BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer
NORTH BRUNSWICK — Pay-to-play and ethics reform questions dominated the Township Council candidate debate.
During the debate, Republicans Gregg Rubenstein and Pat Melanson squared off against Democrats Ralph Andrews and Cathy Nicola on ethics reform in the local government, a hot topic at council meetings for the last two years.
Ethics reform aims to eliminate any possible corruption and public cynicism that could arise when the timing between contributions and the issuance of public contracts for goods and services closely coincides. It also strives to negate any appearance that individuals can buy contracts with the township through campaign contributions.
In May, years worth of meetings and discussion about passing a pay-to-play ordinance ended when the all-Democratic council voted against considering an ordinance that would have put $400 annual limits on donations to mayoral and council candidates from businesses or professionals who might enter into contracts with the municipality. At that time, Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack said the township would wait to see what the state would do regarding pay-to-play, since Gov. James E. McGreevey asked the state Legislature to pass an ethics reform bill by July 1.
In the meantime, after many residents urged the council to move forward with its own reform, the council did vote unanimously to approve two disclosure ordinances.
The first requires developers, seeking approval from the Planning or Zoning boards, to disclose political contributions. Developers and any professional testifying on their behalf now must provide a list contributions made to candidates, local officials, local and county parties, and political action committees for posting on the township Web site.
Under the provisions of the second ordinance, anyone awarded a no-bid contract in excess of $26,000 must also disclose their political contributions.
On June 16, McGreevey signed into law an ethics and campaign finance reform package that he said provides for a more accountable and more transparent government. All municipalities in the state fall subject to the bill’s stipulations.
Among the provisions that most affect government at the local level, the ethics reform package prohibits officials from awarding no-bid contracts to their campaign contributors. This component also prohibits no-bid contract holders from contributing to government officials they have contracts with. Politicians will also have to report contributions of $300 or more to the Election Commission, lowering the report requirement from $400.
Melanson said he and his running mate “have been pushing for a comprehensive pay-to-play ordinance within the township for quite some time.”
“We’ve attended numerous council meetings and have tried to push the mayor and council to enact something. All the council did was pass something wholly ineffective.”
Melanson also called the state’s reform package “totally ineffective.”
“It doesn’t limit who can work for the state or municipal governments,” Melanson said, “and any of the other stipulations are guidelines the state’s Election Commission enforces already.”
The Republicans said if elected, they would continue to push for proper ethics reform through a comprehensive pay-to-play ordinance and peer review of all professional service contracts.
“Our opposition offers no such ideas and cannot because they’re controlled by the Democratic machine,” Rubenstein said. “Just look at their fliers, which are paid for by the Middlesex County Democratic Organization.”
Because the Middlesex County Democratic Organization is headquartered in Metuchen, Rubenstein said, “Who are these people and what are their concerns with our town? They’re not the concerns of this town, and they’re people like developer Jack Morris who contributed $140,000 to the county organization already this year.”
In response, Andrews said, “What my opponents talk about is rhetoric and I don’t know if they’re committed to any of the things they say.”
“Pay-to-play is a complex issue that’s not cut and dry about who gives you the money to finance your campaign,” Andrews said. “If we set up rules to limit one group of contributors from donating money, the money will come from another group.”
Andrews said McGreevey’s bill allows for an experiment in 2005, in which two legislative districts will rely solely on public, rather than private, financing.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how this experiment goes,” Andrews said.
The Democrats said, ultimately, some form of pay-to-play ordinance should be enacted in the township. They also said they would not favor no-bid contracts.
“I work in the construction industry and in our industry we bid all of the work,” Andrews said. “This helps equalize pricing and makes sure customers get the possible prices.”
Despite not favoring no-bid contracts, the Democrats said they would still ensure the township received the highest quality service from the best qualified professionals.
“We have to be cautious to ensure the services are still good at the lowest price,” Andrews said.
Rubenstein said no-bid contracts go to the heart of a quality pay-to-play ordinance.
“If an individual or business donates money to a candidate and gets a job, that’s a no-bid contract,” Rubenstein said. “Look at our township today, the township attorney’s firm and the township’s engineer donated several thousands of dollars to the Democratic campaign last year. Are we sure we’re getting optimum services at the lowest prices from these people? It bothers me these contracts are not based on quality, but on donations and we would eliminate that.”
New Jersey Election Commission reports filed by township Democrats on Oct. 4 state Andrews and Nicola raised $27,000 for their campaign, of which $17,000 came from the Middlesex County Democratic Organization.
ELEC reports state Melanson and Rubenstein raised $17,000 for their campaign.
Democrats said they did not and would not take any money from developers for their campaign.
“If we found a developer contributed to our campaign, we would return the money,” Nicola said.
The Republicans admitted to taking some money from Halpern Inc., a local developer, but that the funding would not influence their decision-making processes, if elected.