Pay-to-Play politics in Bloomfield?

Pay-to-Play tab on NJ ELEC site

What contracts are subject to Pay-to-Play restrictions?

Any of the following contracts that are in excess of $17,500 that are NOT awarded through a Fair and Open Process

• Any State contract

• Any State redevelopment agreement

• Any Legislative contract requiring approval by a presiding officer of either or both Houses

• Any County or Municipal contract

Pay to Play Politics in NJ was recently covered by NJ Spotlight News March 28, 2025

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3yH-0pnHf0

Pay-to-Play costs the citizens of Bloomfield not only money, but errodes trust in government by engaging in behavior which presents clear conflicts of interest.

Bloomfield's pattern of not providing transparent and competitive bidding processes means we are paying more for services, while our elected officials gain a financial edge and therefore get re-elected. The practice needs to stop!

Pay-to-Play is so deeply ingrained in NJ that the New Jersey State Election Law Enforcement Commission (known as ELEC) even has a separate tab labeled "Pay to Play" where you can search our politicians and some names which are very familiar to Bloomfield.

NJ ELEC SEARCH

For example, try searching Remington & Vernick, the engineers tasked with completing our $1.5m flood study (which is still incomplete after three years).

We found an alarming number - in fact pages and pages - of political donations to our Essex County elected officials going back years.

As recently as a couple of weeks ago, the Town Engineer casually stood up and asked the council for another $100,000 in services from Remington & Vernick.

Are there no other qualified engineering companies in the Tri-State area who could compete in a competitive bidding process?

This presents major conflict of interests by our elected officials, and the ongoing practice is a serious and COSTLY disservice to the residents of Bloomfield and Essex County.

We call on Bloomfield to immediately stop hiring Pay-to-Play contractors!