You Go Girl!
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/24/06
7 NEW COMMITTEES: $55,100 contributed by county contractors
CRITICS: Freeholder Little spurns donation; Handlin speaks out
GOP exploits pay-to-play loophole
BY BOB CULLINANE
STAFF WRITER
The Monmouth County Republican Organization has created seven new political committees that one state lawmaker says appear to be designed specifically to circumvent New Jersey's strict new pay-to-play law.
And a Monmouth County freeholder — newcomer Anna Little, a Republican — has refused to accept a campaign contribution from one of the newly formed GOP committees, saying to do so would "violate the spirit" of the pay-to-play law.
Little said she returned a $2,600 check from the Holmdel Committee For Good Government on Monday because "I was unsure of the origin of the funds in the account" and "I don't care to be involved in a scandal."
The Holmdel committee is one of the seven GOP municipal political committees, all with the same treasurer and mailing address, that were established in October. The pay-to-play law took effect Jan. 5.
The law was designed to restrict the amount of campaign contributions that businesses holding government contracts make to candidates and political parties, in some cases banning the contributions altogether.
All seven of the new GOP committees have received contributions from companies or individuals holding large Monmouth County contracts.
Of the $67,595 contributed to the committees' accounts, at least $55,100, or 81 percent, has come from contract holders, according to filings with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.
Such an arrangement "is the political equivalent of having offshore bank accounts," said Assemblywoman Amy H. Handlin, R-Monmouth, a former freeholder who stepped down Jan. 24.
Handlin said the new GOP committees are proof of a serious loophole in the new pay-to-play law, permitting political contributions to be rerouted, or "wheeled," from committees to committees, or to candidates.
"The new (pay-to-play) law sounds good and feels good, but it's a systematic statewide shell game," Handlin said.
Fredrick P. Niemann, chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Organization, said Wednesday that he was unaware of the existence of the seven new GOP committees.
However, Freeholder Little said Niemann telephoned her Tuesday after learning that she refused the contribution from the Holmdel committee.
"Fred tried to convince me to accept the money," Little said of that conversation.
Josh Elkes, finance chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Organization, said he was aware of the seven GOP committees but would not comment further about why they were established or how the funds would be used.
Terence M. Wall, a Holmdel committeeman who is one of several people seeking a GOP nomination for county freeholder this year, called the new committees "a matter of concern."
"Monmouth County citizens want to see an end to pay-to-play and the movement of funds through various PACs (political action committees)," he said. "It's time for it to stop."
A single treasurer
The seven municipal GOP committees created in October are: Aberdeen Committee for Good Government, Holmdel Committee For Good Government, Howell Committee for Good Government, Interlaken Committee for Good Government, Long Branch Committee for Good Government, Neptune Committee for Good Government and Union Beach Committee for Good Government.
The treasurer for all seven is Glenn Hopler of the Lincroft section of Middletown, and the mailing address for all is a post office box in Shrewsbury.
Hopler, who could not be reached for comment, also is the treasurer of the Monmouth County GOP Leadership PAC, which was established Dec. 29 with an initial deposit of $7,200.
That PAC received funds from a $750-per-plate reception in January, which was hosted by Niemann. Niemann said he did not know how much money was raised at the event.
"I don't know what PACs we have or how much is in them," he said.
Frederick M. Herrmann, executive director of ELEC, said the new Leadership PAC has not yet registered with the commission. He said a PAC must register if it expects to spend $4,300 in a calendar year, or within 10 days of spending $4,300.
It is not clear if the new PAC has made such an expenditure. If it has, but did not register with ELEC, it is subject to a fine of $6,000, Herrmann said.
Where money came from
Herrmann said he could not comment on specifics about the seven new committees.
"But clearly," he said, "there would be no point in having contribution limits if you set up, say, five committees and they're all collecting money and it's all being coordinated by one person."
He said state election law does not forbid the same person from acting as treasurer of several party committees or PACs, but such a scenario "could be an indicator that (the committees) are connected. And generally speaking, that would be a problem."
Among the largest contributors to the seven committees are three engineering firms that together were paid more than $3.7 million by Monmouth County in 2005, according to financial records. The firms are:
Birdsall Engineering, which gave $29,900 to the committees. In 2005, Birdsall was paid approximately $2.8 million by Monmouth County, according to the county financial records.
French & Parrello Associates, which gave $10,000. In 2005, it was paid approximately $475,000 by the county.
T&M Associates, which gave $5,000. In 2005, T&M was paid approximately $490,000 by the county.
Congratulations Freeholder Little! You truly are a different kind of politician than we have been used to here in New Jersey
Let Me Count the Ways
1 day ago
Posts
13 comments:
I knew there was a reason I supported this woman! Congratulations for leading the way, Anna!
Let's also not forget the Howell CITIZENS for Good Government who accepted a donation for sponsorship of their golf outing from AST Development while AST was trying to get a zone change through the Planning Board Master Plan Committee that would have allowed high density residential complexes in the Highway Development and Special Economic Zones.
