HOBOKEN — NJ.com reported on Monday that Hoboken Councilman Ravi Bhalla filed his Election Law Enforcement Commission forms this weekend, after the newspaper asked him about it.
They posted: “A councilman representing a city at the forefront of pay-to-play reform has apparently flouted the state pay-to-play law. The law firm of Ravi Bhalla, who was elected to the Hoboken City Council last May, did not file a Business Entity Annual Statement as required by the state election commission, until Saturday [after the newspaper asked why.] The state BE, as it is called, is a form that must be filed with ELEC by private vendors who do business with government entities.”
According to the story, the form became mandatory in 2006, requiring a contractor to list all its campaign contributions, as well as any contracts with government agencies and bodies.
The story goes on to note: “On Friday afternoon, Bhalla, who has or had contracts with Union City, Newark, Hoboken and Dumont said in a telephone interview that he did not have to file the form. In a follow-up interview said he was totally unaware of the form. By Saturday evening, Bhalla’s firm, Bhalla and Cho, had filed the reports for 2007, 2008 and 2009…A spokeswoman at ELEC said the commission metes out penalties on a case by case basis.”