Councilwoman Beth Mason and three council slatemates from her 2009 mayoral campaign have paid a total of $37,160 in fines resulting from violations of state election law, according to a settlement reached with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). The payment arose from complaints over unfiled reports, late reports, and late filing of contribution and expenditure information in the 2009 and 2011 election cycles.
In a statement this week, Mason said she “worked with ELEC officials to settle the complaints in order to save taxpayer dollars, highlighting mutual concerns over the high cost of time and money.”
As a caveat of the consent orders and decisions, Mason and her colleagues “neither admit nor deny that the violations alleged in the [ELEC complaints] constitute violations.”
However, as the leader of her campaign slate in 2009 and a solo candidate in 2011, Mason said she takes full responsibility for the election law violations incurred on her watch.
An ELEC representative told NJ.com that one of the penalties imposed was the 15th largest ever imposed by the agency.
“I worked with ELEC officials to settle the complaints in order to save taxpayer dollars.”—Beth Mason
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According to an NJ.com story, the charges against Mason and her team could have potentially carried a maximum of $2.2 million in fines.
In the interest of preventing late filings from occurring again, Mason said she has hired an accounting firm to manage her filing of ELEC reports in future elections.
2009 violations
The first set of violations arose during the 2009 municipal election, in which Mason ran for mayor on the “One Hoboken” slate. Her running mates, competing for three City Council seats, were Raul Morales, Anthony Pasquale, and Vincent Addeo.
Mason did not make a June runoff election between Dawn Zimmer and Peter Cammarano. She and Zimmer faced off again in November 2009 after Cammarano resigned due to corruption charges, but Mason lost out.
According to a complaint lodged by ELEC in February 2014, the “One Hoboken” joint campaign committee filed its post-election report on contributions and expenditures, which is supposed to be submitted within 20 days of Election Day, 128 days after the election. That report detailed $101,200 in personal loans given to the campaign by Mason and $251,711 in expenditures.
Another contribution report for the third quarter of 2009 was filed 222 days late. It revealed $90,000 in loans that Mason gave to her campaign, along with $399,771 in expenditures.
Two subsequent quarterly reports revealed an additional $40,000 loaned by Mason to her campaign, and were filed respectively 123 and 41 days late.
Mason’s committee also failed issue 48-hour notices for contributions in excess of $1,200.
ELEC imposed a cumulative penalty of $34,700 for all of the 2009 violations, but reduced it to $27,760 when Mason and company paid that amount on Dec. 15, in advance of the issuance of the final decision.
Mason attributed the 2009 violations at least in part to the confusion created when two of her slatemates, Vincent Addeo and Raul Morales, joined the slate of Peter Cammarano for the June runoff election (both subsequently lost). However, Mason did not specify what specific violations resulted from that change-over.
One of the reasons it’s important for candidates to get their forms in on time is so that voters have an idea who is funding the candidates. In this case, Mason largely funded her own campaign.
2011 violations
Mason and her husband Richard Mason, who served as her campaign treasurer, also paid $9,400 for violations during Mason’s 2011 City Council re-election campaign.
The Masons were cited for submitting three quarterly financial reports respectively 276, 184, and 98 days late. The reports revealed, among other things, $81,692 in in-kind contributions—that is, goods and services in lieu of cash.
According to Mason, her campaign committee had been filing more than it needed to on some of its reports, which led it to neglect the quarterly reports until it was too late.
FOG declines comment
The extent of Mason’s election law violations seems to stand in contrast to her public advocacy for high ethical standards and transparency in local government.
Mason was a founding member of Hoboken People for Open Government (POG) and currently serves on the board of directors of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government (NJFOG).
NJFOG is a group focused on advocating for New Jersey’s sunshine laws. According to its website, NJFOG “seeks to increase transparency, accountability, honesty and democracy in government at all levels by defending and expanding public access to government records and meetings.”
NJFOG President Walter Luers declined to give a comment on Mason’s violations on Thursday.
Hoboken POG bills itself as a “nonpartisan political committee dedicated to promotion of open, accountable and transparent municipal government…[and] curbing the undue influence of campaign contributions on public policy.” Its website presents information about the contribution limits promulgated by ELEC.
According a statement provided to The Hoboken Reporter on Thursday, POG “finds it inexcusable that any elected official is unable to conform to the reporting requirements of our election commissions.” However, the group emphasized that Mason has not served on its governing body since 2007.
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.