Jersey City contract withdrawn amid pay-to-play allegations

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
  January 19, 2016 at 4:46 PM

JERSEY CITY — The law firm whose city contract led to allegations of pay-to-play will not work for the city after all.

City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said today that Morristown firm McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter "has withdrawn from this contract." Morrill said the firm had not been paid any money yet.

The council in December approved a no-bid contract worth $50,000 for the McElroy firm, which was hired to represent the city in contract negotiations with a local firefighters union. On Friday, The Jersey Journal reported that a managing partner at the firm contributed two $300 donations to Mayor Steve Fulop's campaign in June, which critics said violated the city's pay-to-play ban.

The city limits vendors from contributing more than $300 to city candidates annually.

Read more:  http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _following_pay-to-pl.html

Critics allege pay-to-play violation after Fulop donor's firm gets contract

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
January 15, 2016 at 3:07 PM

JERSEY CITY — A law firm with a managing partner who contributed $600 to Mayor Steve Fulop's re-election campaign in June won a no-bid city contract last month, leading critics to allege the mayor is violating the "pay to play" ban he played an integral role in enacting when he was a councilman.

The City Council unanimously approved giving the McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter law firm a contract worth $50,000 at its Dec. 16 meeting. The Morristown-based firm, where Corporation Counsel Jeremy Farrell worked before becoming the city's top attorney in July 2013, was hired to represent the city in contract negotiations with a Jersey City firefighters union.

After The Jersey Journal made inquiries about the donations — two contributions of $300 each — city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said one of them is being returned. The donor says both were returned.

Read more:  http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... contract_pay_to_play.html