The Appearance of Impropriety

Thanks to Mark Twain, we know that there are “lies…damned lies…and statistics.” I would like to add what I perceive to be “evil…impropriety…and the appearance of impropriety” in government.

Whichever way you like it, it’s all here in Gloucester Township.

So, here’s what’s trending in New Jersey…there seems to be a concern here that the lawyers that conducted the investigation of the Bridge-gate scandal are part of a law firm with close ties to one of the primary operatives under suspicion in the scandal, Chris Christie. What’s the big deal? We have operatives in Gloucester Township who have benefitted from tens of thousands of dollars of political contributions who then place those same contributors in vaunted positions where they have access to millions of dollars’ worth of contracts.  These same political operatives, whose campaigns were funded by these tens of thousands of dollars of campaign contributions, then state that they see no impropriety in such an arrangement.

When I stood before council as a Gloucester Township taxpayer expressing my concern that the business firm that was awarded the position of township engineer, with the potential of garnering millions of dollars’ worth of contracts, had contributed $64,000 to one party’s re-election effort, Council sat mum and Council President responded to my concerns by saying that he did not see $64,000 of campaign contributions as a problem and thought nothing wrong with the arrangement between the contributor as primary township engineers and the Township of Gloucester.

No conflict of interest here. Ignore the man behind the curtain. Move along…nothing to see here.

This is not a Democrat/Republican issue; this is apolitical and should concern all taxpayers unless, of course, you are on the Gloucester Township Friends and Family Plan and benefit directly as an employee of the township and, so, don’t wish to rock the boat. Besides, there’s no sense turning the light on because it might shine on you and uncover something that just ain’t right. You know, lies…damned lies…and statistics!

The bottom line, as I’ve stated, is that this issue is apolitical and therefore affects all of us. Can you think of anyone but our mayor and council bragging that property taxes are low in Gloucester Township? To the contrary, most people are alarmed at our taxes and many individuals and businesses avoid our town due to the high taxes and what they perceive as corruption in local government.

When a commercial firm pours $64,000 into one party’s election campaign there can only be one reason; that firm wants to assure that the individuals running for the positions in question get elected. Why else would Remington and Vernick, an engineering firm from Haddonfield, make that kind of investment in Gloucester Township?

Does anyone seriously think that R & V, an engineering firm, has some other concern for Gloucester Township other than the contracts it can get here? Do you seriously believe that R & V has some other concern for GT? Remember that R & V just received a slap-down from the township of Medford because it made contributions to a candidate beyond the allowable limit there. R & V did not have any contracts in Medford so my guess is that R & V was hoping to get its foot in the door there. Is it possible that some agreement with the candidate for future work drove the failure of R & V to adhere to contribution limits in Medford? The end result is that R & V is prohibited from bidding in Medford for four years. That in itself makes whatever contracts R & V gets elsewhere that much more important to its continued success and profitability.

Contrary to what GT’s Council might think, I believe common wisdom informs us that when a commercial enterprise spends money in the amount of $64,000 for campaign contributions to guarantee certain people get elected, that firm is now looking for some type of return. It’s known as Return on Investment – ROI. Consider that ROI demands that the original investment be recouped, in the way of contracts in this case, before it can ever direct proceeds for services rendered to the profit line. Common business sense thus dictates that the firm must inflate prices to make up that original cost of doing business which is nothing more than a Pay-to-Play scheme. And who pays the ROI that R & V must realize? You, the taxpayer of Gloucester Township.

If you were part of an engineering firm considering an attempt to submit RFQs to do business in Gloucester Township, do you think you could compete against R & V? What’s the going rate for selection as township engineer? My guess is that you better come up with more than $64,000 as starters and that’s just the beginning.

Gloucester Township’s president of Council said he saw no problem or conflict of interest that contributions totaling $64,000 found its way into the campaign coffers of Team-Mayer in one election cycle while the rest of council, all who have benefitted from this firm’s generosity, sat mum. Once councilman has said there was nothing to worry about with the current arrangement as long as we successfully block the influence of Super–PACs. Where are these Super–PACs? No one on council seemed willing to identify the existence of these Super–PAC bogeymen. Let me guess why…because they don’t really exist and never did. In fact, the only PACs that are operating in Gloucester Township that I am aware of are Democrat PACs, shills providing soft money to the Democrats. And finally, Mayor David Mayer said he needed such large contributions so that he could run his campaign. You have to laugh at such incompetence to keep from crying. This from the man who promised transparency in his administration but now refuses to show up and stand before the residents of Gloucester Township in council because he does not like confrontation.

So Team-Mayer rakes in thousands of dollars of campaign contributions from potential contractors representing blatant conflicts of interest to run its election campaigns and guarantee re-election of all its players to keep the money spigot on for those contributors and the taxpayers of Gloucester Township foot the bill. “Thank you, sir. May I have another?”

In the inimical style and words of Foghorn Leghorn, “You’ve been hornswoggled!”