Post by fiberisgoodforyou on Oct 8, 2007 22:52:26 GMT -5
www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20071007/NEWS/710070356/1001/DWEK01
Poll shows outrage at corruption, suggests voter backlash is coming
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/7/07
BY JASON METHOD
STAFF WRITER
Patricia Rogers of Neptune is an angry voter. She plans to vote against all incumbents, regardless of their positions.
"Corruption permeates the New Jersey governmental system," said the 77-year-old retired teacher.
Melissa Pilchard also has had enough. On the heels of this year's criminal charges against four sitting state legislators, the Little Egg Harbor resident said it's time for "a rigid code of ethics to be enacted and enforced at every level of government."
Both women are among a majority of voters in a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey newspaper poll who expressed outrage over New Jersey's political corruption.
Sixty percent said they feel New Jersey has "a lot" of political corruption, and that state lawmakers are willing to sell out to lobbyists.
More than 7 in 10 voters said they believed legislators are more concerned about their own financial interests than that of the public.
Overall, the poll found that the public's faith in government has slipped profoundly since 2003, when similar questions were asked.
The poll of 688 registered voters was taken days before publication of Gannett New Jersey's investigative series on lawmakers, "Profiting from Public Service: Four Years Later."
The original "Profiting from Public Service" series ran in 2003, prior to that year's legislative elections.
Both series found that a number of lawmakers used their positions to win government jobs for themselves and their families, and contracts for their political supporters. Nepotism was banned in 2004. But Gannett found that a third of lawmakers still hold other government jobs, from mayor to local government employee.
Dual-job holders didn't sit well with the poll respondents.
Nearly 80 percent said legislators should not be allowed to hold any other public jobs.
Some 72 percent of voters said they believed the quality of government in the Garden State is fair or poor.
Two-thirds of voters also said corruption is a "major problem" in New Jersey.
Four years ago, by comparison, less than half said they thought legislators were more concerned about their own financial interests; one-third thought New Jersey had "a lot" of political corruption, and 60 percent said legislators should not hold another public job.
Joseph R. Marbach, a political science professor at Seton Hall University, said the arrests and indictments of more than 100 officials by the federal government have drawn the attention of average residents who otherwise might not pay attention to politics.
"It shows the voters are aware of what's going on, and they're fed up with corruption in government," Marbach said.
Marbach said voter anger may have risen so far that lawmakers may find defeat at the polls, even if they have not been accused of wrongdoing.
"It may be at a tipping point," Marbach said. "When you get two-thirds of the voting public saying this is of great concern, it could indicate a sea change is coming. It could become a backlash against incumbents."
Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said the public is even more frustrated despite the reforms that have passed in the last four years.
"The public is looking at this and saying, "There's no light at the end of the tunnel,' " Murray said.
"Perhaps this is where it's darkest before the dawn," Murray added. "You have to bring this stuff to the surface before you get rid of it. But people are looking at this and thinking there is a lot more corruption here than they thought before."
Rogers certainly thinks so.
Rogers, the retired third-grade teacher from Asbury Park, said she'll vote for political newcomers because she wants a change. She said she's particularly upset with the number of public jobs some lawmakers land for themselves.
"From what you read in the paper, with them having three and four jobs, that's no good," Rogers said. "It means they're not looking out for my best interest. They're spending time on other jobs, when they should be down in Trenton or in their offices talking to constituents."
In Rogers' mind, corruption is more than just graft or bribery; it's also irresponsible public policy. She said she's still stewing about how the state took money out of the government's pension system in 1997, and that the pension funds have not been fully funded in recent years.
"It's dishonest not to pay back money you owe," Rogers said. "That's corruption."
Pilchard, 71, retired to New Jersey in 2000 from Connecticut. The ex-real estate broker had served on the Newtown, Conn., Council for 20 years. She said she can't believe the lack of strong ethics regulations in New Jersey, as there had been in Connecticut.
She said, for example, that officials should be barred from voting on contracts with companies even if distant relatives work for that company.
"The perception can be that you are being influenced, and that's not in the public interest," Pilchard said. "All things should be governed by what's in the public interest."
The latest Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll was conducted by telephone with 688 registered New Jersey voters from Sept. 27-30. This sample has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
Gannett New Jersey Newspapers are the Asbury Park Press, the Courier-Post, the Home News Tribune, the Courier News, the Daily Record, the Daily Journal and the Ocean County Observer.
