Republican Assembly members Samuel Thompson and Amy Handlin are seeking their seventh and third terms, respectively, in the Nov. 3 elections. They are being challenged for their 13th District seats by Democrats Robert Brown and James Grenafege, and Sean Dunne, an independent.
Robert Brown Q: Do you support the Coalition on Affordable Housing in its current form? What, if any, changes do you propose?
Thompson: I certainly do not support it in its current form. In the latest round of requirements, what they put out was based on faulty data. In addition, in the construction of affordable housing, they should focus on areas where the jobs are and where there is mass transportation because we are talking about low-income people. Many of them don’t have cars. They need to relieve the burden they are imposing on municipalities.
Handlin: COAH has extended its regulatory power much further than was originally intended, and refuses to answer to the public. I am a sponsor of Assembly Bill 3570, which will provide us the opportunity to start from scratch in determining how to provide affordable housing in New Jersey.
Sean Dunne COAH’s third-round regulations have placed costly and unreasonable mandates on our towns. These rules will ultimately drive up our costs — and our taxes.
Grenafege: I am aligned with the state Supreme Court requirement for each municipality to provide a fair share of affordable housing, but I do not support COAH in its current form. I favor a regional and municipal approach and greater flexibility between municipalities to comply with both the letter and the spirit of the law. Our public servants need to be able to afford to live in the communities they serve, and our retired seniors and young adults should be able to afford housing that allows them to remain in New Jersey.
Brown: I would like housing to remain affordable for our young people that are now entering the job market.
Affordable housing is not synonymous with affirmative action or low-income housing. That is a misconception. Instead it’s about people looking to remain in neighborhoods and towns where they grew up with friends and family.
James Grenafege With that said, I would like the Legislature to rewrite the current COAH laws and regulations so as to not overburden a municipality with affordable housing obligations. COAH has revised the regulations to now triple the amount of affordable housing to be built in the state over the next nine years. That amount is too much, too soon.
Dunne: The Council on Affordable Housing represents another reason why New Jersey should integrate its many agencies and municipalities, rather than just consolidate them. COAH should be restructured so that actual local growth rates are incorporated into regional agreements. Furthermore, COAH should acknowledge the necessity of providing transport and access to jobs to new housing developments. We should aim to locate COAH projects near areas that are served by mass transit. Suburban sprawl and overdevelopment are not sustainable strategies and we must ensure that the objectives of COAH are aligned to this reality.
Amy Handlin Q: What can be done to battle the apparent culture of corruption that seems to plague this state?
Thompson: First thing we need to do is get our state Attorney General’s Office actively involved in the investigation and prosecution of what’s going on out there. The total number of charges brought by the Attorney General’s Office has been miniscule. At the same time, the U.S. Attorney’s Office arrested and convicted 130 people for corruption. Where was the state law when this was going on? We need to have more people out there from the state actively investigating.
We need to make the penalties associated with corruption more severe. We need to increase the penalties that are available. We need to have all contracts publicly bid and more of a crackdown on the wheeling and dealing and pay-to-play that occurs out there. There are so many loopholes that you can’t even believe it.
Sam Thompson Handlin: Corruption is one of the most serious endemic issues facing New Jersey. We must act to raise the bar on ethics and strengthen laws which have proven ineffective. I have a bill package that requires forfeiture of public office upon indictment. Like the Public Corruption Profiteering Penalty Act described above, these bills continue to hit corrupt officials where it hurts most: their wallets. Crooks would no longer be allowed to pay their legal bills with campaign funds. That money
would come from their pockets, the
very place lined with their ill-gotten gains. Upon conviction, they would be forced to reimburse taxpayers for the substantial costs of their prosecution.
Grenafege: It is not an apparent culture of corruption; it is a culture of corruption that is embedded in government at the state, county and local levels and in businesses that provide goods and services to government. Corruption costs taxpayers and business an estimated $1 billion a year. Legislation needs to be passed immediately that provides for significant prison time and retroactive loss of all pension and benefits entitlement. Technology needs to be applied to provide greater transparency so every citizen can see what is being done with tax dollars. Any private enterprise doing business at any level of government needs to adhere to a standardized ethics code.
