After receiving a 45-day contract from the city of Bayonne on October 15, CME Associates entered into a roughly one-year agreement with the municipality not to exceed $125,000, after a 5-0 council vote at last night’s meeting. A super PAC connected to CME modestly contributed to Mayor Jimmy Davis’ election campaign.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
According to New Jersey ELEC reports, David Samuel, a CME Associates partner, donated $1,500 to the Committee for Economic Growth and Social Justice on January 27 of this year.
The PAC is tied to high-powered state Sen. (D-20) Ray Lesniak, and while the third quarter ELEC reports did not show any contributions to the Davis campaign, literature from when Davis ran against incumbent Mark Smith in a June 10 run-off election, was paid for by the PAC.
At least one other mailer from the campaign, which was written in Spanish, was also paid for by the Committee for Economic Growth and Social Justice.
CME Associates did not previously have a contract with the city of Bayonne.
Under at least part of the tenure of Mayor Smith, controversial firm Birdsall Engineering was hired as the city engineer, donating a hefty sum of $23,650 between Smith and the Bayonne Regular Democratic Committee between April 2008 and April 2012 (h/t The Jersey Journal).
In both scenarios involving Smith and Davis, respectively, no pay-to-play or ELEC laws were violated.
“Bayonne has a fair and open process that is consistent with state law and local municipal law. The mayor and [city] council certainly welcome the public’s comment on both the process, as well as the appointees from the process,” city spokesman Jeff Meyer told Hudson County View over the phone.
The five-member city council unanimously approved an engineering contract with CME Associates that would extend through December 31, 2014, not to exceed $125,000, at last night’s regular meeting.
