Mayor Lobbies Council to Draft Pay-to-Play Ordinance

The Ridgewood Village Council appears to be in favor of drafting a pay-to-play ordinance after lobbying from the mayor at Wednesday night's Village Council Public Meeting.

The impetus came from a discussion stemming from a state-wide best practices examination, in which one question asked the respective municipality if it had its own pay-to-play ordinance on the books. Ridgewood does not, but that could soon change.

"If we do our own ordinance and copy it off here [the state statute]...we can take no out of that box and check a 'yes,'" Mayor Keith Killion said.

Gabbert said it was not necessary, as the village is already covered under pay-to-play by county and state policies. Still, members indicated, there didn't seem much reason not to draft an ordinance.

"It seems to me a no-brainer," the mayor said.

Per the state website, contributions by for-profit business entities that have or are seeking New Jersey government contracts, a practice known as pay-to-play, are subject to restrictions.

Campaign contributions over $300 would likely be subject to restrictions under the ordinance, should it be developed in Ridgewood.

"A contribution made prior to the award of a contract may disqualify a business entity from receiving a contract, and the business entity is prohibited from making certain contributions during the term of a contract," according to state statute restrictions.

If municipalities don't check off enough of the boxes on the best practices form submitted to the state, they would likely lose some degree of aid. Ridgewood, scoring over 90 percent, faces no such fears.

Councilman Paul Aronsohn also voiced support for the village putting up detailed figures of the salaries its public employees are making on the village website. Gabbert said that the village is currently working on having it available online.