Saturday, January 24, 2015

The Bottom Line

New Jersey State Constitution

Article VIII, Section III, paragraph 2


No county, city, borough, town, township or village shall hereafter give any money or property, or loan its money or credit, to or in aid of any individual, association or corporation, or become security for, or be directly or indirectly the owner of, any stock or bonds of any association or corporation.

7 comments:

  1. Well give those federal reserve notes back to that private corp. the federal reserve bank!

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  2. What recourse is there when a county, city ,borough, town, township or village flagrantly violates this unambiguous provision of the Sate Constitution? Are these hollow words or are they enforceable? Does Plainfield enjoy special privilege, such as arresting a decision from the legal process of Arbitration and awarding $1,000,000 benefits because 3 partisan Commissioners deem it appropriate, or illegally gifting Municipal funds to charities? When we see the image of Lady justice wearing a blindfold, it is meant to convey impartiality. What it means in Plainfield is that anything goes...the rules don't apply. Lady Justice is blind to misdeeds no mater how egregious. Bill Kruse

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  3. Too simplistic, analogous to 'right to bear arms shall not be infringed". How else would you explain the referenced example and countless others like it?
    http://www.nj.com/suburbannews/index.ssf/2014/08/union_county_awards_46_heart_g.html

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    Replies
    1. Not the same thing at all. The language in the state constitution prohibits gifts by county or local government.. Grants by Union County (or the State of New Jersey, for that matter) are not gifts, but are awarded to non-profit corporations who meet the conditions imposed in the grant application that promise to perform some service(s) with a benefit to people of the county or state. In the case of SRB, it appears (from what I have read) that the City (through the then-mayor's own admission) gave a charity money, period. It was not a grant; there was no form of contractual relationship through which the city would receive an identified, measurable service for the money provided. It was simply a gift. If that practice is allowed to stand, there would be no stopping any mayor from giving away tax dollars to anyone and at anytime.

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    2. Thanks for the explanation.

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  4. Bernice,

    I have received many emails from constituents regarding a comment that former mayor SRB made about her administration illegally giving money (she said $8,000) to a charity in 2013. This was not approved by the city council. This, folks, is why a forensic audit is needed--even the former administration is admitting to misusing municipal funds in violation of New Jersey state law.

    Rebecca

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  5. Where is our corporation council on this?

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