In one of today’s newspapers, New Jersey State Assemblyman,
Jack Ciattarelli said, “I have heard
that there’s conversations about linking staff salary increases to the legal
ads bill. It’s disturbing and the
legislative leadership should be doing everything possible to get that genie
back in the bottle . . .. It’s the worst kind of horse trading, and I want
nothing of it.”
How refreshing it is that this man has remained true to the
same solid ethics that he had when I first came across him years ago when he
was a Somerset County Freeholder.
It was then that I saw him in action when, against strong
opposing pressure, he cast a losing vote concerning the fate of the Somerset
County Parks Commission.
Today, the New Jersey Legislature will prostitute itself if
it passes a bill that combines raising the salaries of Legislative staff,
judges and other public servants while simultaneously eliminating a provision
of the Ethics Law which prohibits New Jersey governors from earning income from
book deals while still in office.
If passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the
governor, that bill will also “repeal a
law that requires local and county officials to publish legal notices in
printed newspapers.”
The bill is being ramrodded though the Legislature which will
vote on it today. It is being pushed
through in just a week’s time.
The linkages and timing in this bill smell as badly as a
rotten fish thrown on the doorstep of public trust and of responsible
journalism.
No comments:
Post a Comment