Dem official: Extend disclosure ordinance

Let me be clear up front. Public disclosure of contributions to elected officials is important and I fully support such disclosure. But it shouldn’t stop there, and it has in Millstone Township.

Recently the Township Committee passed the so-called “developer disclosure” ordinance which requires that anyone who wishes to go in front of the planning or zoning boards for approvals, waivers or variances must disclose to those boards a list of political candidates they contributed to and how much they gave.

OK, so far, so good.

But the ordinance does not go far enough. For the system to be truly transparent, the members of those boards and the appointed professionals of those boards should also be required to disclose their political campaign activities.

At the Township Committee meeting, Millstone Deputy Mayor [Nancy] Grbelja said such restrictions on board members were not necessary because members take an oath. Well, if she believes an oath insures integrity, then let me introduce her to a long list of oath-taking, bribe-taking, lying New Jersey politicians who have been rightfully convicted by the U.S. Attorney.

The truth is that everyone who gets appointed to any board in any town at any time is somebody’s friend or contributor. And friends have biases. How can we demand disclosure of those asking for approvals when we do not demand it from those who have the absolute power to grant or deny such requests?

Grbelja has repeatedly stated that transparency should be the standard, and she is right. However, if transparency is the standard, then we should make it the standard for all.

In the spirit of openness and full public awareness, wouldn’t this be the perfect time for Grbelja to publicly disclose her own list of contributors and also required from those she votes to appoint to township boards or to professional positions full disclosure as well? Shouldn’t we know if a board chairman was also a major contributor to the mayor? And, all of this information could be made easily accessible to the public by posting the information on the township’s Web site, in plain view and at virtually no cost.

I urge Mayor [Elias] Abilheira and Deputy Mayor Grbelja to take the lead on this important initiative by putting forward an ordinance that would make full disclosure by everyone the standard. Perhaps they should demonstrate their own commitment to openness by distributing to the public a list of all their various contributors even before this much-needed ordinance becomes law.

John VanWyck

Chairman

Democratic Executive Committee