Critics claim
dual-office ban isn't enough
By JEAN MIKLE and
ALAN GUENTHER,GANNETT NEW JERSEY
From thnt.com October
7, 2007
Eleven state constitutions prohibit
people from holding multiple elected offices of any kind, but not New Jersey,
where dual office holding is a time-honored tradition.
During the same week in early September that Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed a ban on
dual office holding for officials elected after Feb. 1, 2008, a 10th
assemblyman, Orange Mayor Mims Hackett Jr., was arrested on charges he agreed to
accept a $30,000 bribe for steering the city's insurance business to a firm.
Four days after his arrest, Hackett resigned from the Legislature.
Critics say the ban signed by the governor, which allows existing lawmakers to
continue serving in other elected positions, does not go far enough. It
also does not affect county or municipal officials holding two or more elective
posts, and does not address the common practice of lawmakers holding other,
non-elective government jobs.
Forty-three New Jersey state legislators — or 36 percent — reported receiving
income from another government agency in 2006.
A 2004 report by the Center for Public Integrity found a third of New Jersey
legislators received income from another government agency, by far the highest
percentage of any of the 50 states. The second-highest number was in
Delaware, where 23 percent of lawmakers reported receiving income from another
state agency besides the Legislature.
Gov. Corzine said the dual office bill he signed, which allows sitting lawmakers
to continue serving in other elected offices, was not the version he favored.
"This issue of dual office holding is one of serious concern for the public,"
Corzine said. "I think it's emblematic of conflict and incompatibility of
making decisions that come from representing two different constituencies."
U.S. Attorney Christopher S. Christie also criticized dual office holding
following the arrest of Hackett and Assemblyman Alfred E. Steele, who was also
an undersheriff in Passaic County. Steele resigned from both positions
after his arrest.
"Whenever too much power is concentrated in one set of hands, it leads to
tremendous opportunity for mischief," Christie said.
Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty, D-Gloucester, who also is mayor of Washington
Township, said banning all dual office holdings immediately would be a mistake.
"To disenfranchise voters, and say that people that have overwhelming elected
people to two positions, I don't think anyone wants to take away someone's
vote," Moriarty said.
Yet Moriarty said he voted for the ban because he heard from constituents "who
have been stoked by editorial writers."
"I don't believe that it's a terrible, terrible thing," Moriarty said. "I
don't think there is anything evil about dual office holders. I hold two
jobs like millions of Americans, and they're both part—time jobs, and I work
seven days a week. I'm constantly working on the public's business."
Moriarty argues that he brings a "municipal government viewpoint to Trenton,
which I think in some cases is sorely lacking."
Assemblyman Ronald S. Dancer, R-Ocean, who has been mayor of Plumsted in Ocean
County since 1990, said he is a "volunteer" mayor who does not accept a salary
or pension benefits for his municipal job.
"I support the ban," said Dancer, who also works as an interviewer for the Ocean
County Adjuster's Office. "I am not double-dipping. I am a total
volunteer."
An attempt to create a study commission to review dual office holding failed in
2004 when it died in a Senate committee after it passed the Assembly by a vote
of 69-10. The Assembly State Government Committee that held a hearing on
the bill was chaired at the time by Hackett, the assemblyman arrested in
September.
More than four decades ago, in 1962, legislators actually responded to a court
decision limiting dual office holding by passing a bill that explicitly allowed
them to hold more than one elected office, according to a New Jersey Policy
Perspective report.
Dual office holding "is a form of political double-dipping," that "creates
"low-show' jobs," dividing the time of attention of election officials,
according to New Jersey Policy Perspective's report.
It also can put officials in a conflict-of-interest situation, and lead to
pork-barrel spending, as dual office holders may have a further incentive to
funnel more money to projects in the municipalities or counties where they hold
other jobs, the report states.
Posted Oct. 6, 2007
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