Poll shows outrage at corruption, suggests voter backlash is coming
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/7/07
BY JASON METHOD
STAFF WRITER
Patricia Rogers of Neptune is an angry voter. She plans to vote against all incumbents, regardless of their positions.
"Corruption permeates the New Jersey governmental system," said the 77-year-old retired teacher.
Melissa Pilchard also has had enough. On the heels of this year's criminal charges against four sitting state legislators, the Little Egg Harbor resident said it's time for "a rigid code of ethics to be enacted and enforced at every level of government."
Both women are among a majority of voters in a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey newspaper poll who expressed outrage over New Jersey's political corruption.
Sixty percent said they feel New Jersey has "a lot" of political corruption, and that state lawmakers are willing to sell out to lobbyists.
More than 7 in 10 voters said they believed legislators are more concerned about their own financial interests than that of the public.
Overall, the poll found that the public's faith in government has slipped profoundly since 2003, when similar questions were asked.
The poll of 688 registered voters was taken days before publication of Gannett New Jersey's investigative series on lawmakers, "Profiting from Public Service: Four Years Later."
The original "Profiting from Public Service" series ran in 2003, prior to that year's legislative elections.
Both series found that a number of lawmakers used their positions to win government jobs for themselves and their families, and contracts for their political supporters. Nepotism was banned in 2004. But Gannett found that a third of lawmakers still hold other government jobs, from mayor to local government employee.
Dual-job holders didn't sit well with the poll respondents.
Nearly 80 percent said legislators should not be allowed to hold any other public jobs.
Some 72 percent of voters said they believed the quality of government in the Garden State is fair or poor.
Two-thirds of voters also said corruption is a "major problem" in New Jersey.
Four years ago, by comparison, less than half said they thought legislators were more concerned about their own financial interests; one-third thought New Jersey had "a lot" of political corruption, and 60 percent said legislators should not hold another public job.
Joseph R. Marbach, a political science professor at Seton Hall University, said the arrests and indictments of more than 100 officials by the federal government have drawn the attention of average residents who otherwise might not pay attention to politics.
"It shows the voters are aware of what's going on, and they're fed up with corruption in government," Marbach said.
Marbach said voter anger may have risen so far that lawmakers may find defeat at the polls, even if they have not been accused of wrongdoing.
"It may be at a tipping point," Marbach said. "When you get two-thirds of the voting public saying this is of great concern, it could indicate a sea change is coming. It could become a backlash against incumbents."
Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said the public is even more frustrated despite the reforms that have passed in the last four years.
"The public is looking at this and saying, "There's no light at the end of the tunnel,' " Murray said.
"Perhaps this is where it's darkest before the dawn," Murray added. "You have to bring this stuff to the surface before you get rid of it. But people are looking at this and thinking there is a lot more corruption here than they thought before."
Rogers certainly thinks so.
Rogers, the retired third-grade teacher from Asbury Park, said she'll vote for political newcomers because she wants a change. She said she's particularly upset with the number of public jobs some lawmakers land for themselves.
"From what you read in the paper, with them having three and four jobs, that's no good," Rogers said. "It means they're not looking out for my best interest. They're spending time on other jobs, when they should be down in Trenton or in their offices talking to constituents."
In Rogers' mind, corruption is more than just graft or bribery; it's also irresponsible public policy. She said she's still stewing about how the state took money out of the government's pension system in 1997, and that the pension funds have not been fully funded in recent years.
"It's dishonest not to pay back money you owe," Rogers said. "That's corruption."
Pilchard, 71, retired to New Jersey in 2000 from Connecticut. The ex-real estate broker had served on the Newtown, Conn., Council for 20 years. She said she can't believe the lack of strong ethics regulations in New Jersey, as there had been in Connecticut.
She said, for example, that officials should be barred from voting on contracts with companies even if distant relatives work for that company.
"The perception can be that you are being influenced, and that's not in the public interest," Pilchard said. "All things should be governed by what's in the public interest."
The latest Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll was conducted by telephone with 688 registered New Jersey voters from Sept. 27-30. This sample has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
Gannett New Jersey Newspapers are the Asbury Park Press, the Courier-Post, the Home News Tribune, the Courier News, the Daily Record, the Daily Journal and the Ocean County Observer.