Editorial: Good reform should go a step further

EDITORIAL: Put all public service contracts out to bid.

   South Brunswick Democrats set another record for political fund-raising in 2002.
   The candidates garnered $123,994 in campaign contributions for the 2002 campaign, about $20,000 more than in 2000.
   The bulk of the money came from the Middlesex County Democratic Organization — as it has every year since 1996, when the party took over the majority on the then-Township Committee.
   Critics say the money comes with strings — in the form of contracts handed out to firms that have made major contributions to the county organization. The Democrats deny this, saying the firms they hire are the best available and that they do top-notch work for the township.
   But one thing cannot be argued, however. The firms doing much of the work in South Brunswick these days have been major contributors to the county or local Democrats.
   That’s why Township Councilman Ted Van Hessen wants South Brunswick to follow four other central New Jersey towns in adopting rules that would prevent the township from awarding contracts to political contributors without an open-bidding process.
   Mr. Van Hessen is concerned that these contracts — in particular, to auditor Ernst & Young, engineering firms CMA and Alaimo and insurance consultant BGIA — are more expensive than they could be because the cost of making political contributions becomes part of those firms’ overhead.
   The ordinance being proposed would require competitive bidding for companies seeking municipal contracts for professional services if they have financially supported political parties, candidates or committees during the prior two years. It also would prohibit professional companies that hold no-bid contracts from making political contributions and would allow the township to revoke contracts if the proposed rules were violated.
   It is similar to legislation being proposed at the state level by Common Cause, a campaign-finance reform group, that would cover state contracts. Gov. James McGreevey said he would veto any legislation that did not also cover municipal and county contracts.
   The basic idea behind the proposal is sound. By opening these consulting contracts to bid, the township would be ensuring that the contracts it arranges are at the best available price.
   But we are concerned that its execution could lead to unintended logistical problems and could be unfair to smaller firms that have made political contributions in other municipal races in other counties but do not contribute in South Brunswick or to county or state candidates or parties.
   We would address these concerns by amending Mr. Van Hessen’s proposal to require that all professional-service contracts — except for attorneys — be put out for public bid.
   This would accomplish Mr. Van Hessen’s primary and worthy goal — removing the influence that campaign contributions appear to play in the contract process — while presenting a clear and straight-forward approach to contracting.