District includes West Windsor and Plainsboro
By: Paul Koepp
The 14th District legislative candidates agree that the public’s faith in elected officials in the state is at a low point, although they have different ideas about what kinds of ethics reforms should be pursued to restore that faith.
The 14th District includes West Windsor and Plainsboro.
Republican Assemblyman and Senate candidate Bill Baroni said U.S. District Attorney Christopher Christie and state Attorney General Anne Milgram have done a good job of cracking down on corrupt officials, but the state Legislature could do more.
Mr. Baroni said that to get big money out of politics, the Legislature should ban dual office holding immediately instead of in 2008, broaden the clean elections program, and enact tougher pay-to-play bans.
"We’ve taken a good series of steps to end the culture of corruption, but we still have not gone far enough," he said.
Mr. Baroni, of Hamilton, also said that state Sens. Sharpe James (D-Essex) and Wayne Bryant (D-Camden), who have been indicted on corruption charges, should step down. He proposed legislation last year that would allow the governor to suspend an indicted official and name a temporary replacement.
"You don’t want someone accused of political corruption sitting in the job that allowed them to be corrupt," Mr. Baroni said.
Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, of Plainsboro, who is seeking re-election, agreed that Sen. James and Sen. Bryant should resign.
She also said that while she has sponsored many ethics reform bills, there were things the Legislature could do to address not only the reality, but also the appearance of corruption.
Ms. Greenstein said that if the clean elections program of public financing for campaigns is extended throughout the state, it will change the political environment in New Jersey.
"Pay-to-play would go away and it would change the way politics is done," she said. She said she wished the recent ban on dual office holding were tougher, "but half a loaf is better than no loaf."
Democratic Senate candidate Seema Singh, of South Brunswick, said she supported recently adopted legislation that would criminalize the misuse of public funds and allow prosecutors to seek civil damages to recover public funds diverted by corrupt officials.
"I believe the state should have every reasonable civil and criminal tool at its disposal to deter and prosecute wrongdoing by public officials," Ms. Singh said. She too said that Sen. James and Sen. Bryant should resign.
Republican Assembly candidate Adam Bushman, of Jamesburg, said measures should be taken to restore public confidence in elected officials. He said convicted officials "should have to give up their pensions and any ill-gotten gains," saying that the current laws are a little too liberal.
Mr. Bushman agreed that clean elections are a key part of ethics reform.
"It’s human nature that when someone hands you a check for $5,000, you feel like you owe them something," he said. "It makes you wonder why someone would spend $2 million for (a legislative) office that pays $49,000."
Republican Assembly candidate and Hamilton Councilman Tom Goodwin said indicted officials should be suspended without pay and prevented from voting on legislation, although he did not call on Sen. James and Sen. Bryant to resign.
"The public wants to be able to trust elected officials because you have their purse strings," he said. "You should treat public funds as if they were your own."
Mr. Goodwin also said he would push for ethics reform at the local level because "some municipalities are very slow in adopting statewide standards and there shouldn’t be different rules for different folks."
Democratic Assembly candidate Wayne DeAngelo, of Hamilton, said officials should not have to resign until they’ve gone through a "fair and due process."
He said he didn’t want to have a "holier than thou attitude" because everyone makes mistakes. "I don t have all the answers," he said.
However, Mr. DeAngelo said that when officials misuse public funds, "it puts a black eye on people who want to do good."
He said that on the campaign trail, residents he speaks with are more concerned with education and local property taxes than ethics reform, and making sure that spending for things like the School Construction Corp. is transparent and officials are accountable. More effort should be made to educate the public about the importance of ethics in government, he said.
"The clean elections program is a great idea, but people had no idea what was going on," Mr. DeAngelo said.

