Today on northjersey.com, this article from 2014
appeared on the front page of the website with the caption: “Archive: How much
does a BOE seat cost these days?”
Millburn is one of the wealthiest towns in NJ. A candidate for Millburn BOE raised $10,245
and spent $6,410 on his campaign. That
is a lot to spend for any BOE race so it is a big story.
Last year in Lodi, the “machine ticket” of Donald
Scorzetti, Dominic Miller, and Nick Vara spent a lot more than that on their
BOE election. Unlike the candidates in
Millburn, they didn’t report their campaign contributions or expenditures.
They must have taken money from some really shady
characters that they went out of their way not to report it.
The Lodi voters sent a clear message to Donald
Scorzetti and Nick Vara last year.
Self-serving and out of touch candidates can no longer be propped up
with dirty campaign cash. When issues
take center stage, the machine takes the back seat.
The issue of campaign cash should be an even bigger
story in Lodi because Lodi is no Millburn.
Big campaign spending in poor towns leads to rampant
corruption. Just look at the pay-to-play abuses by the Lodi Mayor and Council. They are paying part-time attorney Alan Spiniello $210,000 a year. All of their campaign contributors have cashed in.
In 2015, Mayor Carafa’s team reported spending $38,550 on a
council election where they didn’t even run against a full slate. They ran against two independent candidates that
hardly spent anything. Emil Carafa spent
$38,550 to receive 1,343 votes.
In 2007, the “machine ticket” for Lodi council reported spending
$142,504.09 on a May election.
Big money= Bad results.