The chairs of those clubs are sure going to have some explaining to do.
3 of the 7 clubs were in Handlin's district. You're telling me she was deaf, dumb and blind to what was going on? You're telling me the funds being established in those towns didn't in some capacity help her in her assembly campaign, even if it wasn't a direct monetary contribution? (i.e. money to those local groups, them sending out mailers to vote Republican, etc.) C'mon. Give me a break. After-the-fact Amy or Hypocrite Handlin. Take your pick.
Anna's the real star in this. It took a lot of guts to do what she did -- turning down the money and all.
Re: Fred' quote -- he's either an idiot or a liar. He either is a horrible chairman and didn't have a clue what was going on in his own county or he helped orchestrate this entire thing.
I'm hearing Anna was misquoted regarding the phone call with Fred.
The call encouraging her to keep the money came from Josh, not from Fred.
However, it is not realistic to believe that Fred had no knowledge of the committees or the accounts.
Jackie, you might be right about Amy, but I'm not willing to rush to judgement. I'm sure your old friend under the clown are scowering the ELEC reports.
"Ronald Reagan" has been very quiet lately. Like for a month.
Honest Abe said...
""Ronald Reagan" has been very quiet lately. Like for a month. "
I think RR's last post was my love note.
I've set it before on other blogs, but I'll say it again: I never had a problem with Handline, despite my former boss' issues with her, until one particular incident.
Ms. Handlin made statements in print about my publisher that I knew, based on what I had seen first hand, to be completely untrue. It was the first time I saw what I knew personally to be an out-right lie in print and presented as truth.
I understand that people will tell white lies, exaggerate or otherwise play with rhetoric in politics. Based on what I knew of the situation--and I knew a lot--she out right lied and I have absolutelyno tolerance for that.
I believe she'll do anything and everything to get ahead, no matter how many bodies she has to step on. She was very lucky the APP was as gentle with her as they were. (Remember the 'Club Monmouth' she was conspicuously not a part of? Remember the 15 YEARS she was in office in freehold and she never murmured a word about corruption.)
I just hope that she'll tend to her entire district and not just Middletown while she's in office.
Yes, Dems wheel just as much as R's, I have no doubt. The creation of 7 accounts in this case was obscene. That's not to say that accepting money from Norcross is ever beyond reproach for any Dems in this area.
I like both Steve Corodemus and Sean Kean and I'm glad they won. I was a bit torn on the 12th District race because I believed all four candidates had the constituents in mind.
Anywho, I'm not a journalist anymore, which is why I can voice my opinions a tad more colorfully than before. I'm just an interested observer these days.
We'll choose to disagree about Ms. Handlin. I personally think her criticisms only arose when she started posturing herself for an assembly run.
What I meant by the word "obscene" was basically that it was embarrassingly obvious and outright stupid to make a spectacle of flouting the pay-to-play loophole.
Republicans used to have one PAC, and I've heard that the Dems have one too. Now we hear the R's have over 7.
Yes, the statehouse Dems virtually assured that such a loophole would exist, but local officials can make tougher pay-to-play laws and close the loophole around these parts. Might not be a bad thing for Anna to work to enact and then run on.
I do work for NJ.com now, but not in any reporting capacity. I still plan to write about local news and happenings on my blog though.
I have been a tad to flip lately but I'm kind of opinionated and it's freeing to be able to express that now.
I have a great deal of respect for most Mon. Rep. and Dems. I just think there are certain rotten apples in both parties.
The development deals have to stop, eminent domain abuse has to stop, the bonding for every expenditure under the sun has to stop. All we're doing is digging a giant hole, and I'm particularly concerned about it because people my age are going to be the ones paying for it later (that is, if Jon Corzine hasn't taxed us all out of the state by then).
People tend to forget the history of Town Center.
The planned development designation was forced upon the property by the township over a decade ago. Mr. A. was so angry he was talking about suing the town. The town planner explained in detail the nature of a town center, i.e. that it's a type of development integrating many uses in hopes of reducing sprawl.
Mr. A. was advised by township leaders to "buy more land" to make it happen. He was told to get the project rolling and that was done, with the family spending millions in planning to make that happen.
At some point point Mr. A and Peter Carton had a falling out. Rumor had it that CCOM was operating in part thanks to Carton's help. Now one of the CCOM leaders sits on the Planning Board and another sits on the Township Committee.
The township that initially saddled the Azzolinas with the designation ran for the hills.
Do I think things could have been handled differently on both sides? Yes, I do. Do I think Town Center was some secret development deal gone bad? No, I don't. Contrary to popular belief Mr. A does care deeply for Middletown. The family spent a lot of time trying to cull the best ideas in modern planning for a development designation that was, in fact, placed upon them. Lest we forget, this is America, not China, and private land owners do reserve the right to build on their land if the proposal fits within the zoning.
