Gov. Chris Christie needs to end the sabotage of the Election Law Enforcement Commission by filling vacancies. And Walter Timpone, the toothless commissioner, needs to step down.
Neither political party seems a bit perturbed by the fact that the watchdog charged with enforcing the rules on campaign money in New Jersey is facing sabotage on its most important case, the long-stalled investigation of Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, better known as Joe D.
The reason is clear: DiVincenzo has friends in both parties, and they are protecting him. Let's hope it doesn't work.
The chief villain in this story is DiVincenzo himself, who has been Gov. Chris Christie's closest ally in the Democratic Party and endorsed the governor for re-election in 2013.
DiVincenzo has spent lavishly from his campaign funds on trips to luxury hotels in Puerto Rico, expensive meals with people he won't name, tickets to the U.S. Open, a gym club membership, and so on. He charged his campaign for more than $250,000 in expenses like that over a decade, claiming they were "political" in nature.
The Election Law Enforcement Commission disagreed, charging him with violating campaign finance law over the most egregious $16,000 of that money.
So far, so good.
But the case has dragged on for nearly four years, during which time DiVincenzo won re-election. And a new court ruling last week could add to the delay.
Who knows? If this keeps up, maybe Joe D can run out the clock on this and retire before the ax finally lands.
The latest twist is that a judge in Essex County ruled that ELEC cannot act against DiVincenzo unless at least one Democratic member of ELEC votes against him.
Here's the problem: There are no Democratic votes.
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Christie has left one of the two Democratic seats on ELEC vacant since 2011. His office has offered no credible explanation as to why. It just happens to work to the advantage of his buddy, Joe D.
The one surviving Democrat on ELEC, attorney Walter Timpone, is no help. He's a buddy of Joe D's as well, and has recused himself from the case because DiVincenzo once hired his nephew, at Timpone's request.
How convenient for DiVincenzo. With no Democrats on this case, this procedural hurdle could save him. ELEC will fight that, and has argued that no Democratic vote is needed. But it's a safe bet this dispute will add delay as the case drags on in court.
Here's a better solution: Let's get serious about fixing ELEC.
Timpone should step down and make way for a new commissioner who can do the job. And Christie should divert his attention from New Hampshire long enough to fill all the ELEC vacancies.
Meanwhile, legislators from both parties should stand up and bang the table over this. ELEC needs more staff so it can act quickly, and it needs a full board so its legal authority cannot be challenged like this.
Anything less invites corruption.
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