Tennille McCoy served as Assistant Commissioner of Labor and is now seeking an open State Assembly seat in Mercer-Middlesex district

By David Wildstein, October 18 2023 2:47 pm

A hard-hitting new TV  ad in the 14th legislative district goes after a Democratic Assembly candidate Tennille McCoy for suggesting that white state employees should be pushed out of their jobs so that people of color could be hired in their place.

“At the end of the day, it’s being able to shift some people out of positions so we create opportunities for other people of color,” McCoy said on a Zoom meeting while serving as assistant commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development.

The ad was made by Adam Elias, an attorney who is the Republican Assembly candidate in the 14th, which has more state employees as residents than any other district.

In “American Dream,” Elias’ ad slams McCoy for her belief that some state workers should be pushed out to enhance state government diversity.

Script:  (Narrator) “The American Dream is the opportunity for every hard-working individual to succeed. Tennille McCoy takes those opportunities away from the people she’s supposed to represent.  (McCoy) At the end of the day, it’s being able to shift some people out of positions so we create opportunities for other people of color.  (Narrator) Adam Elias immigrated to the U.S., works hard to achieve success for his family, and is living the American dream. Vote for opportunity for everyone. Vote Adam Elias for Assembly.”

McCoy says Elias is twisting her words.

“The point I was making, and what I firmly believe, is better characterized as that our state workforce should look like our communities and afford opportunities for everyone, regardless of who they are,” McCoy told the New Jersey Globe.

But Deborah Palombi, a personnel Assistant at the Department of Human Services, disputed McCoy’s claim.

“As a 28-year career service employee in the civil service system who was appointed as a promotional candidate, Tennille McCoy definitely applied this to me and appointed a ‘man of color’ who did not qualify until the civil service list expired, Palombi said on social media.”

Words that appear on the screen in Elias’ ad call McCoy a “disgraced public servant” who was “sued four times by her employees” and that she “resigned in shame.”

McCoy was personally named in lawsuits filed against the labor department, but that’s not uncommon in state government.  Still, lawsuit allegations point to a pattern of discrimination, harassment, and creating a toxic work environment.

While several senior Murphy administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not dispute that she resigned to avoid termination, some at the labor department say the accusation is not true.

“This ad is disgusting and is Adam’s desperate attempt to distract the voters away from his extreme anti-choice, anti-union, culture war tactics for New Jersey,” McCoy said.  “His political games won’t work, because the voters of LD-14 know that this election is far too important.”

Elias ran for the State Senate in 2021 and, with little party funding, lost to incumbent Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) by ten percentage points.  Republicans are more optimistic about beating McCoy than they are about unseating Greenstein or Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton).

McCoy wants to succeed Dan Benson (D-Hamilton), who gave up his Assembly seat to run for Mercer County Executive.  He’s a shoo-in for that post.

The 14th is an uphill climb for Republicans: Joe Biden won it by eighteen points in 2020 and Phil Murphy by nine in 2021.  The GOP hasn’t carried the district in sixteen years.

McCoy was the surprise winner at a rocky Mercer Democratic convention in March, where three candidates from Hamilton were seeking two seats; Rick Carabelli finished first with 120 votes, followed by McCoy with 111, and DeAngelo finished third with 106 in a shocker.

Three days later, DeAngelo scored a comeback as the top vote-getter at the Democratic convention in Middlesex with 58 votes; Carabelli dropped out after McCoy defeated him by just four votes, 45-41.

ANDREW SIDAMON-ERISTOFF | SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 | OPINION

The federal indictment of the senator, his wife and co-defendants raises civil and criminal tax liability issues

Sometimes it’s the little financial details that trip you up. Ask Al Capone. 

On Sept. 22 the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York unsealed the indictment against Sen. Robert Menendez, his wife Nadine Menendez and three New Jersey businessmen for “participating in a years-long bribery scheme” in which Menendez and his wife allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for Menendez’s agreement to use his official position to protect and enrich them and to benefit the government of Egypt. Menendez faces one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.   

That’s bad, but more may be coming: civil and criminal tax liability. 

The indictment doesn’t specifically allege tax crimes, but it does assert that Menendez and his wife received bribes consisting of cash, gold bullion, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low- or no-show job, a new Mercedes convertible, home furnishings and “other things of value” from their co-defendants. In response, Menendez and his wife face a legal conundrum: how to characterize these things of value for tax purposes?   

