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More Pay-to-Play Woes for Eric Jackson

This morning, the Trenton Times has once more given its opinion page to mayoral candidate Eric Jackson, who tells us that “Our city deserves better than the rampant crime, corruption and ethical mismanagement we have seen over the last several years.”

I could not agree more, but I question whether Mr. Jackson is the right person to deliver that message, and the right person to be Trenton’s next mayor. Mr. Jackson’s campaign has over the last several months through several actions and inactions raised several questions about the sources and accounting of his contributions and expenses. Unfortunately for him, one week from the runoff election there is strong indication that he may be involved in yet another violation of Trenton’s municipal “Pay-to-Play” ordinance.

In February of this year, Jackson’s campaign came under scrutiny after the local press reported that   it had accepted several donations that were in violation of both New Jersey regulations as well as Trenton’s municipal Pay-to-Play ordinance, which forbids current and prospective vendors of professional services from contributing to municipal candidates. As a result of those reports, in early March campaign attorney “[David] Minchello said the Jackson campaign has returned two contributions totaling $850 from city contractor McManimon, Scotland and Bauman, as a result of a dispute whether the donation was in violation of the city’s pay to play law. The contractor maintains that the donation was legitimate, but Minchello said the check was sent back to the city’s bond counsel today to ‘alleviate even the appearance of impropriety.’”

Mr. Jackson’s campaign now has another apparent problem with Trenton’s Pay-to-Play Ordinance. This time it is a much larger problem concerning a donation of $8,200 from an entity that is closely associated with a South Jersey law firm under current contract to provide legal services to the City of Trenton.

This space reported on April 23 that among contributors to Eric Jackson’s campaign is a Political Action Committee (PAC) called “Initiate  Civic Empowerment,” also known as “ICE PAC.” In a document filed with the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) in 2012, two individuals are listed as the Chair and Treasurer for this group. As their address on the ELEC form, both individuals use the location of the law firm Long Marmero & Associates LLP.  The ICE PAC Treasurer is a name partner of the firm, Albert Marmero.

In a report filed with the State Election Law Enforcement Commission covering activity in the first quarter of 2014, the Jackson campaign reported a contribution from ICE PAC on February 25 of this year in the amount of $8,200, the maximum amount allowed under State law from a PAC.

Long Marmero is currently under contract with the City of Trenton as one of the several law firms the City hires for its legal work. A resolution on the Agenda for this Thursday’s City Council session, Number 14-300, will authorize a final payment on their existing contract with the City for “providing professional legal services regarding general municipal and defense litigation matters.”

It seems to me that we have a situation here in violation of the City’s Pay-to-Play Ordinance, which forbids any business entity, or principal associated with that entity providing services to  the City from making campaign contributions to candidates for elected office in Trenton. That includes Mr. Jackson.

ICE PAC also seems to be in violation of ELEC rules. Since 2012, the PAC has failed to file any of the mandatory quarterly reports of its activities to the Commission. It is impossible, therefore,  to know what the source of the PAC’s funds might be, other than the Long Marmero law firm itself and/or its partners.

As of today, then, we are left knowing only that the Treasurer of a group that contributed $8,200 to Eric Jackson’s campaign is a name partner of a law firm under contract to the City of Trenton, and that the group’s Chair is also an employee of the firm.

Remember, back in 2011 then-City Attorney Marc McKithen canceled a contract that the Cooper Levenson law firm had with the City for legal services, after it was determined that a $7500 payment from a local PAC to former mayor Tony Mack’s campaign had in fact come from the law firm. In that case, there were no personal connections that Cooper Levenson had with the management of the “Partners for Progress” PAC of the sort that we see with ICE PAC.

As City Attorney McKithen found Cooper Levenson in violation of our Pay-to-Play law in 2011, Long Marmeo is also likely to so found.  Until the relationship between Long Marmero and ICE PAC is clarified, and the roles of Albert Marmero in both entities explained, City Council should pull the final contract payment to the law firm from its Thursday agenda, and Mr. Jackson should immediately return the $8,200 ICE PAC donation.

This is only the latest instance of a long series of questions raised about Mr. Jackson’s campaign and personal financial history that he has not yet managed to satisfactorily put to rest.

