Fellow Grassrooter,

Here’s news of significant impact for all progressives:

On January 15, 2009, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the Pay-to-Play Reform Law, based on a model ordinance developed by Citizens’ Campaign, stands on solid constitutional ground.

Most of you know that Bergen Grassroots has partnered with the statewide Citizens’ Campaign organization to promote passage of the model ordinance in municipalities throughout Bergen.

Briefly, the ordinance sets strict limits on contributions by contractors and professionals who seek to do business with the municipality. Its purpose is to keep big money out of small-town elections.

In the fall of 2007, Citizens’ Campaign began a signature-collecting campaign in Teaneck that would have placed a binding referendum on the November ballot compelling the governing body to adopt a reform ordinance. Bergen Grassroots members undertook to help Teaneck residents collect signatures. After we collected nearly twice the minimum needed, the Council quickly avoided embarrassment by adopting the reform ordinance.

The effort to gain approval of the model ordinance from the Bergen County Board of Freeholders began early in 2006. Bergen Grassroots leaders and members accompanied Citizens’ Campaign leaders to a Freeholders meeting, at which Freeholder David Ganz, who is an attorney, announced that he had spent “hundreds of hours” studying the draft ordinance and concluded that it was unconstitutional. The Citizens’ Campaign’s legal task force, headed by retired NJ Chief Justice Gary Stein, promptly disagreed with the Ganz assertion. Now, the sitting NJ high court has settled the issue conclusively.

To all those who gathered signatures in the Teaneck campaign, and to other Grassrooters who have participated in other campaigns, we have one word: vindicated!

Thanks for all you do,

Paul

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