Town chides candidate over fund raising tactics

By MAYA KREMEN

STAFF WRITER, The Record

ENGLEWOOD -- Councilman and state Assemblyman Gordon Johnson has been reprimanded by the city for soliciting campaign donations from police officers on city property.

A Sept. 27 letter from interim City Manager Robert Casey says that asking for contributions "from uniformed police officers at a prominent city-owned site is not to anyone's advantage."

"I strongly urge that you refrain from these solicitations," the letter says.

Johnson, who is running for reelection on a ticket with Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle and Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, is a former police officer. He did not return three phone calls on Wednesday.

Council President Charlotte Bennett Schoen defended Johnson. "I don't think he was soliciting Police Department officials; he was responding to people he knew," she said. "They're his longtime colleagues and friends."

Politicians are allowed to accept donations from government employees, but some municipalities have banned collection of campaign contributions on city property. A state ethics law forbids politicians from soliciting donations from people who think their donations could influence the official on their behalf.

In the letter, Casey points out that as a councilman, Johnson approves labor contracts for the people from whom he was getting donations.

"Given the fact that as a member of the City Council, you must approve labor contracts which directly benefit those providing the contributions, your involvement in this could result in adverse publicity that would not be beneficial to the City or yourself," the letter says.