Politics & Government
Anti-Pay-to-Play Reform Petition Certified
Nearly 1,300 Moorestown voters signed the petition, which called for council to undo recent campaign finance reforms.
Township clerk Patty Hunt has officially certified a petition submitted by residents to overturn recent pay-to-play reforms passed by town council.
Hunt finished certifying the petition Friday, verifying it had the required number of valid signatures. Petitioner Robert Gorman, who also serves as Democratic Party chair, said nearly 1,300 people signed the petition. About 1,100 signatures were required.
Technically, the matter is now supposed to go before town council to either repeal the pay-to-play ordinance it passed in August, or put the matter to voters in the form of a referendum.
However, the issue will likely end up being moot, since council took the first step in repealing the reforms earlier this week. Council members have said their decision to reconsider the reforms didn't stem from the petition, but rather from the confusion surrounding the pay-to-play rule changes.
"I was getting calls from people saying there was a lot of misinformation about the issue and that things were being misconstrued,” said Mayor Stacey Jordan. "I wanted to make things simple, but things became more confusing."
Nonetheless, the organizers of the petition drive were pleased. Gorman provided the following statement to Patch:"We are extremely proud of Moorestown citizens, Republicans, Democrats and independents, for galvanizing around this issue in the summer months and sending a loud and clear message to mayor and council. This was a truly a bipartisan effort that showed citizens are listening. While we would like to thank council for beginning the repeal process once the petitions were submitted, we do request that mayor and council stop saying their reversal had nothing to do with the 1,300 signatures from citizens that took their time to sign the petition to recall this pay-to-play ordinance. It is always good to give credit where credit is due.
"We would also like to give special thanks to those that took the petition door to door to obtain the 1,300 signatures. Without them this referendum process would not have been possible."
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