Official proposes ban on holding government jobs Measure would exclude two committee members from holding office BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer "It's an insult to the voters who should be able to choose the people they want to represent and serve them in government." - Larry Fink HOLMDEL - The township is considering barring elected officials from holding any federal, state, county or municipal job. A measure proposed by Deputy Mayor Alan Bateman on May 31 would directly affect two of Bateman's political adversaries: Larry Fink, the Township Committee's lone Democrat, and Terence Wall, a fellow Republican who he hasn't seen eye to eye with. Wall works for neighboring Keansburg as the borough's administrator. Fink is employed by the state's Green Acres program, working to secure open space grants for Warren and Sussex counties. Last week, the committee voted to allow their attorney to research the legalities surrounding the measure and to draft an ordinance. On Monday, Bateman said the law is necessary in order to avoid "unintentional conflicts" of interest. "It's based on the Hatch Act," Bateman said during Monday afternoon. "If you Google it, there's a whole Web site on it. It's a federal act that says if you hold a federal job, you cannot hold elected office." "I think they're put into compromising positions that don't always benefit Holmdel, because human nature says, I'm going to work hard for the person who signs my paycheck." - Alan Bateman Bateman said he read a news article that quoted Wall as saying he was working to attract visitors and new business to Keansburg. Because Keansburg is a neighboring municipality, Bateman believes Holmdel is or should be in competition with Keansburg for revenue. "To me, he's in conflict because who is he going to work for, Holmdel or Keansburg?" Bateman said. Bateman said Holmdel currently has empty housing and office space, too. Wall should be working to attract visitors and companies here, he said. Wall could not be reached for comment by press time. Fink called the proposed law an affront to the American way of life. "It's an attack on our fundamental freedoms as Americans," Fink said on Monday. "It's an insult to the voters who should be able to choose the people they want to represent and serve them in government." Bateman believes Fink is in conflict because Green Acres, a division of the state's Department of Environmental Protection, provides grant money to towns throughout the state. Bateman pointed to the purchase of a nursery under Fink's tenure as mayor. "He publicly stated over and over that we could fund over half of it with Green Acres grants and other grants," Bateman said. "People say he works for Green Acres and it must be easy to get those funds. We haven't got any funding and now we're paying a $50,000 mortgage a month on that." In general, Bateman believes working for the government and serving as an elected official is a bad mix. "I think they're put into compromising positions that don't always benefit Holmdel, because human nature says, I'm going to work hard for the person who signs my paycheck," Bateman said. Fink said there are real conflicts of interest to contend with in Holmdel, such as the continuation of pay-to-play and a local Realtor who holds a seat on the Planning Board. The Realtor currently has a "For Sale" sign on a property that was recently the subject of an application before the board, Fink said. "If that's not a clear conflict of interest, I don't know what is," Fink said. Fink said he was pushing for an anti-pay-to-play ordinance when the discussion turned to Bateman's idea of barring elected officials from holding government jobs. "It [pay-to-play] was conveniently avoided during the June 2006 primary, and in November 2006, and now in the June 2007 primary," Fink said. "So yeah, it's very frustrating. Bateman said his idea is also about cleaning up government corruption. "We continually talk about government reform and this is one of those reforms," Bateman said. "How can you reform government if you are a part of government?" Bateman described his own role in the government as "an elected official." He said it would be very difficult to vote on a program "if someone sitting next to me is a part of that program." Fink says the whole thing is politically motivated. "I can only surmise that they will do anything to eliminate and silence their opposition, and it seems to be a pattern with them," Fink said.