NEWS FROM THE
11TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC TICKET

www.villapianoforsenate.com
www.napolitaniandpirnatforassembly.com

11TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC TICKET UNVEILS 'ZERO-TOLERANCE' ANTI-CORRUPTION PLATFORM

OCEAN TWP. - In response to New Jersey's continuing public corruption crisis, John A. Villapiano, John P. Napolitani, Sr., and John Pirnat - the 11th District Democratic ticket - today unveiled their 15-point 'Zero-Tolerance' anti-corruption platform, aimed at eliminating public corruption and restoring the public's trust in government.

"We have seen the damage corrupt officials can cause at every level of government," said Villapiano, the 11th District Democratic Senate candidate.  "We can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to corruption in this state.  We need to enact strong, zero-tolerance reforms that show we are serious about ending corruption in government, once and for all."

The ticket is experienced in fighting corruption and pushing against the establishment in order to get things done.  Villapiano has taken a hard line and stood up for what is right in the past, both as a freeholder and as an Assemblyman.

Both Assembly candidates are proven corruption busters.  As a teacher, Napolitani successfully fought corruption in the Asbury Park school system, ousting corrupt administrators and improving the educational opportunities of the district's children.  As a labor leader, Pirnat successfully fought corruption in his Teamster Local, ousting corrupt Executive Board members and improving the working conditions for members of his Local.

The platform focuses on ending persistent problems in the state, like pay-to-play, dual office holding, no-bid contracting, and pension padding and tacking.  It also proposes drastically increasing the penalties for public officials convicted of abusing their public office, suspending indicted or arrested public officials until they are proven innocent or guilty, and immediately removing guilty officials from office.

"The people have lost their faith in their public officials because of the rampant levels of corruption present at all levels of government," said Napolitani, one of the 11th District Democratic Assembly candidates.  "We need to cut out the entrenched core of corruption if we have any hope of restoring the public's trust in government."

"We need to make this very clear - if you break the law, and violate the public's trust, you will go to jail," said Pirnat, one of the 11th District Democratic Assembly candidates.  "Compromise is no longer an option."

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THE 15-POINT ANTI-CORRUPTION PLATFORM IS ATTACHED

Zero-Tolerance Plan to End Public Corruption

Public corruption in New Jersey has become an epidemic.  In recent years, officials at all levels of government have been found guilty of violating the public's trust for their own personal enrichment.  Because of this, the public has become understandably disgusted and disillusioned with their elected representatives.

The extraordinary levels of corruption facing New Jersey today require extraordinary measures from the people who seek public office.  Officials who choose to violate the public's trust should face serious and severe consequences for their betrayal.  We have proposed a comprehensive platform that has zero tolerance for any form of public corruption - aimed at cutting the entrenched core of corruption out of Trenton and Monmouth County politics and improving our government's accessibility and accountability to the public.

These are not Democratic or Republican issues.  These are common sense public policy issues.

Immediate Suspension of Indicted Elected or Appointed Officials
If any elected or appointed official is arrested or indicted, they should be immediately suspended from their position without pay.  Should the suspended official be acquitted, they would be immediately reinstated to office with full privileges.

Immediate Loss of Office, Pension, and Medical Benefits for Elected and Appointed Officials Convicted of a Crime
We support recently enacted legislation (S-14) that imposes mandatory imprisonment and forfeiture of pension and retirement benefits for public officers or employees convicted of crimes involving their office or employment.

However, we think that the law should go further.  Officials and employees who are convicted of abusing the public's trust should be legally required to immediately forfeit their office or employment and should lose all public pensions, medical benefits, and any other public positions, contracts, pensions, and medical benefits they may be entitled to.

As taxpayers, we should not be forced to fund the retirement plans of corrupt politicians.

Ban Pay-to-Play at All Levels of Government
Pay-to-play - the practice of awarding government contracts and lucrative jobs to political donors in exchange for campaign contributions - must be made illegal at all levels of government, from gubernatorial elections all the way to school board and fire district elections.

Allow Local Preemption of State Pay-to-Play Legislation
Municipalities and counties with pay-to-play ordinances stronger than state pay-to-play laws - like Monmouth County, which recently enacted the toughest pay-to-play ordinance in the state - should be allowed to preempt the state's weaker legislation with their own local ordinance.

Require Competitive Bidding for Contract Work at All Levels of Government
Certain contracts in New Jersey are no-bid - meaning they can literally be awarded without any public bidding process.  In this era of political corruption, no-bid contracts are a recipe for cronyism and pay-to-play abuses.

Every contract in the state should be required to undergo a competitive bidding process before it can be awarded.  Under this proposal, government agencies would not be required to accept the lowest bid, as is sometimes now the case.  However, in the event a government agency does not select the lowest bid, it would be required to submit - in writing to the public - the reason for refusing the lowest bid work.

