Statement from Chairman Adam Puharic - Monmouth County Republicans
06/26/2007
Monmouth County Republicans need to pass the strongest pay-to-play restriction in the State of New Jersey. The current resolutions presented to the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, as reported in the Asbury Park Press, fail to meet this level of reform at best, or at worst are purposefully drafted to gain partisan advantage in the upcoming campaign cycle.
The Monmouth County Republican Committee calls on all Freeholders to do what is right for residents regardless of their political stripe, return these resolutions to the bipartisan committee, and produce a strengthened draft that it is fair, comprehensive and bulletproof. Republicans want a revised resolution passed before the end of the summer.
First, our resolution must ban the practice of wheeling, not just from within Monmouth County as has been proposed, but from out-of-county too, which is where the real problem exists. The current resolutions do not prohibit state or county political committees from outside of Monmouth County from making large contributions to candidates and committees in Monmouth County, which will have the unintended consequences of placing even-greater power within the hands of bosses in Trenton and elsewhere.
Specifically, during the last few election cycles, Monmouth County Democrats received tens of thousands of dollars from places like Camden County in a thinly-veiled attempt to undermine the will of Monmouth County voters. The current resolutions curiously neglect any attempt to address this serious problem. Last minute, under-the-radar campaign funding contributes to voter apathy by fueling negative attack ads and empowering the politics of personal destruction. This is a serious flaw that substantially benefits Democrat politicians and allows them to continue a business-as-usual approach with Trenton party bosses influencing local elections here in Monmouth County.
Second, huge union contributions from as far as Washington, DC have found their way into Monmouth County in recent years. These contributions do not represent the will of union members who are not asked to whom their union dues go to. Instead, they are coordinated and directed by political bosses and developers to curry favor for their next project. This is no different than corporate contributions being directed to local elections for the purposes of pay-to-play, and therefore, union contributions should be restricted too. Individual union members would remain free to contribute, therefore, not violating any individual rights.
Finally, the current resolutions must be combined into a single, binding document, so that partisans cannot attack one aspect of the proposal without attacking all of it. In this way, both political parties would be loath to come out against comprehensive reform, sure to be the target of public and media scorn. In its current form as two resolutions, wheeling bans could be attacked in court by those special interests that gain from the practice, providing a distinct advantage to one political side over another. As a single, revised resolution, the two vices of pay-to-play and wheeling are inextricably linked for the benefit of all.
The Monmouth County Republican Committee supports comprehensive pay-to-play and wheeling reform. The issue is far too important to allow individual politicians to seek partisan advantage during this historic opportunity to make positive change as an example for all of New Jersey. Without these changes, no Republican of good conscience could vote on the weaker measures as currently proposed. Please email your Freeholders and tell them you want a revised resolution passed.
Adam Puharic, Chairman
Monmouth County Republican Chairman
---------------------------------------------------------------
Monmouth County Republican Party
www.MonmouthRepublican.org
info@MonmouthRepublican.org
732.431.6664
06/26/2007
Monmouth County Republicans need to pass the strongest pay-to-play restriction in the State of New Jersey. The current resolutions presented to the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, as reported in the Asbury Park Press, fail to meet this level of reform at best, or at worst are purposefully drafted to gain partisan advantage in the upcoming campaign cycle.
The Monmouth County Republican Committee calls on all Freeholders to do what is right for residents regardless of their political stripe, return these resolutions to the bipartisan committee, and produce a strengthened draft that it is fair, comprehensive and bulletproof. Republicans want a revised resolution passed before the end of the summer.
First, our resolution must ban the practice of wheeling, not just from within Monmouth County as has been proposed, but from out-of-county too, which is where the real problem exists. The current resolutions do not prohibit state or county political committees from outside of Monmouth County from making large contributions to candidates and committees in Monmouth County, which will have the unintended consequences of placing even-greater power within the hands of bosses in Trenton and elsewhere.
Specifically, during the last few election cycles, Monmouth County Democrats received tens of thousands of dollars from places like Camden County in a thinly-veiled attempt to undermine the will of Monmouth County voters. The current resolutions curiously neglect any attempt to address this serious problem. Last minute, under-the-radar campaign funding contributes to voter apathy by fueling negative attack ads and empowering the politics of personal destruction. This is a serious flaw that substantially benefits Democrat politicians and allows them to continue a business-as-usual approach with Trenton party bosses influencing local elections here in Monmouth County.
