East Cape May Group Questions Timing of City Election Letter

CAPE MAY — Friends and Neighbors of East Cape May, Inc. (FAN-ECM) a group opposed to installing parking meters in a section of the city that has not previously had meters, is alleging the city sent a last-minute voter solicitation letter right before Wednesday’s special election.
The letter signed, by City Manager Bruce MacLeod, urged voters to go to the polls Wednesday.
James A. Testa, spokesman for FAN-ECM stated, “We’ll be asking for a review of the circumstances surrounding this so-called “get out the vote” letter regarding legality and ethics issues as they involve city officials. Because the matters concern ordinances passed by the previous council, we think that the inquiry should be conducted by an independent counsel under the direct supervision of Deputy Mayor Jack Wichterman and remaining newly elected council members, Deanna Fiocca and Bill Murray.”
Testa charges that not only was the letter unprecedented in Cape May, “but from what we can tell, the communication was selective, letters were sent to household groupings of voters, and not all registered voters have received a letter. Moreover, it looks like taxpayer funds have been spent on reproduction and mailing costs, and we understand labor was supplied by city employees or their relatives who ‘volunteered’ to stuff envelopes.”
He said FAN-ECM also sees the discretionary use of public funds for increasing the voter
turnout “as an obvious ploy to bring out less motivated voters to support the ordinances passed by the prior city council in March.”
“We’d like answers as to who knew of and approved this expenditure, if it was done with an ethics review or a legal opinion from counsel, and fundamentally why this unique communication was timed for the last minute to address the 2010 special election– a matter in which FAN-ECM was spending wholly private funds to make its views known. FAN-ECM believes, at best, the timing and process of this letter show questionable judgment and, at worst, raise the specter of impropriety,” said Testa.
He questioned the timing of the letter.
“Its effect and timing on the Labor Day holiday eve of the election could be interpreted reasonably as calculated to encourage persons who otherwise might not have wished to vote to instead come out and vote. In that regard, since it was sent on official city letterhead and the city’s position on the ordinances is well known concerning the subject matter, the Voter Solicitation Letter (which characterized the ordinances as “very important”) could be reasonably seen as an attempt, under color of city authority, to sway the election in favor of the ordinances,” said Testa.
City Manager Bruce MacLeod told the Herald the letter was intended to be a reminder of special election and spells out the details of the two questions on the ballot. He said the letter provided the locations and hours of polling places.
MacLeod said the letter makes no effort “to have voters vote one way or the other.” He said the cost of sending the letter was minimal and done in-house.
As far as the timing of the letter, MacLeod said he did not see anything the FAN-ECM would need to send a reply.
He said the letter simply alerts the public to a special election, explains the two ordinances and shows locations and hours of polling places.
FAN-ECM announced June 10 that Superior Court Judge Valerie Armstrong issued a decision upholding the group’s right to have two Cape May City parking meter ordinances submitted to voter referendum.
Ordinances approved by Cape May City Council would expand existing parking meter zones along both sides of Beach, Wilmington, Madison, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Brooklyn avenues. Back-in angle parking spaces would be created along Beach Avenue to include nine blocks on the west end of town and seven primarily residential blocks in the east side of Cape May.