City Solicitor Gerald Corcoran in June said it was illegal in New Jersey for towns such as Ocean City to use tax money to pay for political campaigns. After he offered his opinion, Council deadlocked 3-3 on a campaign-finance ordinance and the measure died.
No town in New Jersey uses tax money to pay for political campaigns. Some council members in Ocean City endorsed the idea as a way to rid local elections of influence peddling by political or business interests.
Council members, even some who voted down the ordinance, encouraged supporters in the audience to get a second opinion from a judge about its legality. The council members thought they were signing the equivalent of a “friend of the court” brief. Instead, they became named plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Sept. 12 against Ocean City and its City Council.
“Nowhere on the letter we saw did it say we would participate in a bleeping lawsuit,” Councilman Jody Alessandrine said. “It turned out to be Council v. Council. We're off of it now.”
This week, he and three other councilmen listed as plaintiffs asked to be removed from the lawsuit. A fifth, Councilman Roy Wagner, said Wednesday he was not sure whether he, too, would ask to be removed from the lawsuit. His name appears first followed by nine private citizens who supported the measure.
Wagner said he still wants a judge to render an opinion about council's discretion to enact public financing for local campaigns.
“Do we have the authority to do so? According to some legal experts, we do. According to others, we don't. It's a situation where I'd like to see it heard one way or the other,” he said.
Under the proposal, the city would have dedicated $75,000 per year to political campaigns or $150,000 total starting with the 2008 City Council ward elections. Ward candidates would qualify for public money by collecting signatures and $5 contributions from at least 100 registered voters.
Opponents of the measure said they did not want public money to go to any politicians, particularly those they did not support.
Corcoran said dedicated trust funds such as the one proposed would need state approval first.
After the council measure was defeated, Assemblymen Jeff Van Drew and Nelson Albano, both D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, introduced a bill on Independence Day to let towns create a special budget fund to sponsor political campaigns.
That bill was referred to the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee.
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