Quick Search
Categories
- Stevens Institute of Technology
- Pay to Play
- Content Research Area
- Quality of Life Issues
- OPRA (Open Public Records Act)
- Bribes, Payoffs, and Politics
- Letters to the Editor
- Voter Information
- OPMA (Open Public Meetings Act)
- FREE SPEECH and INTERNET ISSUES
- Eminent Domain
- Governor Corzine
- Editorials
- Lawsuits and Legal Actions
- Hoboken News
- Health Issues
- Employment Opportunities
- Regionalize and Shared Services
- Investigations (Restricted Access)
- Government
- Public Official Report Card
- Political Commentary
- Technology
- Payments In Lieu of Taxes
- Consumer Issues
- Affordable Housing
- 2006 N.J. U.S. Senate Race
- U.S. Senator Robert Menendez
- Homeland Security
- NJ NY Port Authority
- R.I.C.O. Act
- NJ.COM
- Editorials - New Jersey Newspapers
- POG - People for OPen Government
- Classifieds
- Politics
- Investigative Agencies
- Hoboken City Council Video
- Presidential Election 2008
- Investigative Report
- Obama
- Area Event Calendar
- Presedential electiom 2008
- New Jersey League of Municipalities
- NJ State Court System
- National Politics
- Social Interaction
- Shrink for Men
- Governor Chris Christie
- Tenant Rights
- NJ League of Municipalities
- ObamaCare
- NYC GROUND ZERO
- Political Figures
- Health Care
- Hoboken Lawsuits
- Featured News
- NYSC
- IRS TAX RELIEF
- Federal Budget
- Healthcare Fraud
- New Jersey For Profit Hospitals
- Hudson County Emergency Medical Services
Fighting pay-to-play by redevelopers
- 8-13-2005
- Categorized in: Redevelopers
The Times, NJ
EDITORIAL
Until now, the focus of reformers attempting to curb New Jersey's notorious pay-to-play system has been on the purchase of goods and services. They have sought to win passage of laws that eliminate politicians' opportunities to bestow no-bid contracts and favored treatment on businesses that give generously to political campaigns. But another area in which political favoritism can flourish is the redevelopment process; this is all the more true in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision giving state and local governments major discretion in condemning private properties for redevelopment purposes. Among the more than 50 New Jersey local ordinances that bar campaign contributors from eligibility for municipal work, only Hightstown's goes the additional step and extends the ban to redevelopers.
Now a good-government group, the Citizens' Campaign, has launched a statewide effort to end pay-to-play in the awarding of redevelopment projects. Last week, the organization unveiled a model local redevelopment ordinance and promised to release a proposed state law on the subject in the near future. The components include a ban on contributions by redevelopers to local and county candidates, elected officials and political parties from the onset of the redevelopment process to the completion of the agreement; a requirement that developers seeking variances or waivers from a town's regulations file a contribution disclosure form, and expanded transparency and accountability in the process.
Pay-to-play has powerful friends in public office in New Jersey, and even the modest gains that have been made against it remain in jeopardy. But as long as the Citizens' Campaign and other advocates of clean government keep fighting, there's hope.
Email to Friend
Fill in the form below to send this article to a friend:
Recent Blogs
- HAS PREDATORY HEALTH CARE LENDING COME TO HOBOKEN?
- The Emotionally Abusive Personality: Is She a Borderline or a Narcissist?
- Withholding Sex as a Form of Punishment
- Don't Marry Essay. Why Marriage Has Become a Raw Deal for Men
- NJ Business Facts
- What the Parking/Transportation industry is saying about Hoboken's Automated Garage
- You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig
- Hoboken Board of Education
Recent Employment Opportunities
- Technology Consultant - City of Hoboken
- Finance Director City of Hoboken
- ELECTRICAL INSPECTOR
- Civil Service Commission Seeks Entry-Level Firefighter Applicants Applications for the entry-level Firefighter Test will be accepted for 70 municipalities and other local jurisdictions
- Senior Accountant: Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ
- City of Hoboken - Fire Department Audit
- Hoboken: ZONING OFFICER