Community Corner

Democratic Township Committee Candidate Still Pushing For Amended Pay-to-Play Ordinance

Ed. note : This letter to the editor was written by Democratic Township Committee candidate Gary Vaccaro

The Birdsall scandal has clearly shown that pay-to-play political corruption is alive and well in New Jersey and the need for stricter pay-to-play laws is evident. Governor Christie, who has advocated for pay-to-play reform, has called the practice of pay-to-play the "hidden tax” to the public because when contracts are awarded to political allies and not the most qualified business, it ends up costing you the taxpayer.  

To initiate pay-to-play reform within Lacey Township, I drafted a reform ordinance which was introduced for adoption by Committee members Sean Sharkey and Helen DelaCruz.

Find out what's happening in Laceywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Regrettably, the Republican members of the Committee chose to place their party and their campaign coffers ahead of the interests of the townspeople they represent and voted against this ordinance.  Sadly these very same Republican Committeemen are the primary beneficiaries of the current broken system and the loopholes that allow money to flow into their campaign funds.

The ordinance closed an exploited loophole under current law and sets reasonable and consistent monetary limits on campaign contributions from businesses seeking to secure contracts with Lacey Township.  Any firm wishing to do business with the Township would be restricted to a $300 annual contribution to Committee candidates even if the contract is awarded under "Fair and Open" competitively bid process.

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Currently Lacey Townships follows State  pay-to-play law  which allows  businesses to donate more than $300 as long as they are contracted under fair and open process.  The fair and open exemption has been documented in the September 2011 NJ State Comptroller’s report on pay-to-play weaknesses as a major loophole in the law that needs to be addressed.

In opposition, Mayor Most stated the current process is working fine and we don’t need to change it.  The problem with that position is that the current process only works for the politicians that receive big donations and the businesses that receive taxpayer contracts in return for giving those donations.

My proposed ordinance does not impact the township’s ability to hire qualified vendors. It would only impact the ability of our politicians to accept donations from businesses hoping to influence the awarding of public contracts.

The Lacey Township attorney, Gilmore and Monahan, reviewed the proposed ordinance and offered a very disturbing and questionable critique against adoption.

The Township Attorney stated that the fair and open process works, which is in complete contradiction with the State Comptroller report.  The attorney argued that the pay-to-play reform ordinance should not be passed because it would confuse vendors and vendors would only find a way around the limits on political contributions.

The attorney obviously believes that the highly paid professionals that pursue contracts in Lacey Township are easily confused, yet are clever enough to figure out ways to get around the ordinance. The attorney also appears to have little faith in the effectiveness of the rule of law.

This opinion shouldn’t be surprising; however, as the law firm of Gilmore and Monahan has a direct conflict of interest on the subject of campaign finance reform.  This law firm, along with George Gilmore’s PAC, are the biggest contributors to Republican candidates in Lacey Township.

If this ordinance was implemented their campaign contributions would need to be significantly reduced or Gilmore and Monahan would be excluded from doing any future work in Lacey Township.

I believe this pay-to-play ordinance is an important component of building confidence and trust in our government.  It would not only aid in eliminating the “hidden tax” to our citizens, it would serve to establish a policy to minimize the potential for the improper influence of campaign donations on our local officials.

I will continue to pursue passing of this important ordinance because I want a Township Committee that acts in the best interests of the people that elect them, not in the interests of the highest political contributor.  I believe it is wrong for our elected officials to pay off their political debts with taxpayer funded public contracts.



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