Brown: I would like to see a new state constitution written for New Jersey to strengthen the laws against political corruption and improve the laws on ethics for office holders.
New Jersey should have an elected, not governor appointed, attorney general to independently enforce the laws of this state and root out political corruption at all levels of government.
Terms limits of a maximum of eight years should be imposed on any person elected to the position of governor, state Senate and Assembly. Those elected officials should become full time to avoid them holding other paid positions with county and municipal governments.
Dunne: We have to eliminate the Republican Democrat duopoly by breaking down the obstacles both parties enforce. This is a major priority, as both parties are rife with corruption and both parties enforce a corrupt system. We must also break down the abundance of municipalities and regulatory agencies that invite waste and corruption. New Jersey can no longer afford to have entrenched and entitled officeholders. Along with preventative measures, I will propose mandatory minimum sentences for corruption politicians. Q: New Jersey has accumulated billions of dollars in debt, property taxes have gone up and state aid to municipalities has shrunk. How do you plan to address these problems?
Thompson: We have to approach this by cutting spending. If we cut the spending, we will have more money available for property tax reduction. We saw the state budget grow over four years from $23 billion to $33 billion. Borrowing went from $16 billion to $46 billion to pay for all of this. We need to reverse the trend here and start cutting our spending.
Handlin: The only way to undo the damage to New Jersey is to force state government to live within its means. I am committed to the following changes: A constitutional amendment that would limit the growth of the state budget to the rate of inflation; requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to impose a new tax or raise an existing one; submitting all bond and borrowing proposals to voters for approval.
Grenafege: State spending along with salaries and benefits needs to be frozen and capped. A version of what is known as the Michigan plan, which essentially distributes education tax dollars equally per student based upon a statewide average, should be explored. School district redundancies need to be addressed through consolidation and shared services. Legislation is needed that requires public employees to pay 20 to 25 percent of health insurance premiums. Pension reform is desp erately needed.
Brown: I would impose a cap on all state, county and municipal budgets for a minimum of two years. All those levels of government would have to learn to operate within their frozen budget caps.
Government would have to learn to stretch the buck rather than passing he buck to its overburdened and overtaxed citizens.
Dunne: The one issue that drives New Jersey’s tax problem is the Republican Democrat duopoly. All inefficiency and waste is produced from there. I encourage residents to start the fight against this problem in our own district.
Question for challengers: If elected, what will be your top priority in improving the lives of your constituents?
Grenafege: I have priorities, not a single priority. Home and business tax relief and reform focused on property taxes is one priority. Small, honest government is another priority. Creating a 21st-century economy and jobs that build upon the unique heritage New Jersey has as a leader in research and development is a priority, as well. Addressing flood control and management along the Bayshore and minimizing the financial impact of the new FEMA flood control maps is a priority.
Brown: If elected, my top priority would be to change the current laws that deal with local property taxes.
I have a plan to significantly reduce the current property tax structure.
I invite readers to visit my website, www.assembly13.org to read about the tax plan and to also view my YouTube video that briefly outlines my plans for the Assembly in under three minutes.
Dunne: No taxation without democratic representation. It is no coincidence that New Jersey pays the highest property taxes in the nation, and is internationally known for its widespread corruption.. On a local level, I will fight against the liquefied natural gas terminals that are proposed off the Jersey coast. Question for incumbents: What achievements are you most proud of that aided your constituents?
Thompson: I was the prime sponsor of the original Kid Care Bill and the Family Care Bill which succeeded it. It provides health care coverage for 100,000 to 200,000 kids and families that couldn’t afford health insurance before.
I was the prime sponsor of a measure that doubles income eligibility for seniors to qualify for the property tax freeze program and of the program that provides assistance to seniors for prescriptions.
I’m most proud of, really, the constituent service provided by my office. If people in the area have a concern, we don’t refer them to anyone else — we resolve them. We also conduct mobile offices at senior centers throughout the district.
Handlin: I am most proud of the Public Corruption Profiteering Penalty Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Jon Corzine. This law imposes stiff and mandatory financial penalties on public officials found guilty of corruption. Lawmakers and public officials will be subject to fines — up to $500,000 — whenever they commit a crime in connection with the negotiation, award or performance of a government contract.