Alright, I'm a lowly blogger, not a journalist. I don't do 'news' and I don't do 'reporting'; others do. And sometimes they don't. As a blogger, I'm compelled to let you know when.
So let's talk about Beth Mason and fairness.
She's been sharply criticized by yours truly, among others, for possible campaign election law violations in her 2009 mayoral campaign.
And on what do we base these allegations? On forms that Mason filed with the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), we call ELEC reports. Because Mason filed ELEC reports as she was legally required to do as a mayoral candidate in the State of New Jersey, you and I can now peruse them to see whether or not her campaign complied with the entire spectrum of NJ State Election Law.
And that's what we call TRANSPARENCY. It's also the LAW. But you knew that.
So, in fairness to Beth Mason and her campaign, they complied with all New Jersey Election Law application mandates for those seeking public office in the State of New Jersey.
Which brings us to the recent Hoboken School Board Election.
Did you know that persons running for the School Board in the State of New Jersey are required to file ELEC foms, too? That's the law.
It says so right here:
and here:
That said, these are the 2010 Hoboken Board of Education candidates who are on record as filing ELEC reports:
You can see all 4 Real Results candidates, all 4 Kids First candidates and Ken Howitt filed with the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission, although Howitt did not submit an R-1 form.
What happened to the other guys?
Didn't one of them almost get seated on the Board?
The form that gets to the nitty-gritty of how campaigns are financed; money coming in, money going out, is the R-1, Report of Contributions and Expenditures. That's the one that's causing problems for Ms. Mason now. That's the one that could tell a story about the absentee ballots in the 4th Ward.
See what I mean?
1-Year Term
What would those R-1s tell us? We'll never know because they don't exist.
Sweet irony that ONE of the candidates complaining the loudest about election fraud due to a few machine mishaps on Election Day (ignoring the fact that votes were indeed counted via provisional ballot) did not file an R-1. Actually, this candidate didn't file ANY of the required ELEC forms. NONE. Which is the law.
It was too close this time. School Board candidates need to know the party's over and they're being watched. That's where the media fits in. The public needs to know what kind of campaigns they're running before someone gets on the School Board without proper vetting.
And then what?
As a public school parent, I don't want to find out.
Update May 11, 2010- 6:50AM
This came by email last night:
Did you mention that Frank Raia is the treasurer of record for the Waiters/Colon/Howitt team??
No, I didn't.
Now Mr. Raia, veteran of a handful of Board of Education and mayoral runs, knows campaign ELEC procedure as well as anyone. As Treasurer, he would not only oversee cash in and cash out, but certify completed ELEC reports as to the veracity and legal compliance of all entries contained within. But none were filed.
And what a coincidence!
Team Waiters-Colon-Howitt racked up a couple hundred absentee ballots in the 4th Ward!
So let's talk about Beth Mason and fairness.
She's been sharply criticized by yours truly, among others, for possible campaign election law violations in her 2009 mayoral campaign.
And on what do we base these allegations? On forms that Mason filed with the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), we call ELEC reports. Because Mason filed ELEC reports as she was legally required to do as a mayoral candidate in the State of New Jersey, you and I can now peruse them to see whether or not her campaign complied with the entire spectrum of NJ State Election Law.
And that's what we call TRANSPARENCY. It's also the LAW. But you knew that.
So, in fairness to Beth Mason and her campaign, they complied with all New Jersey Election Law application mandates for those seeking public office in the State of New Jersey.
Which brings us to the recent Hoboken School Board Election.
Did you know that persons running for the School Board in the State of New Jersey are required to file ELEC foms, too? That's the law.
It says so right here:
and here:
That said, these are the 2010 Hoboken Board of Education candidates who are on record as filing ELEC reports:
You can see all 4 Real Results candidates, all 4 Kids First candidates and Ken Howitt filed with the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission, although Howitt did not submit an R-1 form.
What happened to the other guys?
Didn't one of them almost get seated on the Board?
The form that gets to the nitty-gritty of how campaigns are financed; money coming in, money going out, is the R-1, Report of Contributions and Expenditures. That's the one that's causing problems for Ms. Mason now. That's the one that could tell a story about the absentee ballots in the 4th Ward.
See what I mean?
1-Year Term
Sweet irony that ONE of the candidates complaining the loudest about election fraud due to a few machine mishaps on Election Day (ignoring the fact that votes were indeed counted via provisional ballot) did not file an R-1. Actually, this candidate didn't file ANY of the required ELEC forms. NONE. Which is the law.
It was too close this time. School Board candidates need to know the party's over and they're being watched. That's where the media fits in. The public needs to know what kind of campaigns they're running before someone gets on the School Board without proper vetting.
And then what?
As a public school parent, I don't want to find out.
Update May 11, 2010- 6:50AM
This came by email last night:
Did you mention that Frank Raia is the treasurer of record for the Waiters/Colon/Howitt team??
No, I didn't.
Now Mr. Raia, veteran of a handful of Board of Education and mayoral runs, knows campaign ELEC procedure as well as anyone. As Treasurer, he would not only oversee cash in and cash out, but certify completed ELEC reports as to the veracity and legal compliance of all entries contained within. But none were filed.
And what a coincidence!
Team Waiters-Colon-Howitt racked up a couple hundred absentee ballots in the 4th Ward!
GA-You absolutely rock.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Waiters, Colon, and Howitt all enjoy the support of Pupie Raia who had at least one flier printed for them with his endorsement? Do the slates file separate ELEC reports too? I hear the Mason family (Ricky) coughed-up $5700 for the Sullivan Republican slate.
ReplyDeleteAnd the penalty for not filing a form is a fine? Do you think a person who lives in a housing project, has almost no income and is unemployed will bother paying the fine? She won't file anything and nobody will do anything about it. Too bad because I hear Cammarano needs someone to hold his umbrella in prison.
ReplyDeleteLook at Howitt who ran for the 1 year seat and was endorsed by Pupie; he received 214 absentee votes in the 4th ward.... I would just love to see that slate's ELEC filing.
ReplyDeleteHere's an idea: instead of a fine for missing or late ELEC reports individuals shouldn't be allowed to register their candidate petitions in future elections if they have missing or incomplete ELEC reports from previous elections. I suspect this would get results although in view of Mason's "inaccurate" and late ELEC filing it would be hard to enforce accurate filings.
ReplyDeleteAmazing coincidence that Waiters and Colon both got exactly 255 absentee ballots and Howitt got 214, from the 4th ward. Also coincidental is the fact that Raia supported them.
ReplyDeleteAll other candidates got approx. 50 overall absentee ballots from the entire city. Makes ya go hmmmm.
Makes you want to ban absentee ballots no matter how inconvenient it would be for folks who work real jobs with 12-14 hour days and tons of travel.
ReplyDeletePatricia has never filed a report for any office she ran for.I like the idea that you can't run if don't file, but that's much higher up the food chain than Hoboken.
ReplyDelete