Campaign Finance Fraud in Aberdeen

The Democratic Party in Aberdeen always maintains two political organizations – a Continuing Political Committee (CPC) and a Joint Candidates Committee. The first is perennially in business while the second only exists for a specific election and is then terminated. In Aberdeen, the Democratic CPC is the Aberdeen Democratic Executive Committee. Each year, they raise money, primarily from outside contributors seeking Pay-to-Play, and then use or distribute that money for political activities. And each election cycle, some of that money is misspent or disappears.

According to filings with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), the Aberdeen Democratic Executive Committee made three contributions to Mayor Sobel’s Aberdeen Dem Campaign 2005 - $10,000 on 10/23, $10,000 on 10/25, and $3,000 on 11/7 (see attached). That last donation was never recorded by Sobel’s campaign(see attached). This wasn’t an oversight in reporting – the campaign never deposited the money. The filings show a net deposit, following total receipts and expenditures, of $189.55, which was promptly withdrawn when the bank account was closed. If the campaign did receive that money, there’s no mention of any expenditures to account for it.

Yet, the executive committee did withdraw that money because otherwise their financial records wouldn’t match their filings. Where did the money go? Can’t say. But it wasn’t a one-time occurrence.

In 2007, filings show the executive committee made several donations to the Aberdeen Dem Campaign 2007, including a $1,000 donation made by wire on 11/28 (see attached). Once again, there’s no record of the Dem Campaign having received it by their last filing on 12/3 (see attached). In fact, on 12/3 they re-filed the same numbers from 10/31 (see attached).

Meanwhile, these same filings show the Executive Committee paying Councilman Vinci $3,510 for expenses and consulting fees during the 2006-2007 period (see attached). In other words, Councilman Vinci was paid consulting fees by the local Democratic Party during his own re-election campaign. In fact, he was the committee’s single largest expense aside from direct contributions to the campaign itself.

As for the individual responsible for the Executive Committee’s finances, there’s only one name that is consistently on all filings as being authorized to sign checks and execute bank transactions – Judith Kauff, a.k.a. the wife of Norman Kauff (see attached).

Do I hear bells? >>> Read more!

It Pays to Play for CME Associates

On October 10th, 2007, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission released its Pay-to-Play online database. The state defines Pay-to-Play as “[c]ontributions by for-profit business entities that have or are seeking New Jersey government contracts.” Of the 1775 political contributors who filed, Aberdeen Township’s engineer, CME Associates, is #3 on the list.

Government contracts are normally awarded to the lowest qualified bid. The major exception is in the area of professional services, which are deemed too complex to simply award to the lowest bidder (you don’t pick doctors and lawyers based upon who’s cheapest). Aberdeen adheres to the “Fair and Open” process which allows anyone, no matter how much money they’ve given to the officeholders, to bid for business, as long as the process is open to public review.

In 2006, the only year available in the online database, the three largest participants in Pay-to-Play were engineering firms. CME Associates was the third largest – they contributed $404,899 and won $19.9 million in government contracts. Law firms were the second largest group to engage in Pay-to-Play. Kudos to Norman Kauff whose firm, DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Wisler, was number one in government contracts ($12 million) but only third in political contributions ($190,486). It’s no surprise that municipalities that hire Kauff also prefer to do business with CME Associates.

Despite the large figures, these numbers grossly underestimate the true level of contributions and government contracts. For example, they don’t count the $50,000 CME Associates donated to the Democratic Legislative Leadership Committee in 2006. Nor do they include the hundreds of thousands of dollars CME Associates collects in “fees” directly from the local residents and businesses in Aberdeen Township each year.

Over the past decade, CME Associates has donated more than $60,000 to the Aberdeen Democratic Executive Committee, not including any monies that may have been “wheeled” through the Monmouth County Democratic Party or given “off the books”. During that same period, CME Associates has been paid back two hundred-fold.

I recently received a copy of all vendor payments to CME Associates from January 7th, 2005, to March 18th, 2008. During that time, the township made 2,597 payments to CME Associates, totaling $3,692,445.72. Much of that money comes directly from the township, such as the $229,595 paid on January 12th, 2008, for road improvements, but most payments come from the locals.

The game works as follows – the township continually expands the range of permits that require review by an engineer. The homeowner/business owner is then required to place funds in escrow to cover any future expenses. CME Associates will drain the escrow account of all funds before they certify the property. The system becomes a scam as residents and local businesses are forced to pay for unwarranted services to a company that is the governing body’s single largest contributor.

If unnecessary and inflated payments to CME Associates were added to the tax levy, Aberdeen Township would have the highest tax rate in Monmouth County, compared to the number three position it now holds.

For less than $8,000 a year in political contributions, CME Associates gets to take over a million dollars a year from the township. Looks like Mayor Sobel has pimped out the township for “professional services” in a no-bid contract. >>> Read more!

Our Local 4-H

The four H’s stand for Head, Heart, Hands, and Health. Its mission is to engage youth to their fullest potential. And the 4-H wouldn’t exist in Matawan and Aberdeen without Kris Bradley.

