Taxpayers’ Association of Cape May Claims Video Rights; Mayor Paid for Candidates’ Night Recording

CAPE MAY – Mayor Edward Mahaney is not a candidate in this year’s council election. He has two years to go on his term as mayor. Yet Mahaney seems to find himself in the middle of campaign related activity, this time in a curious and unexpected way.
Near the close of the council meeting Oct. 21, in a portion of the meeting set aside for public comment, Patricia Hendricks, wife of council candidate Charles Hendricks, passed out a picture of a man who video recorded the Cape May Taxpayers Association Meet the Candidates night held a week prior on Oct. 16.
“I thought at first the video was for live streaming of the event,” she said, “but the gentleman would not tell me who he was filming the meeting for.” Hendricks went on to ask the council if anyone knew about the video of the candidates’ night since she considered it a “valuable resource” that should be made available to voters who could not attend the meeting.
Hendricks and Mahaney, who chairs council meetings, even exchanged comments on the matter without resolution about who hired the man. It turned out later that it was Mahaney, acting as a private citizen and with his personal funds, who hired Just Right TV Productions to film the event.
Mahaney had given the appearance of not knowing about the filming of the event during the council meeting. He said later that he recorded the forum because he had to be at a dinner he was hosting that night and wanted to hear what the candidates had to say.
As for why he did not just admit such at the council discussion, Mahaney said the discussion was not “relevant” to the council meeting since it had no relationship to city business.
Mahaney pointed out that the questioner was the wife of a candidate and he did not want to open that line of discussion. He noted that city council is not the place for politics related to the campaign. Hendricks was not just the wife of a candidate, but of one with whom Mahaney has been sparring of late. Mahaney said that the issue between him and Charles Hendricks was in the “hands of attorneys where it belongs.”
Mahaney and candidate Hendricks are involved in a controversy concerning the campaign. Mahaney’s attorney served Hendricks with a cease-and-desist letter demanding he stop his reference to an ethics complaint filed against the mayor two years before and dismissed by the state.
Mahaney contended that Hendricks was intentionally making it seem as though this is an open and current issue and thus harming Mahaney and misleading the public.
Hendricks, as a self-described reform candidate for council, responded that the issue was a legitimate one for discussion in the campaign and that Mahaney was attempting to interfere with the upcoming election. That is where things stood just days later when the candidates’ forum was held at the elementary school.
Enter the Taxpayers Association of Cape May. In a letter dated Oct. 24, Kathleen Wyatt, on behalf of the board of the association, stated that “the informational content of the TPA forum should have been the property of the TPA and under its control for recording and distribution purposes.” All five candidates were copied on the letter “since there was no announcement that the event was being recorded.”
Noting that the association was now aware that Mahaney had taped the event, the letter asked that all additional copies be delivered to the association for its future use and distribution,” and that Mahaney “immediately post the Candidates’ Night video on the city’s website by close of business Oct. 27 and advertise it in the media.”
When asked about the letter, Mahaney said that it would be inappropriate for the video to be shown on the city website. “This has nothing to do with city business,” he said.
Mahaney went on to explain his position with respect to the taping of the forum. “This was a public meeting and everyone knew it was a public meeting. No one needed authorization to tape it.”
Mahaney noted that he has been involved in about five of these kinds of events while in city political races over a span of 19 years. “In the past they have always been taped,” he said. Mahaney was surprised that the TPA had not made arrangements to have the forum recorded for viewing by citizens who could not be at the event.
In response to the specific requests in the letter, Mahaney said that he sees no need for him to acquire any additional copies for use by the TPA, nor to place an ad promoting viewing of the tape he had made.
However, Mahaney did say that prior to receiving the letter from the TPA, he had turned the tape over to a third party, who wanted to take it to the high school for possible airing on the public access channel. The mayor said he does not know if the quality of the video will allow for such viewing and is especially concerned about the audio quality. He has not heard if the video will be aired or when. “I never had an opportunity to view it myself,” he said.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
For previous coverage, go to:
– Old Contracts Place Cape May Mayor Into Election Fray: http://goo.gl/PFZ8A4.