Second, huge union contributions from as far as Washington, DC have found their way into Monmouth County in recent years. These contributions do not represent the will of union members who are not asked to whom their union dues go to. Instead, they are coordinated and directed by political bosses and developers to curry favor for their next project. This is no different than corporate contributions being directed to local elections for the purposes of pay-to-play, and therefore, union contributions should be restricted too. Individual union members would remain free to contribute, therefore, not violating any individual rights.
Finally, the current resolutions must be combined into a single, binding document, so that partisans cannot attack one aspect of the proposal without attacking all of it. In this way, both political parties would be loath to come out against comprehensive reform, sure to be the target of public and media scorn. In its current form as two resolutions, wheeling bans could be attacked in court by those special interests that gain from the practice, providing a distinct advantage to one political side over another. As a single, revised resolution, the two vices of pay-to-play and wheeling are inextricably linked for the benefit of all.
The Monmouth County Republican Committee supports comprehensive pay-to-play and wheeling reform. The issue is far too important to allow individual politicians to seek partisan advantage during this historic opportunity to make positive change as an example for all of New Jersey. Without these changes, no Republican of good conscience could vote on the weaker measures as currently proposed. Please email your Freeholders and tell them you want a revised resolution passed.
Adam Puharic, Chairman
Monmouth County Republican Chairman
---------------------------------------------------------------
Monmouth County Republican Party
www.MonmouthRepublican.org
info@MonmouthRepublican.org
732.431.6664
So let me get this right...Adam Puharic is the chairman of the Monmouth GOP. The GOP has a 4-1 majority on the Monmouth County Freeholder Board. Adam wants the rank and file to email his Freeholders to tell them to table "pay to pay" and "wheeling" reform resolutions that fail to ban pay to play and wheeling "or at worst are purposefully drafted to gain partisan advantage in the upcoming campaign cycle," and have the bi-partisan committee that drafted the resolutions come back with a stronger resolution before summer's end.
Have the Freeholders stopped taking Adam's calls?
Why not just have Malcolm Carton write such a resolution tomorrow and have the Freeholders pass it? Democrat Barbara McMorrow is already on the record as favoring pay to pay reform, as reported today in the Asbury Park Press. Adam's proposed resolution should pass 5-0.
This from the same Adam Puharic who sent Anna Little into exile because she defied him and returned wheeled contributions during last year's campaign.
Spin, spin and more spin. And it is not even good spin.
That nausea your feeling is not from dizziness.
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7 comments:
I had much the same thoughts when I read this missive. I think the bigger problem is that some Freeholders have so alienated the APP that no matter what those Freeholders do, the Press will make them look bad.
Now, Adam, no darling of the APP, is trying to step in to spin the story.
Ii all comes back to the same thing: It seems the people running the show lack some competence in key areas.
Aside from the incongruities which you point out, it is a valid point about pay to play reform in general
Teddy Roosevelt said...
Aside from the incongruities which you point out, it is a valid point about pay to play reform in general
I agree. The Democrats have rigged the system to their advantage, because unions are treated differently than vendors. And the unions are ripping off the tax payers on all levels on government far more than vendors are.
That is the message that the chairman should be sending. It straight forward and the electorate can understand it without stopping to think about it.
Freeholders probably have stopped taking One-term (if that) Adam's calls. He is not only a lame duck, but he is one very early as he has helped weaken the party. Why should a freeholder give a darn what the green behind the ears kid wants ???
Read Adam's email again. That is exactly what he is saying. His concerns are absolutely legit. Adam supports reforming pay to play, it will make his job easier. Think about it.
Anonymous said...
Read Adam's email again. That is exactly what he is saying. His concerns are absolutely legit. Adam supports reforming pay to play, it will make his job easier. Think about it.
I read it right the first time. You might want to re-read my comments.
Sure the pay to pay reforms will make his job easier. If his ELEC reports are to believed, he's broke, and the Dems will have a ton of money pumped in from around the state.
We'll probably never know if Adam is any good at fund raising, because he can't do any fund raising so long as he works for the Federal government
The crack Decoder Team here at the Monmouth County republican Blog have deciphered the following from between Adam's lines:
"Rob, Bill and Lillian, listen up. You, too, Jeff. Listen up good. Real good.
Does the name 'Anna Little' sound familiar? Of course it does. See what I did to her? Don't think for one minute that I wouldn't turn on you in the same way. Think e-mails from your constituents is bad? Try swallowing more changes in the candidate selection process. And my dear friend RastaMan is still on line. Wanna be the subject of one of his posts?"
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