HOBOKEN — Hoboken Council President Beth Mason responded this week to the controversy over an initiative by Mayor Dawn Zimmer to cut down on “wheeling” in Hoboken elections, which is the process of using political action committees to donate money to candidates in order to get around individual financing limits. Zimmer allies have acknowledged that a major impetus was the fact that Council President Beth Mason and her family were able to donate $13,000 to a council candidate last November who ran in opposition to Zimmer’s candidate.
At last week’s council meeting, Mason’s allies voted down a slew of campaign finance reform items that had had the “wheeling” item attached, but did vote in favor of the items without “wheeling” attached. Mason has said that Zimmer added the “wheeling” item last-minute, and a local campaign finance reform group, POG, did not work with Zimmer on that item as they did with the others.
Amid the blazing controversy, Mason weighed in today that she was proud to be able to donate so much money to Occhipinti. She also said Zimmer contributed much of her own money to her allies in the past when they ran for council (the number is being verified by our editors).
Part of Mason’s letter, which will run in full in the Reporter this weekend, is below. If we receive a response from Zimmer allies, we will publish it as well. What do you think of the controversy and Mason’s response? Leave a comment below!
Dear Editor,
Please allow me to respond to last week’s story regarding Councilman Cunningham’s and Councilman Bhalla’s resolution, which was tacked on at the last minute to an ordinance I co-sponsored to strengthen our campaign finance laws. The Cunningham-Bhalla ordinance is not “anti-wheeling”, it’s just “anti-Beth”. As reported this resolution specifically targeted me and my ability to use my own money when running for office. Why? Because in last November’s election I supported Councilman Tim Occhipinti over their and Mayor Zimmer’s ally, Michael Lenz, for City Council.
I supported Tim because he is a bright new leader who represents a philosophical and generational change from the politics of old. Mr. Lenz on the other hand exemplified anything but good government … Reducing the burden on Hoboken’s taxpayers, in the Second Ward and elsewhere, is my number one goal, which Mr. Lenz obviously did not share.
My family and I were proud to contribute $13,000 of our hard-earned money to Councilman Occhipinti’s campaign, as were others; in fact, he raised almost six times the amount we contributed, from other people. Councilman Bhalla called my contribution the catalyst for his ordinance but in 2009 Mayor Zimmer contributed … her own money to Council members Bhalla, Marsh, and Mello during their Council-at-Large campaign. That was not illegal and was the Mayor’s right to do so with her own money, but it underscores the double standard on display.
Mayor Zimmer announced her support of the Cunningham-Bhalla ordinance by saying that it will limit the influence of outside contributors on Hoboken political races. But, among its other faults, this is exactly the opposite of what the ordinance actually says. The ordinance prohibits self-funding Hoboken candidate committees, such as mine, from contributing more than $500 to other candidates. But it leaves a gaping hole for developers and other outsiders to donate thousands of dollars to Hoboken candidate committees such as hers, with no corresponding $500 limit on her committee’s ability to contribute to the people she favors. This is the very essence of “wheeling”, which the Cunningham-Bhalla ordinance does nothing to stop. Instead, it targets people like me, who are willing to use our own resources to fight for Hoboken residents and taxpayers, and magnifies the influence of non-Hoboken money.
When crafting legislation there must be a higher standard than “how can I hurt people I disagree with today?” If Councilmen Cunningham and Bhalla are serious about campaign finance reform, an issue that they seem to have come to only recently, then I am happy to sit down and work with them on legislation that works for the entire community, and does not just target my family and other Hoboken residents who are not their best friends.
Councilwoman Beth Mason