Ledger urges voters to back municipal question.
Lawrence Township voters have an opportunity Tuesday to
select a president, choose a congressman and decide whether the township
will have a stronger campaign finance reform ordinance. We won’t tell you
who we think should be leader of this country or even who should be a
representative in the 12th Congressional District. But we certainly will
offer our opinion on the local municipal ballot question.
Under state law, a governing body may award a no-bid
contract to professionals, such as attorneys, architects, engineers and
planners. Pay-to-play ordinances ban or restrict the amount of money that
those professionals could contribute to a political campaign. The idea is to
prevent those professionals from obtaining lucrative contracts in exchange
for political campaign contributions.
The township adopted an ordinance earlier this year, but a
petition of nearly 700 residents guaranteed voters have the choice of
adopting a stronger version next week. The current Lawrence version uses the
concept of "net value," meaning the difference between the cost to produce
an event and the money it generates. Meanwhile the proposed ordinance
considers a $100 ticket to the Mayor’s Ball as a $100 donation, regardless
of the cost of the event. The other difference is the county contribution,
which the current ordinance does not regulate, while the ballot ordinance
does not allow professionals to donate to the county political committees
and still seek township contracts.
We believe campaign finance reform laws needs to be
tackled at the state and federal level and public financing should be
considered. In the meantime, the proposed ordinance would closely mirror the
pay-to-play law that Gov. James E. McGreevey recently created via executive
order. (Common Cause New Jersey had a hand in crafting both laws.) The
Assembly approved that legislation Monday and Senate President Richard R.
Codey said he also was in favor of the pay-to-play law. Approval of the
proposed local ordinance by township voters Tuesday could be viewed as a
statement that Lawrence residents support real reform at higher levels of
government.
Regardless, we support the concept of campaign finance
reform as a way to keep the public’s trust. While any local effort is merely
a bandage over the larger problem, it’s hard to argue against the strongest
bandage available.
Therefore, we urge all residents to vote "yes" on the
municipal ballot question calling for the new pay-to-play ordinance.