Monmouth Freeholders Overturn County Pay-to-Play Regulations in Favor of State's

A nonprofit citizens’ group is calling for the Monmouth County freeholder board to reconsider its vote to rescind the county’s pay-to-play regulations in favor of the state’s standards.

The Citizens Campaign, a nonprofit citizen advocacy group that bills itself as non-partisan, called the resolution overturning a 2008 law “ill-advised” in a press release issued Monday. The freeholders voted unanimously to adopt the state’s campaign reform legislation during the governing body’s regular meeting on Thursday, Jan. 26 at the building in Freehold.

Monmouth County counsel Andrea I. Bazer said contractors the regional government was working with found the differing county and state regulations confusing.

“The determination was made we needed a uniform policy on how to follow pay-to-play. We had people that were trying to conduct business in Monmouth County, in other counties and with the state,” Bazer said. “It’s very confusing for businesses that are seeking to do business here and other places to have different restrictions and requirements. They’re finding it difficult to know what it is they can and can’t do.”

However, former Freeholder Amy Mallet said the 2008 county resolution provided tougher campaign finance regulations and the state law was watered down, in comparison.

“What we were doing here in Monmouth from 2008 to the present is actually tightening up state laws. What I see being done tonight is action being taken to reverse that,” Mallet said during the public comments portion of the meeting.

The 2008 regulations prohibited awarding county contracts to business entities that contributed over $300 to a candidate or a county or state political party committee within a year of the contribution. Businesses seeking a contract were also required to file a disclosure statement providing information of political contributions in the previous year under the 2008 rules. State regulations do not have the 12-month prohibition of the disclosure requirement, Mallet said.

The Citizens Campaign press release called for the freeholder board to reinstate the 2008 resolution, saying it ensured businesses competed for contracts in a fair and open process and provided safeguards against political favoritism.