Monroe’s mayor and his web of connections.
By: Hank Kalet
I was planning to write a bit of commentary on Monroe Mayor Richard Pucci explaining how the rather unseemly relationship he has with developer Jack Morris made him one of the poster boys for pay-to-play in New Jersey.
I was planning to say, basically, that the various connections, while legal, certainly create the appearance that the mayor has far too many bosses to serve, which cannot be a good thing for residents of Monroe.
I was going to call for changes in the way we pay for elections and a ban on elected public officials working as political consultants for political action committees. And I was going to ask the mayor to pick his boss whether that were to the political action committee he had done work for, the people of Monroe, the Middlesex County Democrats, etc.
I was going to do all this, but Mayor Pucci has beaten me to it.
The mayor announced today that he was disbanding his consulting firm and would no longer be doing business for New Directions. He also announced that he would recuse himself from any Planning Board application made by Jack Morris.
And, just for good measure, he called for a pilot public financing program for local races in Monroe.
So where does this leave us?
The devil is in the details on the funding program, of course, but anything that attempts to get private money especially money from developers and professional firms doing business at the local level out of the process is worth a try.
And given the obscene amount of money the Democrats raise in Monroe, this may just work to the benefit of Monroe voters.
None of this changes the fact, however, that the system of campaign financing in New Jersey is a giant conflict-of-interest waiting to happen. There is pay-to-play (when contractors or developers make contributions and then get jobs or project approvals in return). There are absurd imbalances Monroe Democrats out-raised their opponents by $324,000 to, well, pennies (South Brunswick Democrats have a similar advantage). And there is a huge bias against independents.
All of this is bad for voters because it limits their choices, makes accountability difficult, if not impossible, and leads to a culture of apathy and disgust. After all, if you believe the people on the ballot and who hold office are looking to pay back their big contributors, you have no incentive to get involved.
The Pucci scenario was especially disturbing because of how blatant it was. Mayor Pucci worked as a political consultant for former state Sen. John Lynch’s New Directions PAC. Sen. Lynch and a business partner are allegedly under investigation by a federal grand jury. Jack Morris a developer with significant interests in Monroe, including a proposal to build a minor-league stadium, retail and housing on Route 33 is a major donor to New Directios. Mr. Morris also is a major donor to the county Democratic organization, which Mayor Pucci is temporarily heading, and the local Democratic organization that Mayor Pucci has chaired for more than two decades.
The web of connections, first revealed in a story in The Asbury Park Press on Sunday and outlined by several other papers since including ours, was just too much to ignore.
In response, The Asbury Park Press and The Home New Tribune both called for him to either resign from the Planning Board, cut ties with his consulting firm or step down as mayor. The township Republicans issued a somewhat convoluted and angry press release calling for him to resign.
And I spent the week debating with myself the best approach. Ultimately, the mayor’s announcement today proves he is politically slicker and politically smarter than most politicians in the region.
My column was posted to Common Dreams News Center.
I don’t normally link to The Home News Tribune, but Charles Paolino is right on target with this column.