Mayoral candidate Carol Marsh and her slate of council candidates may be for stopping “out of control” development in Hoboken, but they’re not against asking developers for donations.
For weeks, supporters of Mayor David Roberts’ mayoral bid have said the opposing Marsh team, which has been an advocate for pay-to-play reform and for slowing the rapid pace of development in Hoboken, has asked developers for campaign contributions.
Last week, Dan DiTrolio, a vice president at Hartz-Mountain Industries, a major development firm based in Secaucus, went on the record to say that Marsh personally called him to ask if he would donate money to her campaign.
DiTrolio said he was surprised because his company doesn’t have any projects in Hoboken.
“I found it kind of odd that someone who was antidevelopment would somehow get my number and call me [to] try to ask for our support,” said DiTrolio.
DiTrolio said that he told Marsh that his company didn’t have projects in Hoboken. He said he told her Hartz doesn’t get involved in towns where they aren’t developing projects.
“I get calls from assembly members and senators, but this is the first time I can remember getting a call from a city council person running for mayor in a town that we don’t even develop in,” DiTrolio said.
DiTrolio said that to the best of his knowledge, Hartz has never given money to Mayor David Roberts’ campaigns.
Hartz Mountain has built major projects including the 60-acre Lincoln Harbor in Weehawken and Harmon Cove in Secaucus.
Marsh said Friday that she did make the call, but that it was not improper. Marsh said she was simply going down a list of people and companies who have contributed to campaigns in the past, whether they were developers or not.
“I am asking people who make contributions to political campaigns for contributions,” she said. “When I ask them, I am very clear about what I plan to do in Hoboken. The current crop of developers gets their contracts by giving campaign contributions. When I am the mayor, contributors to my campaign will have the opportunity to bid fairly, as will those who did not contribute. Nothing more, nothing less. The projects they bid on will really benefit the community, or they will not be built.”
Marsh added, “My request for a campaign contribution essentially asked them if they were willing to support a fair and open process. Their answer was no. Apparently they believe that keeping David Roberts in office is in their best interest, and they are probably correct. This campaign is based in part on the notion that there are providers of quality services who are sick of having the door slammed because they won’t buy access and are willing to spend some money to change the way business is done.”
Marsh then took jabs at Hartz Mountain and their work, despite having asked for their money earlier. “People who contribute to this campaign are making it clear that they believe they can compete effectively based on their abilities,” Marsh said. “Hartz Mountain apparently feels that they can’t, and I am pleased to not have their support.”
Marsh added, “The irony is that if there is an RFP process [a request for developer proposals for parcels in town], they will be given the opportunity to bid just like anyone else. However, given the quality of their work in the Meadowlands, they may very well fear a level playing field.”
DiTrolio declined to comment on Marsh’s criticism of the company’s work in the Meadowlands.
DiTrolio said that Marsh asked him whether he planned to develop in Hoboken in the future.
Marsh said that that’s true, but only for informational purposes, as it might affect whether he was interested in what she wants to do.
Marsh said, “Stuff is going to get built in Hoboken, and I’m interested in opening up the field as much as possible. If you have a lot of people who are interested, you’re going to get the best deal and building in Hoboken.”
It’s okay to accept them if they’re small
Next week will provide a glimpse as to who is giving money to Hoboken’s five mayoral candidates. Campaign election reports have to be submitted quarterly, and will be available online at www.elec.state.nj.us.
Marsh said last week it is entirely proper for her to accept “reasonable” contributions from developers. Marsh defined reasonable as being within the pay-to-play guidelines that were set by Hoboken voters last November.
Pay-to-play is the process where contractors or developers donate out of the hope that they will get favorable treatment by governments. Last year, the Hoboken voters approved an ordinance drastically limiting campaign contributions for developers and certain contractors who do business with the city.
Currently, the limit for developers is $400 per candidate and a maximum of $2,500 for the entire company. Marsh pointed out that Mayor David Roberts has received ten of thousands of from developers over the past years. URSA development, alone, has contributed nearly $40,000 to various Roberts-related campaigns in the past.
However, Marsh’s allies have railed against such contributions.
Marsh said that Hoboken has been a “closed shop” for development where only the biggest campaign contributors have been rewarded. She said that need to be a fully open process.
“Right now, every developer in the state that doesn’t [contribute to the administration] feels like Hoboken is off limits,” Marsh said. “Development needs to be effectively planned through an open process.”
She said that developers and other business people might want to donate to her campaign to support the change she wants to make in Hoboken.
However, Roberts and other politicians have used similar arguments in the past, saying they have gotten contributions from contractors because those contractors support their accomplishments and views, not because they want contracts.
Marsh responded, “I think there’s a huge difference between getting $500 or $1,000 and getting $10,000 or $20,000 over the course of campaigns. Let’s look at their campaign contributions and see how much they’re getting. I’m very clear about what I’m about. My campaign literature is all over the place. It’s not like I’m saying, ‘Let’s make a deal.’ ”
Marsh and ally Councilman Tony Soares ran with Roberts when he first ran for mayor four years ago, but later broke with him.
Roberts’ current political consultant, Paul Swibinski, said last week that Marsh’s move was hypocritical. “I think it’s staggering hypocrisy that a person that crusades on pay-to-play issues would be inviting developers to fill her campaign coffers,” Swibinski said. “Pay-to-play reform has been all over her literature, and now her it turns out that her big accomplishment is a fraud.”