Burlington versus Trenton in 3rd District showdown

Trying to get disentangled from a corruption trial narrative that has put Democrats on the run these last two weeks, state Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) trained his sights on the Republican-engineered Burlington County Bridge Commission scandal, and urged his GOP rival in the 3rd District Congressional race to demand a return of $2.7 million in taxpayer dollars pilfered during that more local example of government gone bad.

“When it comes to rooting out corruption in Burlington County, (Medford Mayor) Chris Myers is nowhere to be found," said Mark Warren, Adler's campaign manager. "His silence is deafening."

The Adler campaign charged that Myers has kept his mouth shut on the issue despite the conviction of a lobbyist who was found guilty of over-billing the commission by $2.7 million. The convicted lobbyist, Robert Stears, headed a Trenton lobbying firm in which Tom Wilson, chair of the state Republican Party, was also a partner.

“Myers has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Burlington County GOP boss Glenn Paulsen and then-Bridge Commission chairman Garfield DeMarco, who looked the other way when the lobbying firm collected payments from the commission for work it didn't perform,” said Warren.

Why the silence? Adler wanted to know.

The Myers campaign responded by deflecting the issue back to state budget officer George LeBlanc’s still-fresh testimony at the trial of former Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden) about the lack of administrative oversight of a $40 million property tax relief fund - and getting a dig in at Adler’s connection to the South Jersey Democratic Organization and embattled U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

"Wow. Every time you think John Adler can't possibly get more desperate and pathetic he fires off a press release like this,” said Chris Russell, Myers’s campaign manager. “Here are the facts: John Adler is a creature of the most notorious county political machine in the state. John Adler was caught lying about his role in the operation of a secret slush fund that funneled taxpayer dollars to his friends, and even his own family members, and now he's scrambling to muddy the waters.

"John Adler is the only corrupt Trenton politician in this race," Russell added. "Chris Myers has made his position on government corruption very clear. If you break the law, you should be punished. Period. That goes for Republicans or Democrats. Speaking of campaign contributions, has Adler returned Charlie Rangel's money yet?”

Democrats argue that Republican lawmakers also used pet project money from the fund, but concede the lack of transparency in the way their party administered the money.