strict conflict of interest law and enforcement.

publically funded campaigns?

what else, what does Jersey City need to do to establish confidence in local government?

So someone is gonna train these council members not to take bribes? All fixed.

Lawyer details audit of Jersey City development process

By Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal
December 16, 2009, 6:45PM

Attorney Ronald Riccio is presenting the findings of his firm's audit of development processes and procedures in Jersey City at tonight's City Council meeting.

Riccio noted that the city?s development process is in better shape than it was in the 60s, 70s and the early 80s.
?To see what existed then and compare it to what exists now is a remarkable success story,? he said. ?That doesn?t mean that the process cannot be improved, but it needs to be said that something has gone right with the development of various projects in Jersey City.?

Riccio said more can be done with ethics. He said there should be a specific code of ethics for the development process that would require all individuals involved to undergo training.
He also told council members to use common sense when dealing with developers.

?You have to use good common sense to know when it?s appropriate to meet with a developer, when it?s not, when the meeting should take place, who should be there,? he said. ?This is why we?re strongly recommending that elected officials not get involved at the wrong time, in the wrong place, with the wrong people.?

The audit was commissioned after several city officials were arrested during a federal corruption sweep in July.

from One Jersey City -

Addressing Multiple Public Jobs and Other Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts of interest obviously exist here in Jersey City when most Municipal Council members hold full-time county or other publicly-funded jobs. The best way to address such conflicts is to apply the state ethics code ? New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law ? to our local Jersey City Ethical Standards code.

Governor Jon Corzine recently issued an executive order to appoint a task force to recommend whether the New Jersey Local Government Ethics Law should be amended to conform with the New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law, and whether enforcement responsibility should be shifted from the Local Finance Board in the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs to another entity focused solely on government ethics. The task force would also consider how to implement a training and compliance program for local ethics.

The Governor?s Ethics Reform Package includes much needed reforms that must be approved by legislation. Two specific restrictions are critical to improving Jersey City government practices and keeping the extraordinary powers of redevelopment law free from undue influence of contributors to campaigns and political organizations. These would:

* Ban contributions by county and local redevelopers and their consultants (modeled on a state-level ban to be established by Executive Order)
* Ban contributions by developers seeking development approvals

The citizens of Jersey City deserve these reforms. Restoring voter confidence in local government ? by eliminating the potentially corrupting influence of redeveloper dollars ? is critical to the health of our city and our democracy.

November 11th, 2008 | Category: Ethics Reform

http://onejerseycity.org/?p=105

Surely the "elected officials would not be allowed to talk privately with anyone seeking development deals" will simply mean more layers of bagmen. That's if a nonelected official like Beldini wasn't distant enough to qualify, which isn't clear.

I would think putting teeth in the ELEC contribution filings, so that they're filed both accurately and well before election day, would do as much as anything to shed light on the nonsense. It seems there's no penalty to filing late, so why would anyone not do so?

Quote:

yes agreed, it will just be more bullshit and novel sized paperwork to quiet down the public's outrage for "doing something", it will then fade away in a few months without making any impact to the current practices.

Only way to enforce anything is to have an independent audit in place that goes through every development deal once it has been submitted for final approval.

What it ever happen? no.

You can pass all the ordinance and code changes you want. Without a commitment and a structure to enforce those changes, they aren't worth the paper they are written on.

I look forward to reading the full report, but ethics code changes without a truly independent ethics commission, and without an independent supporting counsel, ensures there will be no effective enforcement.

With the city facing a $40-70 million dollar budgetary short fall, it's unlikely that any real change will occur.

G

Audit urges major changes in Jersey City development deals

By Ted Sherman/The Star-Ledger
December 13, 2009, 5:50PM

JERSEY CITY -- City officials are considering major changes in the rules of engagement with developers, in the wake of last summer?s corruption sting that led to dozens of arrests ? including a deputy mayor.

Under a series of recommendations by an outside law firm, to be released Monday, elected officials would not be allowed to talk privately with anyone seeking development deals in the state?s second largest city. The city?s ethics code would be strengthened as well.

Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy immediately endorsed most of the recommendations, which still face city council review.

"Whatever steps we can take to keep the progress of the city moving forward, we are happy to take," he said.

Jersey City was a major focal point of the massive federal corruption and money laundering sting operation that came to light in July, with the arrests of 44 people, including mayors, legislators, city council candidates, rabbis and political operatives. Among those arrested was Leona Beldini, a deputy mayor who also served as Healy?s campaign treasurer.

Beldini, 74, met several times with Solomon Dwek, an FBI informant who was posing as a developer with a lot of money to burn. He claimed to be seeking help in getting approvals for a number of projects in Jersey City, including a luxury condo building on Garfield Avenue.

Beldini is accused of promising to help secure building approvals in exchange for thousands in under-the-table contributions to Healy?s campaign.

leona-beldini.jpgRobert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger Suspended Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, left, arrested in a massive federal corruption sting in July, leaves the Federal Court in Newark in December with her attorney Brian Neary after she pleaded not guilty to five counts of corruption.

The mayor is not charged in the case. Beldini, who was suspended without pay, has said she did nothing wrong and is fighting the charges.

After the corruption sting, Healy sought an independent audit of the city?s development process, retaining the law firm of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP, to examine records and interview city employees.

"We felt it was prudent to undertake a legal audit and analysis of our development process in order to verify that it is fully transparent, fair and efficient," said Healy.

Healy said the city has already begun making changes to its ethics rules, and imposed new pay-to-play restrictions limiting political contributions from developers.

The audit report, whose authors included former Seton Hall Law School Dean Ronald Riccio, criticized the often routine private meetings and discussions that go on between elected officials and developers.

"Development plans must be assessed strictly on the merits and devoid of undue political influence,? said the report, adding that a prohibition of private meetings would significant curtail the opportunities to request or volunteer cash, gratuities or other benefits to obtain an elected official?s approval or endorsement.

"This is not intended to subvert the proper role of elected officials," said the report. But it said that role needs to be taken in a public forum or setting.

The report also urged the city to reduce any one-on-one meetings even with to the fullest extent possible when developers meet with city officials.

"There is some safety in numbers," the authors said.

And while city officials are required to undergo ethics training, the audit suggested developers looking to work in the city should be subject to the same training.

Ethics violations should also be subject to sanctions as well, the audit added, including temporary or permanent debarment from development in Jersey City.

Riccio said his group, which included Walter Timpone and Thomas Scrivo, spent hours reviewing city guidelines and interviewing officials, but would not discuss any of the specific recommendations.

"The report speaks for itself," he said.

The report will be presented to the city council on Wednesday.