The former head of the Hoboken Parking Utility, who authorities say conspired with a Toms River man to steal coins from meters, has been indicted by a state grand jury.

John P. Corea, 45, used his position as head of the municipal parking authority in Hudson County to skim more than $600,000 from meters over the course of nearly three years beginning in June 2005, according to authorities. The indictment, handed up Friday, charges him with first-degree counts of conspiracy and money laundering as well as official misconduct, theft and misapplication of government property.

It's supposed to be an innovative addition to the way government contracts are awarded, but Hudson County's first attempt at using it has run afoul of politics.

It's called competitive contracting, and it falls in between the awarding of no-bid contracts and conventional bidding, under which contracts are supposed to be awarded to the low bidder, even if another firm might provide better overall value despite a higher price.