Commericial development makes sense for that site. Housing on a commercial highway doesn't. Housing pulls in a quick buck before taxing our roads our school systems, our infrastructure, etc., etc. Commercial ratables are necessary to sustain a town. Commercial doesn't provide as quick a fix as the housing solution. I just don't know how any planner in good conscience could say that housing on a commercial highway is a good idea.
Amy jumped on a bandwagon when it was looking good so she could further her career and grab some headlines, the same as she did to Ed Stominski and Harry Larrison, just as he was fresh in his grave.
She claimed to be distant from all the corruption, deals, etc. at the same time she, like the other freeholders, was using Tony Palughi to put up her campaign signs. She allowed a municipal employee to work on her campaign months before she had a vote on his job. This was at a time she knew he was a no-show employee and was likely working on her campaign on county time. Where were her ethics and integrity then?
The woman isn't innocent of all that went on around her or with her. She's just better at the PR.
I agree wholehardely that use of these packs is to get around the pay to play ordinances and I do not like it. Further the whole thing was handled abysmally. I mean does anyone believe Fred has no knowledge and how stupid was it to have the same treasurer for every account. Then there is todays quote "al Quada" please Fred that is amateur night.
Here is my question?
What is the alternative. Campaigns cost money? The Democrats wheeled tremendous amounts of money into Monmouth County in the last election. This is not the only County that has this system set up and I am sure it has been done by both parties. (how about investigating that you journalists out there,that is if it is not too much work) The 11th distrcit race for Assembly unfortunatly proved you can not raise money by small donations.
So before we criticize lets come up with suggestions about how we should finance campaigns under the current system. Is unilateral disarmament the answer?
What we need is an honest debate on how the system works and how it can be impproved. Unfortunatly the press refuses to adress the issue as anything other then a holy crusade. This makes an reasoned discussion almost imposssible.
Second point. It is no secret the prevailing opinion is that this was delivered to the press by John and Mary Fran Lane. They turned on Bill Dowd and now it appears that they have turned on Fred. They bite the hand that feeds them by bad mouthing everyone and then they are suprised when they are cut off. So this is there little way of getting revenge? Of course when Mary Fran was in the Chairmans good graces she had absolutly no problem facilitating these types of transactions.
While the bad motives of the whistle blowers do not excuse the people who did this I think it is important the whole party understand what has happened here.
whoever it was they did not report this because they believe in good government.
1) The history stands on that and I believe several articles appeared in the APP regarding the township's push to change the zoning.
I remember Middletown Planner Tony Mercantante's wife signing the pro-Town Square and saying, "Well, it was my husband's idea."
It wasn't the Azzolina's who put forward the idea for the town center. It came from the town.
2) Yes open space is ideal, but how well does open space or a park on a highway actually work? I don't know of one person who actually spends time enjoying the beauty of Bicentennial Park, do you? And, who is anyone to tell a private citizen what or he or she should or should not do with their land?
I think it's pretty unreasonable to ask anyone to give up land valued at God-knows how many millions of dollars to make a park on the highway. They've owned the land for decades. Let's be realistic here. Would you be willing to give up your home or property you own at no cost or far below its assessed value for the good of your neighbors? Sure, it sounds lovely and one would hope that everyone would be so altruistic, but let's face it -- it's never going to happen.
We're not a communal society. At the end of the day, it is HIS land and he has a right to build upon it within the confines of the zoning.
The land will be built upon, whether it's a town center or age restricted housing. It's unrealistic to expect a large parcel of land on a highway to go untouched. And I'd rather see commercial than residential.
3) Handlin went a lot farther then simply answering questions posed by the media. I know a little bit about this reporting thing and I know when someone is feeding headlines to me or other members of the press.
She exploited situations to get exposure for herself.
And no, she really shouldn't have commented about Harry Larrison around the time he was dying. She had 15 years to do that and she said nothing. She can't take the moral high ground now.
There are people of courage and conviction in this world, people who will stand up and speak loudly to power. Handlin is not one of those people. She only spoke about corruption after it was in a newspaper and she could get her sound bite.
Anna refusing the donation -- that's courage. And she did it without an audience -- she refused the money before she knew the APP was going to do an expose about it.
Amy standing on high lecturing on pay-to-play when she patently refused to close pay-to-play loopholes at the county level when Unger presented legitimate reforms? C'mon. She's not a person of courage or conviction. She's an opportunistic coward.
elephants but whatever... first, why don't you donate your house and truck in the borough to the town and tell me about how to be philanthopic. second, your "wheeling" argument is from outside this county. victor scudiery and the monmouth democrats have NOTHING to do with wheeling because they won't buy into your party's buddy... john lynch and geo. norcross... for their "big buddies" like your party has. you better hang the "wheeling" argument up until you clean your own house and stop looking like a joke for aying it.
vic scudiery, joe caliendo et al have fought lynch's control of their party for YEARS. your party has been cowed, got greedy and it's as clear as day. stop the nonsense, get yourself straight and THEN point fingers at what's REAL.
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