Prohibit Elected Officials from Working for Companies with No-Bid Contracts in New Jersey
In the past, there have been instances of corrupt elected officials abusing their power by steering no-bid public contracts to companies in exchange for employment opportunities or as a means of moving up the corporate ladder.

By prohibiting elected officials from being employed by companies with no-bid contract awards or by preventing companies with elected officials on the payroll from seeking no-bid public contracts, we can help ensure that corrupt elected officials cannot milk the system for their own benefit and enrichment.  This measure would become unnecessary if legislation requiring competitive bidding for all state contracts is enacted.

Amend the State's Dual Office Holding Ban to Include Current Elected and Appointed Officials
While the state Legislature was able to enact a dual office holding ban for the first time in New Jersey history this past year, due to a large grandfather provision, we feel the law does not go far enough.

Current law should be amended to force grandfathered legislators to choose between their elective offices during the next election cycle in which one of their terms is expiring.  At that time, they would have to choose whether to run for the expiring office - vacating their other office - or whether they should not seek reelection, keeping their unexpired office.

Prohibit Pension Tacking
Pension tacking is the practice of cobbling together several public jobs to create one huge public pension.  While the special session on property tax reform found that the Legislature cannot legally detrimentally affect the public pensions of anyone with five or more years of pension credit, there is still much we can do to limit the practice of pension tacking.

For existing employees, we propose placing a moratorium on the number of public jobs employees can count toward their public pension.  Existing employees would not be allowed to credit new jobs to their pensions.  However, they would be able to continue crediting any existing positions, in accordance with their constitutional rights.  New employees would have to choose only one job to count toward their pension.

Strengthen Current Revolving Door Laws
Although the Legislature has enacted restrictions on lobbyists becoming legislators and legislators becoming lobbyists, current laws do not go far enough to halt the revolving door between legislators and lobbyists.  Lobbyists who want to run for office should be required to rescind their state credentials when they announce their candidacy or begin raising money for pubic office.  Elected officials who want to become lobbyists should be required to wait for two years after leaving public office instead of the current one-year waiting period.

Require Full Disclosure of All Campaign Contributions
Current Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) reporting requirements state that the sources of individual contributions under $300 do not need to be disclosed.  While this is fine for statewide races, it means that in many local elections it is nearly impossible to discover who is funding individual candidates.

By increasing ELEC reporting requirements to mandate that the source of every contribution received be revealed, the public will be able to easily and effectively decipher what individuals and groups are funding specific candidates for specific offices.

Every race should reveal every penny raised.  We believe so strongly in this premise that we are voluntarily disclosing the source of every contribution given to our campaigns, be it $1 or $1,000.

Require Increased Financial Disclosures for Elected Officials
The current financial disclosures required by ELEC paint an incomplete picture of candidates at best.

Full, detailed financial disclosures should be required for every level of elections - from governor to school board.  These forms should be accessible and available to the public via the ELEC Web site within 24 hour of receipt, so that the public can get a better idea of how candidates make their money and what they do for a living.

Enact Term Limits for the State Legislature
With the recent rash of corruption indictments and convictions, one thing seems to be true - the longer an individual holds the same public office, the more chances they have to abuse that office.

We need to enact term limits so that no single person may become an institution in the state Legislature.  No person should be allowed to serve more than three terms in the Senate and five terms in the Assembly, respectively.

Candidates wishing to continue to run for office after reaching the limit of their term would be required to "cool off" for one term before being able to run again for the same office.

Require Financial Disclosure Forms for All State Boards and Commissions
Many state boards and commissions in New Jersey are paid positions, yet we know little to nothing about the members that serve.  The public has a right to know the motivations behind the actions of board members and commissioners.

We need to require full financial disclosures for ever member of a state board or commission.  Requiring commissioners and board members to disclose how they make a living will help prevent potential improprieties and conflicts of interest.

Expand Gift Ban to Include All Levels of Government
The current gift ban law is incomplete and has different regulations for the Executive and Legislative branches of government.  We need a uniform standard of what is appropriate for elected and appointed officials and employees in all branches of government.

We need to enact a universal gift ban that applies the same rules and regulations to all areas of government equally.  We support current legislation (A-4012) that would do just that and believe that, once adopted, the Executive Branch also should implement the ban.

Increase Fines for Officials Guilty of Taking Bribes
Elected and appointed officials who choose to take bribes force honest, hardworking taxpayers to pay a hidden corruption tax that is making it more expensive than ever to live in New Jersey.

We need to drastically increase fines for public officials on the take.  Any elected or appointed official who admits or is found guilty of giving or accepting bribes should have to pay double what they have taken.  If someone takes $100,000 in bribes, they would be forced to pay at least $200,000 in fines.  If a legislator is found guilty, the fine would be given back to the state.  If a local official is found guilty, the fine would be given back to the municipality the official represented.