May 2005

MONEY & POLITICS, HOBOKEN STYLE

In the May 10th election for Hoboken Mayor, the powerful Hudson County Democratic Organization backed incumbent Mayor David Roberts. This committee, chaired by the number two democrat in New Jersey, State Senator Bernard Kenny, contributed $152,000 to the Mayor's campaign. All of Hoboken's major real estate developers also backed Roberts and added $120,000 to his campaign coffers. This year, through the three political committees that he controls, Mayor Roberts has thus far raised $649,070, providing him with 58% of the total amount collected by the five mayoral slates. Nevertheless, it was not enough to get him elected on May 10th. Since no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff between him and his closest contender, City Councilwoman Carol Marsh on June 14.

Of the five candidates vying to be Hoboken's mayor, these are the results from the May 10th election in terms of votes and total contributions collected:

David Roberts: 3,803 (36.8%) $649,070 (58%)
Carol Marsh: 2,976 (28.8%) $109,642 (9.8%)
Frank Raia: 2,004 (19.4%) $246,750 (22.1%)
Michael Russo: 1,259 (12.2%) $104,145 (9.3%)
Evelyn Smith: 289 (2.9%) $9,100 (0.8%)

total voters: 10,342; total contributions: $1,118,707

To compete for these 10,342 votes, the candidates raised $1.1 million. The substantial amount raised by Hoboken developer Frank Raia -- $246,750 consisted of $195,000 in loans that he provided to his campaign. Although Carol Marsh came in 2nd in the voting, she was 4th in fundraising, having to rely primarily on contributions from Hoboken residents. In addition to political committees and developers, the Mayor was able to call upon firms with municipal contracts and local businesses including many realtors for financial support.

There will also be a June 14 runoff for the three at-large City Council seats. The six candidates who survived the field of 17 competing in the May 10th race are all running mates of Roberts and Marsh. The leader of the pack was City Councilman Ruben Ramos who tallied 3,527 votes. Ramos is on the Mayor's ticket. Since none of the council contenders achieved the 50% plus 1 required, the law mandates a runoff.

Last November, a local group, People for Open Government (POG), sponsored a ballot initiative on pay-to-play that Hoboken voters passed overwhelmingly by a 10 to 1 margin. This ordinance prohibits firms with no-bid professional from contributing to Hoboken candidates. For any firm who wishes to be considered for a municipal contract their contribution is limited to $400 per candidate and $500 to Hoboken or Hudson County political parties. Ann Graham, Chair of POG, stated, "Additional legislation is needed to limit the excessive amounts of campaign money that can be raised in local elections. We have not yet achieved our goal of removing the influence of money in local politics and creating a level political playing field."

Developer money is likely to be the next target of POG's local campaign finance reform. For this election, developers working on major projects in Hoboken have contributed the maximum allowed to the Roberts Team and the Hoboken Democratic Party. The state's campaign donation limits are $2,600 per municipal candidate or $10,400 for a mayor with 3 council running mates, and $7,200 to municipal political parties. From March 29 to April 27, six Hoboken developers, Michael Barry of Applied Companies, Dean Geibel of Metro Homes, Dil Hoda of Monroe Center Management, Michael Sciarra of URSA Development, a principal of Toll Brothers and Arthur Garfield of Tarragon Realty Investors, each contributed the $10,400 maximum to the Roberts Team. Another developer, Larry Bijou of Bijou Holdings contributed $10,000. Also in April, three of these same developers, Arthur Garfield, Dean Geibel and Michael Sciarra, each contributed $7,200 to the Hoboken Democratic Party.

POG is considering filing a complaint with the Election Law Enforcement Commission regarding the Mayor's control over the local democratic party organization in addition to his joint candidates committee, the Roberts Team. POG leaders say that this is a thinly veiled attempt to exceed campaign contribution limits that the law is designed to enforce. Earlier this year, the Hoboken Democratic Party contributed $60,000 to the Roberts Team and $4,500 to the Friends of Mayor Roberts. Over the past two months, the Hoboken Democratic Party has also sent out a barrage of citywide mailings attacking candidate Carol Marsh, whom the Mayor viewed as his chief rival. These mailings, many of which openly support the Mayor's slate, have carried the same address as the Robert Team campaign headquarters, 231 Washington Street in Hoboken.

Robert's financial superiority was evidenced in the flood of his campaign advertising arriving by mail, on cable TV, at bus shelters and in local newspapers. His campaign war chest has bought him a team of political and media consultants as well as scores of street workers. To date, the Roberts Team and Hoboken Democratic Party have reported $42,073 in TV campaign ads. Tens of thousands of dollars have been spent designing, printing and mailing over 14 full-color, glossy mailings. The Roberts Team also has used its campaign resources to target important constituents. On March 20, the campaign ordered $1,299 of Easter flowers for senior citizens. On March 31, the Roberts Team paid $750 for ten tickets to a NAACP fundraiser.

Pay-to-play defined

Former Governor James McGreevey, one of New Jersey's most prolific political fundraisers, spoke on September 22, 2004, announcing an executive order limiting the practice of pay-to-play in state government. His words, which follow, aptly describe what pay-to-play is all about.

Political fundraising and the people's business all happen in the same meetings over the same table.

the pay-to-play system . . . is about private entities contributing to political organizations, not because of that candidate's policies or principles, but for the hope of their election and a subsequent contract award. It has taken civic engagement and twisted it into a business opportunity.

The requirement to amass staggering amounts of money has created a climate which has inevitably jeopardized the moral integrity of government's basic obligations.