Voters to decide on Mount Laurel's pay-to-play law next Tuesday. 'Shadowy' group campaigns against it.

A mailer and website about next Tuesday's Mount Laurel special election, which will decide whether to adopt a restrictive campaign-donation law, raises the specter of "dark money" from "shadowy conservative groups" behind the push for the ordinance.

But "Mount Laurel Progress," the opposition group urging residents to vote down the proposed local law, is shadowy itself.

While the website and mailer state "Paid for by Mount Laurel Progress," the only sign of who is behind the drive is a Mount Laurel post office box. A telephone number for the group's Facebook page administrator has a Washington, D.C., area code and the woman who answered on Monday said she had no knowledge of the page and would file a complaint with Facebook.

As it turns out, the "who" behind the anti-ordinance drive are two people who do not live in Mount Laurel.

Michael "Mickey" Quinn, of Bordentown, is the Mount Laurel Progress chairperson, and Miranda Meyers of South Orange, Essex County, is the treasurer, according to a disclosure document filed on January 13 with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Quinn, owner of MQ Strategies, was described as "the implementer of (George) Norcross' local politics," in the New Jersey Globe's Power List, published in December. Quinn "heads up George Norcross' political operation," the Globe reported in its list. 

Quinn on Monday told 70and73.com in a telephone interview that he does not discuss his clients and would not confirm any relationship with South Jersey Democratic Party power broker Norcross. He said his involvement in Mount Laurel Progress has nothing to do with Norcross.

Meyers lists herself as a "political consultant" on her LinkedIn network page and for more than a year, between 2019 and 2021, served as legislative aide to Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, a Mount Laurel Democrat.

Quinn told 70and73.com that he is a concerned Burlington County resident and that the proposed pay-to-play ordinance is "an obvious ploy by Republicans to derail" legitimate funding for the Democratic Party.

At stake next Tuesday is whether the Township should severely limit campaign contributions from vendors and those who work for vendors doing business with the Township. The proposed pay-to-play law is far more restrictive than the state law and would limit the amount of contributions made to local candidates by the companies. The election, at the same polling places used in the general election, will be held from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"I'd like to say I'm shocked, but I'm not surprised," Andy Gaus said of the Mount Laurel Progress campaign. Gaus serves on the Committee of Petitioners, which last year circulated a petition for the new ordinance and gathered enough signatures to get it on the ballot.

The petition campaign yielded 1,373 certified signatures, more than the equivalent of 15% of the total votes in the 2020 general election that was needed to get the proposed law either on the November ballot or in a special election. The ordinance question did not make last fall's general election in time, so a special election was scheduled next week.

Besides Gaus, the all-Republican Committee of Petitioners that directed the petition drive was made up of John Francescone, Kelly Gale, Randy Reitz and Patrick Appolonia.

"I'm concerned that there are outside groups that are not Mount Laurel residents," Gaus told 70and73.com. "Based on what we've seen, one-on-one talking to people…people have been very positive and we've seen it across the political spectrum," he said of interest in the ordinance.

Mount Laurel's Township Council is composed of all Democrats. Voters in Mount Laurel have received the sample ballot through the mail. The Township advertised the election in the Burlington County Times on December 7 and gave instructions for voters who wanted to vote by mail.

However, the Township's website does not mention the special election, which could cost the Township as much as $150,000. The Township's official calendar on the website also does not list the special election. The "Election Information" page on the website shows information on only the 2020 general election.

"This ordinance would limit the ability of those seeking to perform work or business for the Township of Mount Laurel to contribute to political parties running for election in Mount Laurel," the petition notes. "The limits on donations to candidates for Township Council or their affiliates will help avoid improper influence in local elections. Entities that donate above certain thresholds will be unable to gain municipal contracts in Mount Laurel Township."

State election law limits individual contributions to a candidate's campaign committee to $2,600 for each election. A corporation, association, union or group also is limited to $2,600. However, the ceiling rises for donations to political committees ($7,200) and county political party committees ($37,000).

While state law limits contributions for each election, the proposed Mount Laurel law clamps down even more on the annual contributions of individuals who are professional business entities or vendors to $300 for mayoral or council candidates or a township party committee and $500 to a Burlington County party committee or a PAC.

The extent of campaign donations from vendors is evident in the Report of Contributions and Expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2021 filed on January 14 by "Steglik and Pritchett for Mount Laurel" with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). Council member Kareem Pritchett was selected as mayor on January 1 and Stephen Steglik, the former mayor, was named deputy mayor.

For example, at the January 1 meeting, the Alaimo Group engineering services firm in Mount Holly was hired as the Township engineer and the Planning Board engineer. 

The ELEC filing by the Steglik/Pritchett committee for the fourth quarter of 2021 shows $41,600 in campaign contributions in November and December from individuals connected with Alaimo: Richard A. Alaimo Jr. of Mount Holly, engineer, $5,200; William R. Long of Mount Laurel, engineer, $5,200; Michael Miller of Westhampton, engineer, $5,200; Frank S. Morris of Clarksboro, engineer, $5,200; Miles Powell II of Medford, engineer, $5,200 and Wayne D. Simpson of Lumberton, engineer, $5,200. Rose M. Miller, who lists herself as a homemaker and has the same Westhampton address as Michael Miller, contributed $5,200. Susan M. Powell, also listed as a homemaker with the same Medford address as Miles Powell II, contributed $5,200.

The Philadelphia-based Pennoni engineering firmed was named the Township's open space engineer and consultant at the January 1 meeting. The fourth-quarter filing for the two candidates' committee disclosed a Pennoni contribution of $4,500.