Over the last few months, I have raised several questions about Mr. Jackson’s less-than-full compliance with City and State campaign finance rules and regulations. I noted in March that Jackson had failed, up to that time, to properly and legally close out his prior 2010 campaign, nearly four years earlier. This observation was picked up by then-candidate Jim Golden in a press conference, as well as being reported on PolitickerNJ, and resulted in Jackson filing all of his overdue 2010 reports just one day after Golden’s press conference and the Politicker article.

Jackson didn’t really give any reason for the extreme delay in filing the reports, other than telling The Trentonian, “My mind was other places losing. You’re despondent… We did file the amended report and they got filed to ELEC late. I take full responsibility for that.”

It’s not as if Mr. Jackson wasn’t aware of his ELEC obligations. In an email sent to me in April 2013, Jim Carlucci wrote of a meeting he had with the candidate in which the subject of the tardy reports came up. Mr. Jackson acknowledged the problem, and said he and his campaign-treasurer sister were working on catching up on the reports. From April 2013 to April 2014, there was no activity, no filings, until the matter was brought up as a campaign issue by a rival. Why? We don’t know.

In my April 22 post I described other transactions of interest, including contributions to Jackson from former US Senator and local Trenton developer Robert Torricelli that exceed the maximum dollar amount allowable, another ELEC violation.

And last month another former mayoral candidate, Walker Worthy, introduced Jackson’s personal financial history as a campaign issue. In a press conference on April 20, Mr. Worthy recited a Jackson history that included “a bankruptcy filing, a foreclosure, state tax liens and a judgment for a debt to his college alma mater.”

Raising these issues apparently didn’t hurt Mr. Jackson’s campaign for the May election very much, since he finished first in a field of six, earning 30% of the vote. And raising these questions about Mr. Jackson didn’t do enough to boost Worthy and Golden, who finished third and fourth, respectively. Eric Jackson may very well be on his way to becoming Trenton’s next Mayor.

But for me, and surely for many other voters as well, it is very disturbing that this close to the run off – in the final week of this campaign – new and serious questions are still popping up about Eric Jackson’s campaign finances.

It’s troubling to me that it took him four years to close his 2010 campaign, and it’s a concern that his only explanation for that lapse was being “despondent” over losing.

It’s troubling to me that Mr. Jackson failed to voluntarily disclose his personal financial history. Especially during an election to replace a man whose desperate personal finances seriously compromised his entire term in office even before it began, and whose end we know all too well!

It’s troubling to me that his campaign finances this year are so shoddy and careless as to accept contributions in excess of the maximum allowable under state rules, as well as accept contributions that now represent multiple violations of Trenton’s Pay-to-Play law.

What I said a month ago is more valid than when it was written:

These latest campaign finance slip-ups come right after several weeks during which Mr. Jackson’s campaign has had to play catch-up ball with its reporting lapses for the 2010 campaign as well as this year’s pay-to-play problem. It appears that Jackson’s campaign is not getting its act together as the campaign has proceeded.

When viewed along with the disclosures made by Mr. Worthy about the candidate’s personal financial history, this portrait of Mr. Jackson as perhaps not the most buttoned-up person to take on Trenton’s money troubles has to be seen by voters as very troubling.

We went down this road four years ago with the last guy. Do we really want to do this again?

Me, I sure as hell don’t want to go down this road again!

I strongly agree with Mr. Jackson’s call to action this morning, when he says “we must clean up city hall by rooting out all vestiges of corruption from municipal government, restoring ethics and challenging residents to take more responsibility for our community.”

I simply do not believe, due to his many mistakes, lapses of judgment and unanswered questions  that Eric Jackson is the man to do that. However, barring any truly calamitous turn of events in the last week, Mr. Jackson is likely to be elected Trenton’s next mayor.

“Down this road again” seems to be where surely we are bound. Unfortunately.

3 comments to More Pay-to-Play Woes for Eric Jackson

  • Dallas Dixon

    Amen

  • John Lamb

    Well done and very necessary. Thank you for the assiduous attention to this very troubling baggage. Hopefully there is some way to penetrate the fog of disinterest that seems to lie over this ailing but beautiful city. Keep at it.

  • JK

    Eric is going to sully and embarrass the city every bit as much as Tony did.

    There’s a reason the city is 40 years behind civilization.

    Complete utter putzes and schmucks running the show.

    YOU should be mayor, Kevin. Enough of the mental midgets.