Posted on 09/30/2007 6:14:42 AM PDT by Swanks
State Sens. Wayne R. Bryant and Sharpe James.
Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr., Alfred E. Steele and Anthony Impreveduto.
The parade in criminal court of New Jersey kingmakers, lawmakers and backwater politicians has become a constant sight in the last four years.
More than 40 public officials have been sent to prison. Many others face trial. Some have lost jobs, elections and allies.
For the rest of us, the criminal probes hint at a much-needed ebb tide in New Jersey's sea of corruption.
New Jersey's nascent ethics revolution secured its first foothold in 2003 after publication of the Asbury Park Press' "Profiting from Public Service" series, which exposed the myriad conflicts of lawmakers and others in power.
The series, available at www.app.com, detailed how select legislators converted the government into a cash machine for themselves, their families and political supporters.
Gannett New Jersey reporters and editors spent the last three months measuring the progress of ethics reform in the state.
Starting today, and for the next seven days, the Press and the six other Gannett New Jersey newspapers will show you where ethics reform has worked, where it has failed, and where it needs improvement. We'll point out the leaders who have championed ethics reform, and the lawmakers who still wallow in self-enriching conflicts.
The investigative series found that:
— The most powerful lawmakers turned their public work into private gain;
— Conflicts of interest still can be hidden by lawmakers, despite improved financial disclosure rules;
— Loopholes in the new anti-pay-to-play law are being exploited to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars from government vendors to political parties as a way to return to 2003, when campaign cash was commonly used to win no-bid government contracts;
— Clean elections, a pilot program that uses public funds to remove special-interest money from legislative campaigns, could work, but it likely will be costly — $40 million to $120 million when both houses are up for election.
"Profiting from Public Service" struck such a chord with the voters in 2003 that the election debate that year shifted from the routine campaign rhetoric to the principles of the candidates. Powerful Republican Senate President John O. Bennett III of Monmouth County, who, the public learned, had carved out high-paying legal jobs from several local towns and put his mother and mother-in-law on his legislative payroll, lost a re-election bid that was a certainty just a few months earlier.
Shortly after the 2003 election, the Legislature ended its own nepotism, passed 23 ethics reform laws, and tamped down — but did not totally ban — pay-to-play. Not satisfied with the state's languid response, 83 towns plus Monmouth, Atlantic and Mercer counties passed absolute pay-to-play bans that simply said: If you work for us, you can't contribute political money to us.
Assemblyman Michael Panter, D-Monmouth, elected in 2003 on an ethics reform campaign, said changing attitudes in Trenton four years ago was like trying to "turn a battleship on a dime . . . 90 percent of our ethics reforms were met with hostility."
His proposed comprehensive pay-to-play ban was rejected in favor of a less stringent one. But Panter said attitudes on ethics have changed, and "it is getting better every day."
On the crime-fighting side of the equation, Christopher J. Christie, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey who has targeted corruption for the last six years, has prosecuted more than 100 public officials at the state, county and municipal levels.
He sent Democratic super-boss John A. Lynch Jr. — the power broker who helped get now-disgraced former Gov. James E. McGreevey elected - to prison for 39 months on a corruption charge. Major land developer and Democratic contributor Charles Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison.
This year alone, Christie indicted two state senators — Wayne R. Bryant, D-Camden, and Sharpe James, D-Essex — and charged two assemblymen — Mims Hackett Jr., D-Essex, and Alfred E. Steele, D-Passaic — on corruption offenses. Hackett and Steele resigned four days later.
In 2004, Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto, the former head of the Legislature's ethics commission, resigned his seat and was placed on five years probation after pleading guilty to state charges of using his own campaign fund for personal expenses.
This year, other lawmakers have said they feel they are in Christie's sights.
Does this all add up to a clean New Jersey government?
Hardly.
Even Christie says we can't prosecute our way out of corruption.
Criminal convictions are just a sign that some, but not all, of the political cancer has been excised by the doctor.
But the body politic can be healed only by you, the voter.
All 120 seats in the Assembly and state Senate are up for grabs Nov. 6.
State Sen. Leonard T. Connors Jr., R-Ocean, who retires in January after 25 years in the upper house, said he is "disillusioned" with the current state of affairs in Trenton.
If government is truly of the people, then the people are the only ones who can fix the problem. "As long as the public allows them to do what they are doing, they are going to continue doing it," Connors said.
But voter turnout has waned in a generation. In 1981, 64 percent of the public voted in the gubernatorial and legislative races. In 2005, the last gubernatorial contest, just 49 percent turned out at the polls.
Michael T. Vail, a certified public accountant from Aberdeen and an active voter, thinks the declining turnout is due to the electorate getting too many gut-punches over the years: People are working longer to pay rising property taxes and have less free time to mull the pros and cons of candidates.
Four years ago, Vail thought lawmakers couldn't effectively stem tax increases because their own self-interests got in the way of clear-eyed judgment. Today, he said, he "hasn't seen too much in terms of material ethics changes."
"By and large, we have a voting public that is disconnected," Vail said, "and that is the worst thing for our system."
["In 2005, the last gubernatorial contest, just 49 percent turned out at the polls"]
And figure 1/2 or more of them went to the polls to KEEP their favorite crooks in power.
With 535,000 state and muni workers living off the largase - no wonder things remain the same, in the most corrupt state in the country. Add to the 535,000 their dependents, relatives and family and you have a voting block more interested in maintaining the status quo, than changing it.
Those in NJ; run for you lives.
Exclusive photo of NJ Democrat Party Caucus discussing how much Hillary will be charged for Joisey's Electoral College votes. Small bills, no larger than $20's. The cash is to be unmarked and in no sequential order. $3 million in cash seems about right.
Ha! For the Presidency ? No way. $3 mill is just for delivering a Mayoral election. County Seats... $30 mill. Electoral college votes go for a cool $300 mill. There’s been a lot of inflation since Vito’s day.
Ba da bing!
Ba da boom!
You are all babes in the woods. Democrats are merely greasing the skids to get things done. These good Democrats are most certainly not corrupt. Have a little consideration for the predicament these good folks are in. They are only responding to the needs of their constituents. Have a little respect. Enlighten yourselves. Raise your consciousness. Think of the good they are doing to ensure everyone pays their fair share. They only raise taxes on those who can afford to pay them. Everybody deserves a fair shake. Please look the other way.
Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. Otherwise I’m gonna bust your friggin’ chops and rip your hair out.
I beat you out of NJ. Left earlier this year.
He's a bought and paid for property of the HSUS, the radical animal rights PAC and has introduced legislation to ban all rifles over .50 caliber (because they shoot down 747's) , Pate de Foies Gras (because it's cruel and barbaric to the goose), and one more to ban all hunting and freshwater fishing in the entire state.
The anti-hunting and fishing bill will be coming up for a vote shortly, and believe it or not, it actually has a chance of passing.
As for myself, I've started shopping for out of state realty.
A little more reading on:
New Jersey’s Image problem:
http://freenj.blogspot.com/2007/06/new-jerseys-image-problem.html
And the legislator they speak of:
http://freenj.blogspot.com/2007/09/banning-hunting-guns-and-goose-liver.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.