Candidate’s Filings Incomplete

(Reprinted from the Amboy Beacon, Aug. 18, 2010) SOUTH AMBOY — Democratic City Council candidate Michael “Mickey” Gross filed his Financial Disclosure Statement (FDS) form for 2010 before the statutory deadline of April 30, 2010, but the information provided is incomplete and so-illegible as to render it virtually-useless for ethical-violations purposes. At the top of the first page of the FDS filed by Gross on March 17, his middle-name appears to be “12,” while in the Personal Information Section, it looks like “R,” yet at the top of the second page, his middle-name is clearly “X.” The form asks to “Please Type or Print,” but there is script throughout both pages of the form that is unreadable. In the Financial Information Section, the word “NONE” appears four times without any indication of what it means. “Middlesex County” at “Bayard St” is listed as a source of income in excess of $2,000, with both “Self” and “Spouse” checked, but with no further information. “Middlesex County College” and “Edison Township” are listed as sources of income in excess of $2,000, with “Self” checked for each, but with no further information. “NONE” is given for their addresses. “Mutual Funds” is listed in another handwriting as a source of income in excess of $2,000, with both “Self” and “Spouse” checked, but with no further information. In the portion of the form dealing with “real property,” the Gross family home in South Amboy and another property in Wildwood Crest are listed without block and lot numbers, but it is unclear whether Gross or his wife Susan owns the properties, or whether any rental income is derived by Gross or his wife or both of them from the Wildwood Crest property. The form does not provide-for optional categories, and property-ownership and any income derived therefrom are critical in a disclosure form. After his selection by the the South Amboy Democratic Organization (SADO) as a Council candidate, Gross was identified in a prepared statement released by SADO as the head of the Middlesex County Environmental Health Division since February 2009, yet he failed to disclose his reputed $90,000 county job as a “source of income” as required by the state Local Government Ethics Law on FDS form for both 2009 and 2010. Copies of both forms have been obtained by the Amboy Beacon and reproduced above. The Beacon identified Gross in a front-page story in its Sept. 2, 2009 issue as one of eight South Amboy officials failing to file 2009 FDS forms on or before April 30, 2009, as mandated by state law. Gross filed his form on Sept. 2, 2009 — the day the Beacon’s story appeared, and over four months late — while omitting what is believed to be his largest source of income.
Also missing from both forms is a part-time position with the Edison Health Department in which Gross reportedly makes another $20,000 yearly. The SADO statement noted that Gross started-out with the county as a Sanitary Inspector in June 1982, and rose steadily through the ranks. He was required to file an FDS form in 2009 and 2010 as a member of the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. What is represented to be his signature appears on the bottom of both FDS forms under a certification which reads, in part, “I am aware that if any of the foregoing statements made by me are willfully-false, I am subject to fines and possible disciplinary action.” The Local Government Ethics Law was enacted by the State Legislature so that the public could detect possible conflicts-of-interest by certain local officials. Failure to report any sources of $2,000 or more of income is subject to a fine of $100 to $500. However, watchdog John Paff, Chairman of the N.J. Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, has stated that those penalties may be an empty threat because he is unaware of any instance in which the Local Finance Board “has actually fined anyone for failing to file.” Recently, a Local Government Ethics Law complaint filed by Paff against 12 South Amboy officials for failing to file their required 2008 FDS forms was dismissed by the state Local Finance Board. Among those failing to file FDS forms for 2008 were Planning Board Chairman Michael Wilday, Vice Chairman Mark Noble, now a City Council member; Ryan Tooker, son of Business Administrator Camille Tooker; Robert Senape and Alternate Lawrence Stratton; Zoning Board of Adjustment Chairman Frank Farrell and members Jamie Stratton and Richard Moran; Redevelopment Agency member Kevin Mezsaros and Counsel Craig Coughlin, Tax Assessor Brian Enright and Police Captain Darren Lavigne. On Aug. 25, Paff filed complaints with the Board against these 12 “Local Government Officers” serving in the City of South Amboy who were required by law to file FDS forms. “After I filed my complaint, the 12 officials filed their tardy FDS forms, and the city forwarded the completed forms to the Local Finance Board on Sept. 15, 2009,” he added. “On July 28, 2010—more than 10 months after the city had filed the tardy forms—the Local Finance Board notified me that my complaint was ‘dismissed’ because it ‘no longer (has) a factual basis,’” Paff said. “In other words, the fact that none of the officials had filed by the April 30, 2008 deadline does not, in the Local Finance Board’s view, constitute a violation of the Ethics Law. Thus, local government officers are free to simply ignore the FDS filing requirements, knowing that they can simply file their tardy forms in the unlikely event that someone complains.” (NOTE: To view copies of the actual FDS forms referred-to in this story, send $1.50 for the complete Aug. 18, 2010 issue to: Amboy Beacon, P.O. Box 1639, Perth Amboy, NJ 08862. QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED!)