Originally conceived as an outlet for a son who suffers from autism, Kris has built the local 4-H club into one of the most active volunteer groups in Matawan-Aberdeen. Although the group’s primary focus is to support the environment (they recently persuaded Matawan to participate in Earth Hour), they’ve committed themselves to beautifying the community through local rehabilitation projects.

Their current venture is the Jackson Park rejuvenation. The Matawan Aberdeen 4-H will create a community garden with flower beds, flowering bushes, and an overall makeover. Other parks and the seawall are next on the list.

Kris has also been successfully garnering local support. Mary Mullaney, wife of Matawan Councilman Bud Mullaney, is one of the club’s most active supporters. Former Superintendent Bruce Quinn provided space at the Cliffwood Elementary School for the group’s bi-monthly meeting. Local businesses, such as Starbucks, have been contributing towards the club’s fundraising goal of $3,000.

The group has a MySpace page, accepts donations online via

, and is a tax-exempt charitable organization. The Jackson Park rejuvenation is scheduled for April 19th. Starbucks has agreed to sponsor each volunteer who shows up to work at the rate of $10 per hour. All financial assistance is through private donations.

Kris and crew at the 4-H deserve our support. After all, everything they do is for our benefit. >>> Read more!

Aberdeen's Budget Turns a Loophole into a Noose

Click Here for the 2007 Budget
Click Here for the 2008 Budget

Last year, sensing they may finally lose power after a dozen years of control, the Aberdeen Democratic Executive Committee devised a simple yet effective strategy. I call it the “Spend, Don’t Tax” plan. First, they forced the school district to cut its proposed tax increase from 5% to 2.3% but allowed the district to retain all of the proposed spending increases. The township then used all its financial wizardry to postpone any tax increases until the following year.

Aberdeen's town council quickly publicized they were not raising taxes. They sent mailings to all residents, issued press releases, and adopted fiscal restraint as one of their election platforms (despite Aberdeen having the third highest tax rate in Monmouth County). The councilmen even garnered high praise from the local Independent. In an editorial titled “Aberdeen taxpayers get a break in 2007”, the paper said “the township’s leaders deserve recognition for keeping the tax rate in check . . .”

The gambit succeeded but barely. All four democratic candidates were elected but not one of them by a majority vote. And the taxpayers? We’re now getting hit simultaneously with the largest municipal tax levy increase and the largest asset depletion in Aberdeen’s 150-year history – An $871,487 tax increase (Sheet 3B) and a $1,259,316 loss of assets (Sheet 39), including a $600,000 withdrawal from the General Capital Fund (Sheet 10A).

The municipal tax levy is jumping 12% to $7.8 million in a $15.3 million overall budget. This translates into a 9.9 cent property tax increase for every $100 of assessed real property, or about $140 for the average homeowner on top of every other tax increase and a nearly 17% reduction in municipal assets.

This fiscal catastrophe was not caused by the state’s withdrawal of municipal aid. Following Aberdeen’s $210,000 loss in municipal aid, Mayor Sobel cut $179,000 from the budget. He insisted that taxes not go higher than 9.9 cents for the same reason that stores prefer to charge 99 cents rather than raise prices to the next dollar.

Joe taxpayer may be wondering how taxes could increase by 12% when the state imposed a 4% cap. Well, much of the budget is excluded from caps, such as the Capital Improvement Fund’s rise from $300,000 last year to $550,000 this year. (In fairness, the fund was cut during the 2007 election year.)

The budget was reviewed and certified as “CAP compliant” by the town’s “independent” auditor, Tom Fallon, whose office is located at Airport Plaza, the strip mall owned by Vic Scudiery, Chairman of the Monmouth County Democratic Party. His father is Charles Fallon, the former Treasurer of the Monmouth County Democratic Party who pleaded guilty to bribing then Hudson County Executive Janiszewski in exchange for government contracts. Fallon's family has also contributed thousands of dollars to the local Democratic party.

Since this year’s budget derives from last year’s fiscal bait and switch, let’s look at some of the increases over the past two years. Since 2006, pension payments have increased 147% for the Police & Fireman’s fund and 155% for the Public Employees' fund (Sheet 20). During the same period, Library maintenance has risen 22% (Sheet 20).

While the grant portion of the Safe & Secure Communities Program declined by 10%, the township’s matching portion rose to $201,457 from last year's $15,000 (Sheet 24A).

Debt service payments have increased 15% percent since 2006 and now account for 11% of the total budget (Sheet 27).

Deferred charges have exploded from $21,600 in 2006 to $248,600 today.

Meanwhile, those developers who are enrolled in the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program have been spared the council's wrath (Sheet 10).

I’m sure our elected representatives will be telling us how they exercise fiscal restraint but the truth is that taxes and corruption are choking the lifeblood from our community. I look forward to next year’s election when Mayor Sobel and his cohorts will be the ones left twisting in the wind. >>> Read more!

IT'S A BOY!!!

Mother and baby boy are doing great.
6lbs 4oz
Friday, March 14, 2008

Welcome, James Alexander Warren.
Your mother, father, and big brother Jack love you very much.

Special thanks to the staff at Riverview Medical Center for their excellent care and generous hospitality. >>> Read more!