You Go Girl!
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/24/067 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