New York Times: Ethics Bills Up for Vote in Newark. The Times has a write up on the recent ethics reforms Booker has written for city law. The new laws would substantially curb the “Pay to Play” methods used by the previous administration for years to keep select contractors getting choice development deals while leaving other—potentially more efficient—contractors out in the cold. The reforms also aim to increase the transparency of the political process by establishing declaration rules for political contributors. From the Times:
Among the six ordinances that the Council is expected to approve on Wednesday is a rule that outlaws fund-raising on public property and another that creates a position of inspector general to oversee complaints of fraud and ethics breaches. The measures will apply to both the mayor and the nine council members as well as to future candidates. All but two of the current council members were elected in July.
Mr. Booker has also said he would sign a separate executive order on Wednesday that forbids municipal employees from giving money to mayoral candidates.
“This legislation will put Newark on the cutting edge of pay-to-play reform not only in New Jersey but in the nation,” said Harry Pozycki, chairman of the Citizens’ Campaign, an advocacy group that helped draft the legislation. “It basically draws a line in the sand against corrupting influences and says Newark is open for honest business.”
Craig Holman, the campaign-finance lobbyist for Public Citizen, the government watchdog group, said he knew of no other city that had passed such far-reaching ethics reform legislation. “This is massive,” he said. “Even localities that have endured a grave scandal haven’t gone this far.”
The city council voted last Thursday on whether or not to approve the changes. They voted to establish three of the six ordinances, claiming they wanted more time to evaluate the others having to do with campaign finances. Newark Star Ledger analyst, Joan Whitlow, isn’t discouraged about the halting reforms (which, she is keen to point out, are still historic for Newark and for New Jersey). Rather, she asks some skeptical questions of an administration that has already displayed a few of the tactics used by “certain former mayors”. 
Here’s Joan:
And speaking of pay-to-play, did I point out that the Booker administration gave more than $1 million in no-bid legal contracts—which the council approved—to nine firms, seven of which had made campaign contributions to the Booker team? Or that the administration tried to give a $17,500 contract to a firm connected to Carl Sharif, the mayor’s campaign director—$17,500 being the magic number that puts contracts outside of state pay-to-pay rules?
Does Wednesday’s fanfare mean officials are ready to practice what they preach? I hope so because (unless someone’s planning to push through contracts that would be prohibited after Jan. 1) there is not much lost by having the council vote next month and there is something important to be gained.
Glad to see the Ledger continue to hold this administration accountable, even if it is being led by the young and talented rock star, Cory Booker.
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[...] Star Ledger: A campaign donation is powerful medicine. It’s a bit hard to follow how deep the rabbit hole really goes, but Joan essentially calls out the appointment of Antonio Ciccone as the city’s first referral doctor as political back scratching in return for a $10K contribution during Booker’s campaign. This would appear to be in direct violation of the city’s Pay to Play ethics reform, which Booker himself introduced last November, and of which Joan expressed immediate skepticism. [...]