BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer
Joseph Sheridan KEYPORT – Councilman Joseph Sheridan submitted a pay-to-play ordinance Jan. 23 aimed at reforming the way the borough does business with redevelopment contractors.
If enacted, the ordinance would ban companies interested in borough redevelopment jobs from making political contributions to candidates running for office. Sheridan said his proposed ordinance is based on one already passed in Red Bank, but Mayor Robert Bergen disagreed, saying Red Bank’s ordinance is different.
Bergen called the suggestion “a good idea” but opted not to act on the proposal that night, instead moving it to the finance committee for further review.
“Mayor Bergen said he doesn’t think
it has any particular bearing on Keyport because we haven’t passed the area in need of rehabilitation [designation] yet,” Sheridan said on Monday.
The new designation would allow the council, not the Planning Board, final say over what can be built in certain areas of town. Meant to speed up the process of revamping rundown parts of town, the designation does not allow for eminent domain and allows the borough to offer short-term tax abatements to qualified property owners willing to rehabilitate their property.
Bergen said he wants to wait until he finds out if the new designation is adopted before acting on the pay-to-play ordinance. In the meantime, Bergen said he is willing to consider a general pay-to-play ordinance that would apply to all companies doing any kind of business with Keyport.
“It was referred to the finance and redevelopment committee,” Bergen said on Monday. “We’re having them take a look at various ordinances.”
He added, “If we choose not to do it, we don’t want to wind up spending money on legal fees for an ordinance that won’t take effect.”
Back on Dec. 6, Paul Ricci of T&M Associates presented a report regarding the borough’s interest in becoming an area in need of rehabilitation. Although no investigation was necessary to apply for the designation, the borough hired T&M to investigate if Keyport meets the state requirements. According T&M’s report, the borough is qualified.
Of due note, T&M Associates, Red Bank, donated a total of $4,800 to Bergen’s recent mayoral campaign. Would this report have to be thrown out if the pay-to-play ordinance were to pass?
“It wouldn’t be retroactive,” Bergen said.
At press time, the Unified Planning Board was scheduled to discuss the issue of adopting the area in need of rehabilitation designation at last night’s meeting.
After that meeting, the council will have a better indication as to what kind of pay-to-play ordinance they should consider, Bergen explained.