HOBOKEN — Last week, various politicians in Hoboken took sides after Mayor Dawn Zimmer and her allies proposed legislation against “wheeling,” the practice of donating large amounts of money to a political candidate by using a political action committee (a PAC) to get around individual campaign donation limits.
At Wednesday night’s council meeting, the anti-Zimmer council majority voted for some campaign finance reforms, but voted against the package that included the anti-“wheeling” legislation. Zimmer’s allies had admitted that in addition to trying to create “clean elections”, the provision targeted Council President Beth Mason, who made maximum individual and PAC donations to Zimmer political opponent Tim Occhipinti in his election last November.
Later in the week, the situation resulted in a war of words between Assemblyman Ruben Ramos Jr., who lives in Hoboken, and Councilman Ravi Bhalla, a Zimmer ally.
Before the meeting, council members had asked Ramos for an opinion about the proposed anti-wheeling legislation. Among other impacts, the legislation would cut maximum donations to candidates from non-Hoboken PACs from $8,200 to $500, and have a similar impact on self-funded PACs both in and outside of Hoboken.
Ramos stated that through his conversations with the State Legislature and reading of state statutes, it’s his “understanding that the State of New Jersey is the only actor with the legal authority to set campaign contribution limits.” He applauded Zimmer’s efforts on other policies, and said he would remain in contact with the council with more information about campaign finance reform.
Ramos finished the letter to the council: “I applaud the efforts of the Mayor to promote better, honest and more transparent government. However, I caution against enacting proposals that simply would not pass constitutional muster and are being pushed simply to score cheap political points in an election year.”
At Wednesday’s meeting, Bhalla took exception to the last sentence of Ramos’ letter, and voiced his displeasure.
After hearing Bhalla’s remarks, Ramos struck back on Friday with a new letter.
“I’d like to set the record straight on Councilman Ravi Bhalla’s comments about me from Wednesday night’s Council Meeting,” Ramos wrote in the Letter to the Editor. “It’s regrettable that Councilman Bhalla chose to only represent a very select portion of my letter to the Mayor and City Council, which was in direct response to an inquiry from members of the Council asking for an opinion from the State. Quite frankly, I am not surprised.”
Bhalla’s name had surfaced in campaign finance-related “pay to play” scandal in the past, something Ramos made a point of in his letter.
“I find it ironic that Councilman Bhalla is now attempting to position himself as leading the charge on pay-to-play and other campaign finance reform measures,” Ramos said. “This amounts to nothing more than the fox guarding the hen house.”
Ramos clarified the points of his original letter, but once again went after Bhalla.
“In my letter I clearly support the Mayor and Council’s decision to enact pay-to-play reforms,” Ramos said. “I further applauded Mayor Zimmer’s efforts to promote honest and more transparent government. My comments were in no way directed at or disrespectful of Mayor Zimmer. In my capacity as a State Assemblyman, I was simply doing my job in responding to an inquiry from a municipality in my district. If this was intended to be a political stunt, believe me, I could have chosen harsher words, especially for Councilman Bhalla.”
Bhalla responded on Friday evening in response to Ramos’ letter with a statement of his own.
“While Assemblyman Ramos is dead wrong in his claims about alleged lapses of judgment when it comes to pay-to-play,” he wrote, “he is certainly entitled to his opinion. When these false accusations [about me] were first made about me about a year ago, my response to media outlets was that I would pledge to work to strengthen our pay-to-play laws and close the current loopholes in the law in Hoboken. In co-sponsoring anti-wheeling legislation along with Councilman Cunningham, I seek to follow through on the promise I made to the public when this topic was raised last year. Assemblyman Ramos may find my efforts ironic, but I feel that action, not words, is the best means for the public to truly know a public official’s position on pay-to-play and wheeling. The pay-to-play and anti-wheeling measures I have advocated are a part of that effort to put words into action.”
Bhalla also wrote that that he believes by accusing Zimmer of scoring cheap political points and attacking Bhalla in the letter, that Ramos’ conduct has been “unbecoming of an assemblyman representing Hoboken and highly disrespectful.”
“I wonder if this type of behavior would be tolerated if it were directed at other mayors in Hudson County,” Bhalla said. “Most importantly, I also believe it calls into question whether Assemblyman Ramos is truly serious about addressing the corrupting influence of money in local elections.”
“If nothing else, I am pleased that Assemblyman Ramos, in his letter, has stated his support of Mayor Zimmer’s efforts to enact pay-to-play reforms,” Bhalla said. “Accordingly, instead of personal attacks, I request that Assemblyman Ramos provide the Mayor and City Council with constructive input on how to strengthen the anti-wheeling ordinance proposed at last week’s meeting. On the issue of pay-to-play and campaign finance, the public has a right to expect action, not words, from our public officials, including Assemblyman Ramos.”
To read more about the council meeting and “wheeling” issue, pick up this weekend’s Hoboken Reporter or check out www.hudsonreporter.com. – Ray Smith