News
Date: 7/28/2010
Title: Pay-to-Play Case Goes to Court in Atlantic City, Price Says Public Defender Appointment is Illegal Based on 2006 Political Contribution
Clipping: Lawsuit over Ocean City Pay-to-Play Violation begins
Details:
A lawsuit filed against former Ocean City mayor Sal Perillo, four council members and public defender Douglas Walker alleging a violation of the city's pay-to-play ordinance had its first day in court in Atlantic City on Monday.
Resident Ed Price filed the complaint in June, alleging that a May 13, 2010, reappointment of Mr. Walker to the public defender position violated the city's 2005 ordinance, which bars professionals who have made contributions of any amount to a local candidate's campaign or political action committee from receiving contracts with the city for one year, and which imposes a penalty of four years' ineligibility to contract with the city following a violation.
Mr. Price's complaint alleges that Mr. Walker's $500 contribution to Mr. Perillo's 2006 mayoral campaign violated the ordinance, and Mr. Walker should have been ineligible to contract with the city until July 8, 2010.
After Mr. Price initially raised the allegations, the city council sought a legal opinion from solicitor Keith Szendrey in April 2009. Mr. Szendrey's opinion was that the ordinance was not in effect in 2006 or 2007 because it was never filed with the New Jersey Secretary of State, and because the language was never put in any city contract to alert contractors of its existence. It was also his opinion that the ordinance was unconstitutional.
The council later hired an independent attorney, Seth Grossman, to investigate the matter. Mr. Grossman's opinion was that Mr. Perillo and the city council both violated the pay-to-play ordinance, but that the statute of limitations was up one year after the offense was committed, so the right to file a complaint against Mr. Perillo in municipal court expired on July 8, 2007.
Attorney John Tumelty, who represents the four council members named in the complaint, moved on Monday to have the case dismissed. Atlantic City Municipal Court Judge Bruce Weeks said he would schedule a hearing on the motion.
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