GOP bemoan weak dual office holding bill and vote "aye"
By Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ.com Reporter and Matt Friedman, PolitickerNJ.com Reporter
Rival dual office holders Assemblyman (and West New York Mayor) Silverio "Sal" Vega, left, and Assemblyman (and Union City Mayor
A bill banning dual office holding sponsored by Assemblyman Michael Panter doesn’t hit hard enough, according to Republican critics, most of whom voted for the measure anyway Monday, saying something’s better than nothing and acknowledging it would be tough to face constituents if they voted against any bill that takes a crack at the practice.
The final vote tally for Panter’s bill, which bans dual office holding for those elected after Feb. 1, 2008, and grandfathers the 21 legislators who currently hold more than one elected post at the same time, was 69-3-8. Republican Assemblymen David W. Wolfe and Peter Biondi voted against it, as did Democratic Assemblyman (and West New York Mayor) Silverio Vega, who’s explained in the past that at least he’s honest in his belief that holding more than one elected office at once isn’t a crime.
The man who just vanquished Vega at the ballot box last Tuesday in their bid to be State Senator shares that belief. Assemblyman (and Union city Mayor) Brian P. Stack abstained from voting on the bill today, and later explained.
"Dual office holding is not a bad thing," said Stack. "I believe we’re making a lot out of nothing. It helps me be a better legislator to know the local government. I just felt out of respect for the leadership I abstained."
The biggest slam against the bill came from Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, who in the midst of some bi-partisan back-slapping stood up and told her district 12 rival Assemblyman, the author of the bill, "I do not congratulate you on your abandonment of principles," and urged her colleagues to return the bill to committee for second reading.
That motion went no where, and then Assemblyman Guy Gregg was up, railing against the bill he said would easily pass in both chambers before going to Gov. Jon Corzine.
"I’m challenging the governor to fix this bill," said Gregg, who likened the measure to a half loaf.
Assemblyman Joseph Cryan defended Panter’s bill, specifically the grandfather clause, on grounds that it respects the rights of those citizens who have already cast their votes for elected officials holding dual offices. Legislation banning dual office holding instantly would banish 21 lawmakers from all but one of their offices, and amount to trampling on the voters, said the Assemblyman.
"This bill respects those votes," said Cryan. "You (the voters) have the right to judge that performance. ...It’s insulting that their votes are somehow diminished. The rights of voters continue to be paramount."
Cryan admitted 14 of the chamber’s 21 dual office holders are Democrats, but strived to characterize the issue as bipartisan, and argued the beneficial effects of putting the brakes on future dual office holding.
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Democrats insist its a compromise..
Amongst themselves! Doesn't a compromise mean two parties are involved? Panter is a pansy and of course this bill passed because it is better then nothing.
Corzine has no guts...
When Corzine was elected, I actually thought he would bring a change to Trenton. He knows that this bill speaks volumes to the corruption that has gripped Trenton since the McGreevey debacle.
That he will say, "Well this is better than nothing" shows a tremendous lack of leadership. Dual office holding is either ok or not ok. Simple.
He should conditionally veto and mandate that it become effective immediately - only grandfathering those currently in dual office holding postions and not those currently looking to exploit the system.
What a dissapointment. And the Dem corruption marches on...
It got awful quiet
Funny, all the Democrat voices who pontificate so loudly on this board about the failure of the Republicans and laud the so called Democrat accomplishments have fell silent. Could it be that the Democrats have shown their true colors again? Panter was allowed to post this bill but as always, he followed the commands of the Democrat bosses and submitted a watered down bill that ensures the corrupt Democrats maintain their multiple offices and continue to drain the state of money that could be used to fund actual tax saving programs. Hopefully this time around someone will look behind the curtain and see the man who is actually pulling Panter's strings. I wonder what Mrs. Karcher has to say about all of this? My guess...nothing.
Pitiful Little Weasels
!!! Hey New Jersey !!!!
This is what you elected............
Cryan or Politics NJ are wrong on one thing..
According to an article PoliticsNJ linked earlier, 14 of 19 Dual office holders are Democrat. Not 14 of 21. (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20070611_Assembly_vote_targets_N...) Id spew lines about partisan actions or what not but Im not about to accuse this site of being partisan just yet.
By the way has Linda Greenstein lost her mind? Or does she just sponsor everything that gets thrown in front of her? Anyone ever see this woman's record of sponsored bills, it's no wonder she had no idea and got confused with what she was doing with Clean Elections, she has sponsored over 200 bills just after 2006.
Why NJ is Blue
If the bill sucks, don't sign it. We expect leadership not whining!
If they weren't a bunch of RINOs they could walk out and hold unified press conference with all 30 Republicans on the steps of the state house explaining why you could not sign it. But that option was off the table because too many Republicans are holding duel-offices.
Do they need a law to force them to act ethically? Why do we tolerate the shenanagans of our legislature? It seems that everytime they are cought with their hands in the cookie jar, they need to pass another law. Why don't they just automatically do the right thing, surrender their lesser jobs.
They think we are idiots. I guess we are we elected these frauds.
Ronald Reagan must be rolling over in his grave.
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." Thomas Paine
To RC
It has nothign to do with the Republicans who hold dual office...and there are not that many. It has to do with the campaigns. The R's know that if they voted AGAINST this bill it would be used against them during the campaign: "Assemblyman X is FOR dual office holding becuase they voted for against a ban this past spring." Hold all the press conferences you want, the voters will only hear and read the campaign rhetoric the D's spew in the fall...it's a sad truth.
Corzine doesn't need to conditionally veto the Bill
Unfortunately, Corzine has hired inexperienced staff who don't know their way around the legislative process.
Corzine can sign the bill and give Panter his photo op. Then he can put language in the budget bill to repeal the offensive language that grandfathered the dual office holders. The budget language overrides any prior laws.
Someone on Corzine's staff needs to advise him, instead of just trying to curry favor. Where is Carla when we need her??
Not Enough
As a resident of New Jersey and a democrat I must say I am disappointed with the bill banning dual office holders. The officials that have dual positions should be requied to surrender one position of their choice immediately. In addition elected officials under investigation by a U.S. law enforcement agency should be limited to how he or she may represent their district. Police officers are public servants, however if they are under investigation, their duty is limited and for sound reason. There is no reason why our elected officials should not be held accountable to the same standards. Now I know as a dem this would mean many follow dems would be limited to representing their district, however the collective good of people out ways my loyalty to my political party.
A Pox on BOTH Your Houses...
Dual office holding is intrinsically corrupt and self serving. There are a many ways to say it but the bottom line is that it fails the smell test.
It may well be that reform Democrats and Reform Republican have to form some kind of good government coalition party to simply clean house.
Put aside all the "social" issues for a decade.
Just having honest government across the board would revolutionize life in this state.
As it is; they are, pretty much, all bought and paid for by big money.
And that big money laughs all the way to their offshore banks when the see ordinary folks being apathetic and uninvolved or hopelessly cynical.
Imagine a law against murder that only becomes effective "from now on"....that's what we have here.
No bill would have been better than this disgraceful insult to common decency and common sense.
From Frederick Douglass