Middletown introduces pay-to-play ordinance Public hearing expected to take place Aug. 20 BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer "We've been looking at how other townships had organized their pay-to-play ordinances, and so we're glad that it's our turn to get things done." - Gerard Scharfenberger Mayor MIDDLETOWN - After watching many other local towns introduce and adopt ordinances that clamp down on campaign contributions from those who wish to do business with municipalities, Middletown is finally moving forward with its own pay-to-play law. An ordinance introduced last week will limit campaign contributions by businesses to $300 to a political candidate and $500 to a political party within one calendar year of doing business with the township. Another provision in the ordinance states that no establishment that controls or is applying for a liquor license may make any contribution. Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said he expects the measure to be adopted at the Aug. 20 Township Committee meeting. If passed, it would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2008, and would not apply to this year's election. "We've been looking at how other townships had organized their pay-to-play ordinances, and so we're glad that it's our turn to get things done," Scharfenberger said. "At some point we thought that maybe the state would put together a pay-to-play plan, but right now, this was the way for us to go." All of the committee's members but the group's lone Democrat, Patrick Short, voted in favor of introducing the ordinance. Short said that he only received a copy of the ordinance eight hours before the vote and felt that he didn't have enough time to peruse it. "The county has taken months to get their version done so why should we be so hasty with ours?" Short asked. "I didn't really see the urgency in trying to do it so quickly. This is a very important item and I felt like it deserved more care and attention than what it was given." Democratic candidate for Assembly Patricia Walsh, of Middletown, also had reservations about the measure. "This proposed ordinance does not include restrictions on current Township Committee members from taking a contribution from a professional," Walsh said. "It only directs candidates and political committees and not current members of the township's governing body. To restore public confidence, restrictions should be implemented for office holders and candidates in a uniform manner." Scharfenberger said that another reason it took so long to introduce a pay-to-play ordinance in Middletown was that he wanted it to be well-organized and clean, with no loopholes. The ordinance carries a provision to stop wheeling, a process in which donors circumvent the pay-to-play ban by giving their money to a third body, such as a county party committee, which then can give that money to the local campaign. The Middletown proposal states that a candidate for Township Committee can't accept more than $500 from a county committee of a political party outside of the county. "There has to be limitations on things like wheeling. I also told the county at one point that they also ought to consider having a wheeling provision," Scharfenberger said.