on the contract.

She said she is unsure if Scarduzio had any involvement in bringing PaeTec to the table.

"I wouldn't say it is not how it got there," Scharfberg said. "We have an ongoing relationship with them."

PaeTec spokeswoman Jolanda Chesonis confirmed that Janet Scarduzio is an agent for the company and earns commission. She said that Anthony Scarduzio is not an employee.

The Parking Authority has been under investigation since at least November, when the state Division of Criminal Affairs issued a three-page subpoena ordering the agency to turn over all financial documents from 1995 to the present.

The subpoena requests items such as purchase and voucher records, contracts, bid proposals, specifications and all documents relating to the ethical duties and obligations of the Parking Authority commissioners and employees.

E.J. Miranda, a spokesman for the state Department of Community Affairs, said the Attorney General's Office is looking into Scarduzio's ties to PaeTec.

"Obviously if the Attorney General's Office is looking into it, the state is concerned," he said.

This is not the first time the Parking Authority has been under scrutiny. In 1994, the authority - led by then- executive director and city Democratic party chief Theodore Hinson - was taken over by the state Local Finance Board after running up a deficit of nearly $1 million in its $3 million budget.

The state ousted Hinson, put its own people in charge, and oversaw reforms that included abolition of costly perks such as cellular phone-equipped rental vehicles and posh office space in the Hudson Square building.

Three years later, with the authority running in the black, the Local Finance Board released the agency from its watch and authorized the board of commissioners to appoint Scarduzio, a veteran parking administrator.

The Parking Authority is in charge of 5,000 parking spots across the city.