Ethics panel recommends more disclosure
Proposals designed to make government more transparent

A newly formed ethics panel last week called for further disclosure and recusals on the part of Monroe Township board members who have even distant relationships with building applicants.

The panel, formed last summer by Mayor Richard Pucci, met in public for the first time Nov. 21 and issued a series of recommendations centered on the application processes that are overseen by the township's Planning and Zoning boards.

Abridged versions of the committee's report were distributed to the approximately 40 people in attendance. Though the panel sought feedback from the public during the meeting, some of those present said they simply were not given enough time to consider the recommendations, since they had just received them.

Others were pleased with the panel's progress.

"I think it's a well-outlined program. It's very extensive," said John Riggs, Planning Board member and township environmental protection manager. "I think it will be a trendsetter for other communities in the state."

In the case of "business and employment relationship conflicts," the panel recommended disclosure in all cases when a board member or someone in their family has a direct employment relationship with an applicant or professional coming before a given board for approval.

Some cases called for both disclosure and recusal, while in others, only disclosure was deemed necessary, such as when a board member owns less than $10,000 in stock with a company seeking approval from the board. Riggs questioned that dollar amount, which he said seemed high. Panel Chairman Joseph Sadofski, a retired Middlesex County Superior Court judge, agreed, saying it was picked somewhat arbitrarily and could be changed.

Another situation only calling for disclosure would be if a relative of a board member who did not live in the same household had a direct employment relationship with an applicant.

For "family and social relationship conflicts," disclosure and recusal would be required in cases when an applicant or associated professional is a close family member of someone sitting on a board, when a board member belongs to an organization that is an applicant, or if a board member lives or owns real estate within 200 feet of an applicant.

Going a step further, the panel also recommends that any board member's "general social relationship" with an applicant be disclosed.

Under the same heading was the recommendation that board members provide an annual report disclosing household income sources over $2,000 for all adults who live there. However, Township Council President Gerald Tamburro said this would create privacy issues for adult children living in a parent's home, especially in the case of a troubled marriage or an individual with a handicap.

The disclosure of political contributions is also discussed in the recommendations - for both board members and the applicants.

For applicants, the panel recommends the certified disclosure of political donations made by the applicant and any professional of the applicant within the past two years, and any business relationship of the applicant or any of his professionals with a board member.

For board members, any contributions over the amount designated by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJELEC) would have to be disclosed. Failure to do so would result in a fine of $2,000, the panel recommended.

As a general recommendation, the panel suggested board members disclose more information about conflicts that exist, whether it is the "category of the relationship" in cases of recusal, or details about the relationship in cases when a board member discloses the conflict, but recusal is not required.

"Many of us are not interested in having our situations discussed in public," Zoning Board of Adjustment member Doris Entmacher said.

She said the annual financial disclosure required from board members should be sufficient, and those serving on boards should be able to enjoy some degree of privacy.

The panel has spent a good deal of time discussing the issue of privacy for board members, balanced with the general distrust of government that has become prevalent, according to panelist Guy Baehr, a founding board member of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government and a former reporter for the Star-Ledger of Newark.

"It's just incumbent in these times to have a degree of transparency," Baehr said.

"That has been our main issue in Monroe Township, the lack of open government," said Tom Nothstein, who attended the meeting. "Everything is clothed in secrecy and we really have to go out of our way to obtain the information so that we can be informed citizens."

Harold Kane, who voiced problems with the scheduling of the meeting last week in a letter to the Sentinel, cited comments made by panelists Guy Baehr and Leonora Farber about striving for transparency among board members.

"Unfortunately, these proceedings have done the exact opposite and given minimal information to the public," Kane said. "This meeting was not published on the [township] Web site."

Kane went on to suggest that the panel publish the report they distributed on the Web site, so residents who were unable to attend could offer their input. The panel agreed to his suggestion, and published the report on the Internet the following day. Residents will be given 10 days to send in their responses and recommendations to the panel, Sadofski said.

"It's hard to digest all of these things in a one-hour sitting," said Ruth Banks, co-president of the Monroe League of Women Voters.

Pucci formed the panel in July after being criticized for his private work with a political action committee (PAC). Newspaper articles last spring noted Pucci's political consulting work for a PAC linked to developer Jack Morris. Pucci was paid by the committee, New Directions Through Responsible Leadership, to which Morris has made contributions. Morris, who has made applications to the township Planning Board, is reported to have an interest in building a minor league ballpark as part of a large development called Monroe Marketplace on Route 33.

Pucci, who sits on the Planning Board, said that over the years he requested legal opinions from Township Attorney Joel L. Shain every time a possible conflict could arise. In each of those cases, Pucci said, he has followed the legal and ethical statutes to the letter.

Nonetheless, he discontinued his work with the committee after the newspaper reports were published, and created the ethics panel to establish and oversee compliance with a set of intense ethical standards that go further than the law requires.

Nothstein noted that the ethics panel report distributed to the public last week did not address the issue of involvement with a PAC.

"I think it's imperative that we address the reason why you put all your hard work into this," Nothstein told the board. "We want total openness in anything that, even though it may have met the letter of the law, I don't think it met the spirit of the law."

Sadofski pointed out that there is more to the report, and the version seen by the public was only an outline.