Mayor Glenn Cunningham will introduce Monday a city ordinance re-establishing the municipal Ethical Stands Board. The Ethics Board, which settles questions of conflict of interest and similar concerns regarding city employees, was dissolved by the City Council at its last meeting on Feb. 11.
According to Cunningham, the need for a municipal ethics board is imperitiative, especially after the recent investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Hudson County. In the last year, federal investigators have indicted former County Executive Robert Janiszewski for extortion, Freeholder Bill Braker for allegedly taking bribes and freeholder Nidia Davila Colon for allegedly carrying a bribe.
“If you have a problem, you don’t throw away the solution,” said Cunningham. “You make the solution stronger.”
The new ordinance has clarified the provisions of the municipal ethics board, mandating that city employees “not accrue beneficial interest from any source which occurs by virtue of influence improperly exerted from his or her position,” and “never use information [that has come] to him or her confidentially in the performance of governmental duties.”
Mayor’s Chief of Staff William Ayala said that the ordinance would increase the number of people serving on the ethics board from six to eight.
“The mayor would nominate one candidate for the board and would get the council’s approval,” said Ayala. “The other candidate would be nominated by the council itself.”
Councilman E. Junior Maldonado, who led the charge on dissolving the six-member municipal Ethics Board for the past two months, expressed a number of reservations about the mayor’s actions.
“And who would appoint the other members of the board?” Maldonado asked. “The mayor would.”
In abolishing the Ethics Board two weeks ago, Maldonado and other council members stated their belief that the board was being used by the mayor’s office for its own political ends.
“Now the mayor could appoint his own people to the board,” Maldonado stated.
The conflict between the City Council and Cunningham over the municipal Ethics Board is part of a larger conflict between the legislative and executive branches of Jersey City government. In the election to replace former County Executive Janiszewski, the council backed former Council President Tom DeGise, while Cunningham backed interim executive Bernard Hartnett. Since then, the council and Cunningham have been at odds over a number of issues, including the appointment to boards like the municipal Ethics Board.
The board itself has been subject to a number of problems in the last few months. The board, evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, had difficulty creating quorums. The board has met only once in the last two months.
When asked why he wanted to abolish the municipal Ethics Board, Maldonado cited the board’s inability to function properly.
“The legal council for the board, Matteo Battista, was fired from the board,” said Maldonado. “He was replaced by the city with Barbara DeSoto and now she has resigned. The board has no legal guidance.”
According to Jersey City code 3-12, the mayor has 10 days to veto any ordinance passed by the City Council, according to Ayala.
“The council has have a two-thirds vote to overturn the mayor’s veto,” said Ayala.
When asked, given the council’s opposition to nearly every action by the mayor regarding city boards and agencies, how the mayor expects the legislation to pass at the next council meeting Feb. 26, Ayala said the council was playing politics.
“Then they [the council] might be acting with more concern about politics,” said Ayala.
When interviewed on Friday, Maldonado felt certain the council would muster the two-thirds vote to defeat the mayor’s effort to re-establish the municipal Ethics Board.