If elected, the ticket of Lynn, Ludwig and Van Allen will call for an end to the practice of “Pay to Play”, in which campaign donors are rewarded with lucrative government contracts in their communities.
“The practice of pay to play is alive and well in Randolph,” said Dan Lynn, “and it is basically picking the pocket of every taxpayer in our town.” “Anyone who is deeply concerned by the ever-rising property taxes in our town, or the perceived lack of ethics in New Jersey government ought to be concerned about pay-to play.”
As Lynn explained, in an insidious cycle, lawyers, engineers, developers, construction firms and others donate to political candidates. When a candidate wins, he or she sees that government contracts are given to particular lawyers, engineers, construction firms and others. Many times the contracts are awarded without a bidding process, so donors would find it easy to pad their bills to recoup their donations. And once the donors have been enriched, they can donate more to their favorite candidates, and the cycle continues.
Lynn pointed to specific examples in Randolph Township. According to Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) records; Randolph’s Town Attorney made several thousand dollars of campaign contributions to Republican Candidates and The Randolph Republican club prior to being awarded a no bid contract, specifically:
On 6/27/03 he gave $750 to the Committee to Elect Trina Mitsch
On 9/5/03 he gave $500 to the Randolph Republican Club
On November 15, 2003 he gave $1000 to Trina Mitsch’s committee, and $1500 to the Randolph Republican Club, and this was a week after the election was over!
On November 25, 2003 Trina Mitsch was sworn in as Deputy Mayor.
On January 1st, 2004, Mr. Buzak was given a no bid appointment as town attorney, with a salary exceeding $200,000
In May 2004, he gave $500 to the Randolph Republican Club
On 9/13/04 he gave $300 to the Randolph Republican Club
On 9/30/04 he gave $250 to the Randolph Republican Club
On 12/9/04 he gave $1500 to the Committee to Elect Algeier, Mitsch and Obremski, again, one month after the election, and 3 weeks before the re-organization meeting, where he was again re-appointed as the Township Attorney.
Why does one give a campaign contribution after the election is over? We ask you to draw your own conclusion.
The engineering firm of Clough Harbor, which was awarded the contract to work on Randolph’s Master Plan, also donated over $1000 to Randolph Republicans in 2004
If elected, Lynn, Ludwig and Van Allen will propose an ordinance that would limit Randolph Township officials from awarding no-bid contracts to firms that annually contribute more than $400 to local candidates, $500 to local and county parties and $2,500 in total political contributions.
We are not accusing anyone of doing anything illegal or unethical. However, we suggest that it is time to change the process by which certain municipal services are contracted out. “Opening up some of these professional services contracts to a bidding and/or interview process would result in greater competition, increased public confidence in the process of local government, and quite possibly result in reduced costs to taxpayers, with no impact on the quality of services received. Most importantly, it would help ease the perception that the public has that campaign contributors can buy influence and lucrative contracts.”
Limiting or banning pay to play at the local level won't cut taxes in half overnight. But it will throw a sizable monkey wrench into the political machine that encourages politicians and the firms they hire to work together at taxpayers' expense. We are Committed to our Community, and motivated to take action to stop this cycle of bad government. We also challenge the Republican candidates to publicly take a stand, on behalf of their party, against pay-to-play at the local level.
