By Michael Ritchie | The Save Jersey Blog
An under-reported but significant development from last week could play into this year’s Bergen countywide election calculus, Save Jerseyans.
In May of 2013, the Bergen County Freeholder Board approved a measure by a 6-1 vote to increase the amount that no-bid contractors could contribute to Bergen County political campaigns to $5,200.
At the time, that measure was met with strong opposition from County Executive Kathe Donovan and multiple attempts to pass the bill were vetoed by the County Executive.
Last week the issue once again came up before the Bergen County Freeholder Board for consideration, only this time the listed resolution was drawn to make Bergen’s pay-to-play laws stricter.
The vote was also 6-1 like last year but this time the Freeholder board reversed last year’s ordinance and reduced the amount that no-bid contractors can contribute to political campaigns to $2,000.
The one dissenting vote to this year’s measure came from Republican Freeholder John Felice who at a previous meeting indicated his concern that tightening the laws would aid only wealthy citizens in the pursuit of elected office. The new resolution earned Executive Donovan’s support.
