Mayor Richard Pucci said he wants to establish a ‘higher standard.’
By: Leon Tovey
MONROE As part of an effort to silence criticism of his paid political consulting work, Mayor Richard Pucci moved this week to launch a pilot program in the township to look at ethics and campaign-finance reform.
The mayor announced the program May 12, less than a week after articles published in several Gannett New Jersey newspapers and the Star-Ledger focussed on his position as a paid consultant for New Directions in Responsible Leadership, the political action committee founded by former state Sen. John Lynch.
The articles tied the PAC and the mayor to developer Jack Morris, who donated money to New Directions while the mayor’s one-man consulting firm, Professional Management Consultants, worked for the PAC.
"I’ve always followed the law and held myself to a very high ethical standard," Mayor Pucci said Monday. "I’ve hidden nothing, always listed these things in the proper places but it’s clear that there is a perception issue here and there needs to be some higher standard.
"That’s what this panel will be about establishing a higher standard that’s workable," he added.
The mayor, who also announced May 12 that he would resign as a paid political consultant for New Directions and recuse himself from future votes on or discussions of Mr. Morris’ projects, said he envisioned the program as a seven-member panel that would examine the political system in Monroe with an eye toward broader pay-to-play reform.
Among those the mayor said he would like to see involved are: former Township Council members Lee Farber (a Democrat) and Dave Rothman (a Republican); retired state Superior Court Judge Alan Rockoff, who lives in the Regency planned retirement community; and representatives from Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics and Citizens’ Campaign, a citizens-rights advocacy group founded by Harry Pozycki.
Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute, said Monday that she had not been contacted about the program. While Eagleton has a history of taking part in discussions about political reform, Dr. Mandel said she’s not sure whether it would take part in the mayor’s proposed program.
"It really depends on what the request is and what’s involved," she said.
Heather Taylor, a spokeswoman for Citizens’ Campaign, said Tuesday that the organization had been contacted about the program and would be open to working with the township, though she said she couldn’t yet comment on specifics.
"It’s very preliminary at this point," Ms. Taylor said. "We do have a menu of local ordinances we’ve crafted on the issue of pay-to-play and we have used that with other towns in the past, so that’s a possibility, but we can’t say what (Monroe) needs at this point."
Mayor Pucci said additional pay-to-play legislation in the township is one possible outcome of the panel, which he hopes to convene in the next 30 days, with an eye toward issuing an advisory report in 60 to 90 days.

