Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 12/23/05 BY NANCY SHIELDS COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU
ASBURY PARK Developers are banned from making political contributions in the city up to a year before they undertake a project. If they do, they're banned from working in the city for four years. The City Council voted 3 to 1 late Wednesday night to adopt Asbury Park's third pay-to-play ordinance, this time closing the door on contributions from developers. The vote came after council members created some drama in their discussion as to whether the measure actually would pass. One problem is the new law does not ban the lawyers, engineers, planners and other professionals who work for developers from making contributions. City Attorney Fred Raffetto said the professionals could not be included in part because the city cannot directly control those people working for the developer. But the law does penalize the developer if the company funnels contributions through its professionals, its lawyers, engineers and planners. "Even though you can't design this so that it covers every legal loophole, just passing it sends a strong message, and any effort to thwart that will bring enough negative public opinion to influence developers to do the right thing," said resident Dave Christopher, who along with his wife, former Councilwoman Kate Mellina, and resident Pamela Lamberton, had worked with the Citizens' Campaign to get the new contribution restrictions enacted. "What I think this does is it sends a clear message that that type of politics is not welcome in Asbury Park," Councilman Jim Keady said. "We're raising the bar and hope other municipalities will follow suit." And Councilman Ed Johnson, who argued most strongly in favor of passage when the council's approval seemed doubtful Wednesday night, said: "Yes, there are loopholes but I don't believe doing nothing is addressing the issue. We really do need it in a town where development is going on. . . . It's not perfect. It will never be perfect." The Citizens' Campaign group, which seeks to reduce the influence of money in politics, sees Asbury Park as a leader statewide in banning contributions from developers because of the significant development projects that still need to be done in the city. Similar laws have been approved in Hightstown, where Raffetto has served as attorney, and by the Mercer County Board of Freeholders. The new ban will be incorporated into any new agreement with a redeveloper and into any existing redeveloper contract if the developer wants to amend it, Raffetto said. The measure was approved after it first appeared that the vote might be put off. Deputy Mayor Jim Bruno voted against the pay-to-play ban, and said he agreed in part with arguments put forward by Tom DeSeno, a city lawyer and friend of Bruno, who claims the ban is unconstitutional. DeSeno has a contract with the city to do workers' compensation cases that come up, and is restricted on how much he can give to candidates' campaigns or city and county political committees. "You're voting to restrict the speech rights of certain individuals," he said, adding later that the city "is setting yourself up for a constitutional challenge." Heather Taylor, spokeswoman for Citizens' Campaign, said the developers' professionals do have to disclose under the current law and the possibility of losing a contract in the city seemed like a strong incentive for developers not to funnel money through their professionals. Keady, Johnson and Loffredo approved the new ban. Bruno voted against it. At first Keady seemed willing to put a vote on the measure off until January. Johnson argued that the time was now. "Some seats up here became empty because of it. I don't think you're going to have a magic bullet on pay-to-play. I don't think this is the solution but it's a step toward the solution," Johnson said. Loffredo, who supported the measure, said: "No matter what we do, there will always be somebody trying to get to someone." Raffetto told the council that by trying to tighten up the ordinance to make it more restrictive, it could push the city closer to the constitutional issues involved in pay-to-play. http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051223/NEWS01/512230377/1004 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/Y2tolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
