June 2, 2005:

Lawsuit alleges Mayor Roberts took $250,000 in illegal campaign contributions; People for Open Government defends its anti-pay-to-play ordinance adopted by Hoboken voters in the November election.

In just the past four months, Mayor David Roberts has collected a staggering amount of money for his re-election campaign, over $650,000 for this city of 40,000 residents. But in a lawsuit filed today, a local civic group, People for Open Government (POG) claims that much of this money was obtained illegally. This is in violation of an ordinance that was passed by the voters of Hoboken in a November 2, 2004 referendum.

The suit filed this morning in Hudson County Superior Court by POG attorney Roy J. Konray of Tobin Koster Oleckna Reitman Greenstin & Konray charges that over $250,000 in campaign contributions came from firms with municipal contracts. The ordinance prohibits professional businesses holding no-bid contracts with the City of Hoboken from making contributions to Hoboken candidates for public office. Hoboken voters passed the measure overwhelmingly by a 10,185 to 1,178 vote.

According to the complaint, Bernard Kenny, through the Election Fund of Senator Kenny, gave $28,000 to the Roberts Team on May 5, 2005 and $7,200 to the Hoboken Democratic Party on May 9, 2005. In addition, the Hudson County Democratic Organization which Kenny chairs contributed a total of $152,000 to the Hoboken Democratic Party between March 24 and May 16, 2005. POG contends that State Senator Bernard Kenny is prohibited from contributing through his election fund and through the Hudson County Democratic Organization since his law firm, Sarkisian Florio & Kenny, has held over $1.2 million in municipal contracts since Roberts began his term as Mayor in July 2001.

Attorney Roy Konray explained that the ordinance's prohibition against pay-to-play cannot be avoided by making contributions through intermediaries. Konray stated, "the ordinance also covers those who try to circumvent the ban on pay-to-play by using an organization they control to feed money to a candidate -- contributions by intermediaries are equally forbidden. The ordinance is clear -- professional businesses enjoying no-bid contracts with Hoboken are barred from giving money to candidates directly or indirectly."

Ann Graham, Chair of POG, stated, "The purpose of this ordinance is to limit the excessive amounts of campaign money that can be raised in local elections. This ordinance goes a long way in restricting contributions from companies with a vested interest in City business. Since the Mayor has violated our ordinance, thus, we are forced to go to court to defend it."

POG's lawsuit lists a number of other professional businesses including Business Governmental Insurance Agency, Birdsall Engineering, Boswell Engineering, Kaufman Bern & Deutsch, Krivit & Krivit, Meadowlands Associates, PMK Group, Schoor DePalma, Statfeld-Vantage, Metro Stop, URSA Development and Tarragon Realty Investors. According to POG, these firms have no-bid contracts with the City of Hoboken and have made contributions over the past four months to the Roberts Team and/or the Hoboken Democratic Party. The developers with contracts in the Northwest Redevelopment Area, Dean Geibel of Metro Stop, LLC, Michael Sciarra of URSA Development and Arthur Garfield of Tarragon Realty Investors all contributed $10,400 to the Roberts Team and $7,200 to the Hoboken Democratic Party.

Under the ordinance, professional businesses interested in being considered for a contract with the City of Hoboken can donate but there are limitations. Contributions cannot exceed $400 per candidate and $500 to local political parties and political action committees. If a company contributes more than this amount, it cannot be considered for a contract.

State Senator Kenny has recently come under scrutiny for a $5,000 contribution he solicited from the Friends of Senator Wayne Bryant for the Hoboken Democratic Party. According to the Star-Ledger, the contribution was made just two weeks prior to a vote by the Joint Committee on Ethical Standards which Senator Kenny chairs. The Committee rejected a request to investigate legal contracts that Bryant's law firm obtained in Camden, New Jersey. These $270,000 in contracts were awarded following Bryant's sponsorship of legislation that made these funds available. Kenny is close political ally of Mayor David Roberts, who is the chair of the Hoboken Democratic Party.

Mayor Roberts is running for re-election against City Councilwoman Carol Marsh. The field of five mayoral candidates was narrowed down to two in the May 10 election. The run-off election is scheduled for June 14 and also includes two slates of three at-large City Council candidates associated with the two mayoral hopefuls. Thus far in this election, Mayor Roberts has enjoyed an overwhelming financial advantage. Through three political committees that he controls, the Mayor has raised $649,070. Marsh has raised about 1/6 of this amount, $109,642. In the May 10th race, Roberts collected 3,803 votes (36.8%) and Marsh 2,976 (28.8%) out of a total of 10,342 votes cast.

