Unfair Playing Field in Bloomfield Elections

Unfair Playing Field in Bloomfield Elections

By Jane Califf

In this Bloomfield election season for Mayor and Town Council there is an unfair playing field between the Jenny Mundell campaign backed by the Essex County Democratic Committee, a/k/a “the Machine,” and the new, independent opposition slate, Democrats for Change, which has three candidates running for the Town Council, Satenik Margaryan, Tracy Toler-Phillips and Stefanie Santiago.

If you do an online search at the website of the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), you can find out details on where contributions to each campaign have come from. Looking at the reports filed in early May you will see:

Mundell campaign: opening balance: $52,776. Democrats for Change: opening balance: 0
Mundell campaign contributions: $107,850. Democrats for Change: $15,407

Mundell campaign contributions above $200: $105,250. Democrats for Change contributions above $200: $12,619.

Mundell campaign contributions less than $200: $5,100. Democrats for Change contributions less than $200: $2,789

Why such a disparity? It’s because the Mundell campaign is full of high dollar contributions from politically connected donors, developers, lawyers and other professional service firms. Democrats for Change, on the other hand, doesn’t accept campaign contributions from contractors, developers or township vendors. They state, “We offer an alternative to the status quo, not polluted by the influence of money in politics.”

An article published in March of 2024 in NJ Advance Media/NJ.com put it this way: “New Jersey was once heralded for its tough pay-to-play laws. Not any more.” The author, Riley Yates, explained that in 2023 a new law called “The Election Transparency Act” was passed that allowed huge amounts of money to pour into political campaigns:

“Previously, campaigns doing business with the government were permitted to give just $300 to the political parties in some cases, a pittance. . . and contractors can now contribute as much as $112,500 annually to state and county parties and $14,400 to municipal parties. . . Proponents of strict pay to play laws argue corporations shouldn’t be funding campaigns at the same time they are seeking public work, saying that decades of scandals both locally and nationally have demonstrated the pitfalls.”

I have personally attended many Town Council meetings led by Mayor Mundell and have been disappointed with the lack of information and clarity on many issues. One big one is that there is no final budget for 2025 at this very late date. There has also been delay and misinformation on solar installations over two parking lots, delay and a lack of community involvement in Master Plan development, no real inclusion of the Flood Advisory Committee in planning for future floods, and a general lack of respect in response to residents’ serious questions.

I will be voting for the Democrats for Change slate because they are not tied to wealthy companies and donors, have been dedicated volunteers for years for worthy Bloomfield causes, and strongly support government accountability and citizen involvement.

For more information go to https://bloomfielddemsforchange.com.