By: Vic Monaco
HIGHTSTOWN Republican Mayor Bob Patten and Borough Council candidate running mates Ron Niebo and David Keeler did not meet a state deadline for filing a campaign contribution disclosure form.
"We just sent that out today," Mr. Patten said Monday. "We were told we didn’t have to fill them out if our contributions didn’t reach the threshold. … We’re well underneath that."
Amy Davis, director of special programs for the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, said a pre-election report was due Oct. 10 but nothing was submitted by Messrs. Patten, Niebo and Keeler.
She provided a joint candidates form filed by Democratic mayoral candidate Walter Sikorski, which also covers running mates and Borough Councilmen Larry Quattrone and Dave Schneider, that was received Oct. 5. The joint form filed by Mr. Sikorski states, among other things, that the three men won’t exceed a total state threshold of $9,700 in contributions, after which more details are required, or more than $300 from one person or entity.
Ms. Davis said Mr. Patten did file a primary campaign contributions report in May that stated he would be spending under the $3,500 individual threshold. However, she said, that report was supposed to be followed up with others for the general election regardless of whether the threshold was going to be reached that are due Oct. 10, Oct. 27 and Nov. 27.
Ms. Davis said commission staff perform random audits and report such missed deadlines to the commission, which then decides whether an investigation is required. In addition, she said, residents can request such investigations.
Mayor Patten said he and his colleagues got the incorrect filing information from the local Republican Party, which misinterpreted the requirements.
Messrs. Niebo and Keeler did not return several messages seeking comment.
In related news, Ms. Davis said she could neither confirm nor deny receipt of a request for an investigation from Mr. Sikorski on a separate matter.
Mr. Sikorski recently provided a copy of an Oct. 12 letter asking the commission to investigate Democrats for Patten campaign signs with local businessman Jeff Bond’s name on them. He said he did so in light of the recent unanimous approval of Mr. Bond’s plans for a retail and office building on Mercer Street by the Planning Board, on which Messrs. Patten and Sikorski sit.
Mr. Bond has responded by saying the signs were paid for with personal funds and that he has made no direct contributions to Mr. Patten’s campaign.
If the commission has received the letter, it will be some time before any potential investigation. Ms. Davis said such requests are reviewed on a quarterly basis and that was just done in October.
Investigations, she said, can result in a decision of no further action, a public reprimand or a monetary penalty.