JUNE 14, 2005:HUGE CAMPAIGN WAR CHEST AND BACKING OF HUDSON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZATION FAIL TO GET HOBOKEN MAYOR RE-ELECTED; RUN-OFF BETWEEN MAYOR ROBERTS AND CITY COUNCILWOMAN CAROL MARSH

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 $75,000 to the Mayor's campaign. All of Hoboken's major real estate developers also backed Roberts and added $110,800 to his campaign coffers. This year, through the three political committees that he controls, Mayor Roberts has thus far raised $475,870, allowing him to spend more money than all of his four political rivals combined. 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: 3,674 (36.8%) $476,870 (50.9%)

Carol Marsh: 2,926 (29.3%) $99,242 (10.6%)

Frank Raia: 1,943 (19.5%) $246,750 (26.4%)

Michael Russo: 1,130 (11.3%) $104,145 (11.1%)

Evelyn Smith: 288 (2.9%) $9,100 (1.0%)

total voters: 9,972 total contributions: $936,107

To compete for these 9,972 votes, the candidates raised close to a million dollars. The Mayor's total exceeded the combined amount raised by his four rivals. 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 3,405 votes or 13% of the total. 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 limits contributions from firms with no-bid professional contracts to $400 per candidate and $500 to local political parties. Thus, in this election, these firms have been limited to $1,600 contributions to the Roberts Team (comprised of the Mayor and his 3 at-large Council running mates) and $500 to the Hoboken Democratic Party. 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.

December 9, 2005:

HOBOKEN PAY TO PLAY STAYS

Following Passage of legislation by State Senate, Hoboken, one of the first Municipalities to pass the tighter local pay-2-play laws, in 2004 against stiff opposition of the current administration, gets to keep its law that passed by public referendum by a 10:1 margin.

"After more than 60 municipalities followed in Hoboken's footsteps, the state legislature must have seen the handwriting on the wall," said Bob DuVal, president of People for Open Government. "The people of Hoboken are interested in limiting the influence of money on the decisions made by county and local politicians. We want to bring government back to the residents of our town."

Six months of hard fought lobbying by the Citizens' Campaign -- supported by organizations throughout the state and hundreds of letters and emails from you -- were rewarded Thursday with the unanimous vote by the NJ State Senate to pass S-1987. This win preserves the right of citizens in all municipalities to protect their own hometowns with their own strong legislation. There was belief that municipalities would be "pre-empted" by the weak statewide bill that goes into effect on January 1, 2006. Getting the bill on the agenda was difficult. Placement on the State's legislative agenda is controlled by Hoboken's own, State Senator Bernard Kenny.

According to current Election Law Enforcement Commission(ELEC)reports for the 2005 Hoboken race for Mayor, Mayor David Robert's spending exceeded $1 million dollars. Significant contributors to the mayor's campaign were those with business to do with the city, county or state such as administrators of Stevens Institute of Technology and professional service firms like lawyers. No bid contracts for professional service firms are covered under the pay-to-play law and so are contributions by any organization with a contract with the city.

But most of the money came from Developers -many with contracts in redevelopment areas (such as URSA Development and the Applied Companies) that are open for Eminent Domain. Developers are not covered under the current pay-to-play regulations. This needs to be addressed.

Campaign funds were also provided to the Mayor's campaign through a system termed "wheeling". Funds were provided by the Friends of Mayor Roberts, Hoboken Democratic Party which is chaired by Roberts and Hudson County Democratic Organization chaired by Senator Bernard Kenny. A number of donors have contributed the maximum permitted $10,400 to the Roberts Team ($2,600 per candidate) and $7,200 to the Hoboken Democratic Party (maximum contribution allowed to a political committee). A number of these donors wrote checks to the two organizations within days of each other.

People for Open Government (POG), filed a complaint in Hudson County Superior Court, POG claims that over $400,000 in contributions violate the local ordinance that prohibits pay-to-play in Hoboken, the practice of businesses giving political contributions while enjoying or seeking no-bid contracts with the city. On November 2, 2004, the voters of Hoboken enacted this ordinance by a 10,185 to 1,178 vote in a public referendum. POG was the group that initiated this referendum, forcing it to be placed on the ballot after the Hoboken City Council refused to pass the ordinance.

POG has also challenged the Mayor's use of two political organizations to collect money for his campaign. A number of donors have contributed the maximum permitted $10,400 to the Roberts Team ($2,600 per candidate) and $7,200 to the Hoboken Democratic Party (maximum contribution allowed to a political committee). A number of these donors wrote checks to the two organizations within days of each other.

POG's lawsuit states that Senator Kenny is prohibited by the ordinance from contributing through the Election Fund of Senator Kenny and the Hudson County Democratic Organization. Kenny controls both of these political committees and is also a partner in the law firm, Sarkisian Florio & Kenny. Since Mayor Roberts took office four years ago, this firm has secured legal contracts with the City of Hoboken totaling more than $1.2 million.