At the June 1, 2009 Metuchen borough council meeting, the council voted 4-3 to adopt ordinance 2009-10, which requires candidates running for the borough council to file campaign contribution reports with the borough clerk’s office. Currently, members of the public can access candidate campaign contribution records at the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) website, but the ordinance will allow members of the public to review this same information directly at the borough clerk’s office.

Mayor Vahalla was the tie-breaking vote in support of the ordinance. Councilmen Richard Dyas, Peter Cammarano, and Richard Weber voted for its adoption, while councilmen Justin Manley, Christopher Morrison, and William Waldron voted against it.

At the time of its adoption, the ordinance did not include candidates running for the board of education.

Councilman Peter Cammarano said that the ordinance would allow Metuchen to be “on the cutting edge” and “a leader.”

“We were one of the first towns to adopt [ordinances against] pay-to-play,” Cammarano said. “This is a step in the direction for providing greater transparency. The purpose of this ordinance is to expedite the flow of information. We are asking [candidates] to file a copy of what they are filing with the state to the [borough] clerk. The ability to file with a central location in the borough where somebody could go to look at the reports seems very simple. This is designed to provide information and to make it to available to anyone. When you are making a decision as to who to vote for, you are entitled to as much information as possible.”

Cammarano said that the ordinance would let members of the public have easier access to information about candidates before election day.

“Disclosure of campaign contributions is a very important aspect in the flow of information for keeping people involved,” he said. “Some would argue that the public has the right to know who is contributing to our campaigns, and in a campaign, you are talking about a pretty small window of time. This way they can have that information and they can ask questions of the candidate if they choose. Also, there is no requirement that requires filing an OPRA request to look at it. The borough clerk can say, here it is, look at it, and we’re done.”

Councilman Christopher Morrison asked if it would be easier to simply ask the Metuchen library to keep campaign contribution forms available for public review.

“I understand there are some good things that would come from this, but I would say we are adding to our borough clerk’s workload in doing this,” Morrison said. “I am also a bit concerned that this is an unintended trap being laid for third parties who are not as familiar with the ELEC laws. I am concerned that it becomes sort of an unnecessary bump in the road for an independent or third-party candidate.”

However, borough attorney David Frizell said that there were no legal questions as to the ordinance’s “legitimacy.”

“I do have some experience in this,” Frizell said. “I recently argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court (wiki) in a pay-to-play case and in the [Earle Asphalt Company] case. I have appeared on behalf of Common Cause and the Center for Civic Responsibility throughout the state on local pay-to-play ordinances. I don’t have any question that this would be upheld in terms of its legitimacy and as an exercise as a local effort to provide information to the public.”