Favor Sought Was a Conflict

To the Editor:
I read Mike McNulty’s defense of Middle Township Democrat Mike Clark in the Herald. I thought it was odd that McNulty would run to Clark’s defense as a result of one Spout Off. There must have been some smoke in that Spout Off that Clark was worried would turn into fire.
Well, McNulty’s letters certainly has stoked the flames. Anyone reading the letter can clearly see that Clark engaged in a blatant conflict of interest by going to the Middle Township administrator, who he oversees, and asking her to waive the insurance requirements for the Middle Township Democrats, of which Clark is the president.
Rest assured had one of the Republican elected officials gone to the administrator and asked for such a special favor for a group they head up, Clark would have been screaming “Conflict” from the rooftops. Perhaps we can chalk this up to inexperience, but in this day and age I think most people would clearly see the conflict of interest.
Clark, as president of the Middle Township Democrats, should certainly not have been going to the administrator and telling her to waive the township’s insurance requirements for the use of public buildings.
I’ve been to enough public meetings to know that those insurance requirements come from the Municipal Joint Insurance Fund to which the township belongs.
Not following those requirements can put all the taxpayers at risk. Clark’s conflict of interest is even worse since it blatantly involved his political party. He was not going to bat for some charity or something; he was trying to get a special favor for his Democratic club.
This may be the way things were done in the past in Middle Township, with officials ignoring requirements with a wink and nod to help their political friends. But before Clark’s election, over the past couple of years, we’ve made great strides, Republicans and Democrats working together, to get rid of the cronyism of the past and make Middle Township government more transparent and accountable.
I’m glad that McNulty laid out the facts and confirmed that Clark had sought this special favor for his Middle Township Democrats. Nothing discourages this type of behavior better than the light of day. Perhaps in the future, Clark will think about his obligation to all the taxpayers of Middle Township and not just his political party.
(ED. NOTE: The author is municipal Republican leader.)