Can't buy me votes
Today's Record reviews the campaign finance filings of the 2006 candidates for Township Council. Not too many suprises there, though Charlie Gonzalez certainly stands out, for both the amount he raised and the relatively poor performance he put in at the polls despite the large budget he had. We now know who wanted him elected so badly, but why did they want it so much?
Gonzalez certainly did not come across as someone with an ambitious agenda for Teaneck, nor did he ever seem like a true contender who just needed a few dollars to put him over the top. It's baffling. Many will no doubt chalk it up to some behind-the-scenes county-level political wrangling given Gonzalez's position in Bergen County government, but even with that angle, it just does not seem to add up.
posted by Teaneck Blog @ 8:48 AM
4 Comments:
The Record missed a significant entry in the Gonzalez report. On Page twelve, outstanding obligations are of $24,171 are listed. Two thirds of this, $16,144, is listed as "In-kind for Committee to Elect Rudolf and Gussen". You may recall the Rudolf and Gussen were included on three of the campaign mailings of the Gonzalez campaign.
I suspect Rudolf and Gonzalez don't realize they are supposed to include that "in-kind" contribution in their report.
The debt is listed as owed to Comprehensive Communications Group of Hackensack. I doubt if they did this with out guarantees from someone other than the candidates.
While Gonzalez's backers may not have been able to buy him the election, they may feel the money was well spent with two out of three of their candidates now on the council.
All election reports can be viewed at the NJ Election site. It's not easy to view. You can also see a home made detailed summary including dollars spent per vote.
The Record missed a significant entry in the Gonzalez report. On Page twelve, outstanding obligations are of $24,171 are listed. Two thirds of this, $16,144, is listed as "In-kind for Committee to Elect Rudolf and Gussen". You may recall the Rudolf and Gussen were included on three of the campaign mailings of the Gonzalez campaign.
I suspect Rudolf and Gonzalez don't realize they are supposed to include that "in-kind" contribution in their report.
Thanks for calling this to our attention, Tom.
Unfortunately, it seems that this $16,144 figure is not really a contribution but rather an allocation. Mr. Gonzalez's treasurer is an experienced operative who has held the same position in a number of previous Teaneck campaigns. The only place to list the disbursement of an in-kind contribution on a NJ election report is on Schedule 3(D) - Contributions to Other Candidates/Committees. The Gonzalez campaign lists nothing there.
From the thorough "analysis" we've been getting so far from Mr. Abbott, I am surprised he did not pick that up.
I hope you're not slipping up now.
You are correct. I knew the entry was invalid, but I did not take the time to analyze where it might have gone. I suspected that under outstanding obligations the full 24K should have been listed and that the in-kind contribution should have been listed elsewhere in the report as well as in the other candidates report.
On the other hand I did mow the lawn and trim some shrubs.
On the other hand I did mow the lawn and trim some shrubs.
Now you're talkin'.
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