Top 10 Reasons to REJECT ED GORE'S Candidacy

Mr. Gore distinguishes himself a bit over his colleagues Kenny and Pone.  Gore apparently did not take any recordable $$$ from Mar Ljuba nor was he accused of being bribed in Bencivengo’s federal corruption trial. Gore did take Birdsall money, but he was the least of the offenders, only taking $250 of the illegal contributions. Also, it must be said that Gore finally saw the light about granting contracts to Birdsall after the scandal broke and the firm was indicted. He voted against the last Birdsall contract, unlike Messrs Kenny and Pone.  Unlike Mr. Pone, Gore is generally a gentleman when addressing the public. He seems to give honest reflection to matters before him. Yet he possesses one consistent huge character flaw. Mr. Gore fails is in his ability to be truthful and forthright about the difficult issues.

1.  Ethics violation. Mr. Gore previously served on the Hamilton Board of Education, yet Gore rarely mentions his BOE tenure.  Mr. Gore was the subject of a formal Complaint to the NJ School Ethics Commission regarding his official behavior, while a member of the Board. The School Ethics Commission determined that Gore while a member of the Hamilton BOE had violated NJSA 18-A:12-24b of the School Ethics Act, and he was ordered to be publicly CENSURED.  Gore’s ethical failings were egregious. He used his position on the Board to secure the home addresses of district employees and used that information for his own personal political purposes. Gore sent employees a letter under his signature as the BOE vice president, threatening their jobs if they did not vote for the Board candidates Gore had endorsed.

2. Continued Denial.  People make mistakes. If Gore had acknowledged his mistake, apologized to the victims and sought forgiveness we also may have been in a forgiving mode. Rather than admitting his error and apologizing for his acts, Mr. Gore continued to deny that he had committed any impropriety and appealed the decision to the Commissioner of Education and the State School Board.  Both parties rejected Gore's analysis and strongly affirmed the ethical failings and Ordered that Gore be Censured. (See the links to Gore’s Censure at the top left of our site).

3. Refusal to tell truth. At the HHW debate Gore said he was a little fuzzy about his public censure and that he thought his actions to help some people were misinterpreted. Once again he avoided an opportunity to tell the truth. Mr. Gore breached the public trust when he advanced his own personal political agenda.  Gore’s ethical failure, his continued refusal to acknowledge the seriousness of his wrongdoing and apologize for his actions, renders him unfit for any public office.

4. According the Newark Star Ledger database of Birdsall engineering’s illegal campaign donations, Gore received $250 of illegal donations for one event. http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/06/secret_list_birdsall_donations.html

5.  Publicly available ELEC filings do not show that Mr. Gore has returned or donated the ill begotten gains from the illegal donations. http://www.elec.state.nj.us/publicinformation/viewreports.htm

6.  When asked directly about the Birdsall $$, Gore gave a half hearted answer saying he did not remember who contributed to his campaign. An apparent effort to avoid the truth.  If he had been honest, frankly we could have given him a pass. Trentonian 6/24/13
 

7.  Like his compatriots Kenny and Pone, Gore regularly voted to give Birdsall and other questionable engineering contracts to 2 other contributors totaling nearly $1 million dollars, even after his campaign and those of his colleagues had received the illegal funds. Trentonian 1/14/13.  Examine Hamilton Council Minutes from 2009 -2012.  http://www.hamiltonnj.com/content/83868/83968/85141/default.aspx

8.  Gore like Kenny, Pone and yes Ms. Yaede participated in a non public meeting of the full Hamilton Council on Nov 15, 2013   for the purpose of discussing and plotting the selection of Hamilton’s next Mayor, even before Bencivengo was convicted.  Councilman Meara was present at the meeting and said it violated the NJ Sunshine Act. (Trentonian 12/1/2012).  Former Councilman Capodanno filed a State Ethics Complaint because of the Sunshine violation. (Trentonian 2/25/2013) Public officials should conduct the people’s business in the light of day at properly advertised meetings rather then in private back rooms.

9.  Gore like Kenny, Pone and Yaede ran away from the Hamilton corruption scandal when he voted to disband the Township Local Ethics Board at a time when the Board should have been empowered to hear resident’s complaints about municipal corruption, conflicts of interest, illegal campaign donations, OPRA, Sunshine Act violations and pay-to-play contracts in Hamilton. Hamilton Council Minutes page 15, March 19, 2013, (Trentonian 3/5/13 and 3/19/13).

10. Mayor Bencivengo is in jail.  Former Hamilton Director, Rob Warney is in jail. Former Mercer GOP Chair and Hamilton Director of Recreation, Cathy Tramontana was fired. Gore received $250 of illegal campaign contributions directed by another former Mercer County GOP Chairman and indicted engineering firm.  Disbanding the Local Ethics Board in the midst of the largest scandal in Hamilton history and the unacknowledged serious ethical breach are serious errors. THE STENCH of the CLOUD OF CORRUPTION must be completely swept out of the Hamilton Township and the people’s Municipal Building.