One approach would be to argue that there was no receipt and thus no tax consequence. Not coincidentally, Sen. Menendez, in a post-indictment statement to the press, claimed that the $480,000 in cash found in his home simply represents withdrawals from his savings account over some 30 years. Presumably, Sen. Menendez would not have made this claim without being confident that bank records and date information from serial numbers on the currency bills will back him up. But how will he explain the $70,000 in cash found in Ms. Menendez’s safe deposit box and the fact that some of the envelopes holding the cash are linked through DNA and/or fingerprints to a co-defendant? Moreover, this “no receipt” argument may be tougher to make in connection with the other things of value listed in the indictment, such as the payments made by the co-defendants toward the Mercedes convertible and Ms. Menendez’s home mortgage. 

Assuming it can be proven that they did indeed receive things of value, the Menendezes will be obliged to choose whether the receipt of these things constitutes taxable compensation, a loan or a gift. Each carries distinct tax consequences. 

Menendez could maintain that he and his wife received the things of value as compensation for services rendered. The facts alleged in the indictment suggest that would be a stretch: Is it normal to receive gold bars as compensation? In any case, the Menendezes could easily preempt speculation by disclosing their tax returns for the relevant years, as the senator voluntarily did when up for reelection in 2012 and 2018. But what happens if those returns don’t include those items of income? (Awkwardly, per the indictment, Menendez did not disclose car payments, gold or cash in the relevant calendar year on his annual Senate financial disclosure form.) Menendez would either have to concede that the stuff he and his wife received was not compensation or admit that he underreported income and filed false tax returns, statements and documents — serious tax offenses.   

The couple might assert that the things of value they received were a loan and thus not taxable. Indeed, they may already be advancing this argument. According to the indictment, following the execution of search warrants on the Menendez home in June 2022, Nadine Menendez wrote a $21,000 check to a co-defendant who had been making payments on her Mercedes convertible with a memo line reading “personal loan.” Maybe Ms. Menendez can produce documentation to substantiate the car payments as a loan, but she and her husband may find it a bit more challenging to argue that the other stuff, such as gold bars or home furnishings, were loans. Moreover, even if it accepted the depiction of the car or mortgage payments as made in connection with a loan, based on the facts in the indictment, the IRS might well assert that the co-defendants forgave a portion of any such loan, generating taxable income to the Menendezes.   

Finally, the Menendezes could claim that the things of value they received were gifts. This is their best scenario since the receipt of a gift is not taxable. But there are complications. 

First, donors of gifts are liable to pay tax on the value of any gift that exceeds the annual gift tax exclusion amount ($16,000 in 2022, the relevant year). In this case, the donors are the three co-defendants, and some of the transferred things of value (e.g., the gold bars) appear to have exceeded $16,000 in value. If the co-defendants did not in fact pay applicable gift tax — a not unreasonable assumption, and easily checked — they might object to any attempt to characterize the transfers as gifts since it would expose them to civil tax penalties. But if they weren’t gifts, what were they? 

Second, the IRS is aware that some taxpayers will try to mischaracterize income as gifts and therefore is fairly strict in defining a gift as “the transfer of property by one individual to another while receiving nothing, or less than full value, in return … whether or not the donor intends the transfer to be a gift.” Here, the alleged facts suggest that it would be difficult to argue that the co-defendants received “nothing in return,” even if they claim that it was their intention to make gifts. 

Third and finally, Senate Rule 35 generally prohibits the receipt of gifts unless an exception applies. The only reasonably applicable exception in this case is for gifts “given on the basis of personal friendship, unless there is reason to believe that the gift was provided because of the individual’s official position and not because of the personal friendship.” Although the indictment suggests that Sen. Menendez and his co-defendants were indeed friendly, the rule also provides that senators must obtain written approval from the Select Committee on Ethics before accepting any gift given on the basis of personal friendship that exceeds $250. Query: Did Sen. Menendez request and receive such approval? If not, how could he claim that he received gifts for tax purposes without admitting that he violated the Senate’s rules? 

Al Capone reportedly once boasted that “they can’t collect legal taxes from illegal money.” Sen. Menendez would be well advised to remember that Capone was ultimately jailed for tax evasion. 

____________________________________________

Tricks of the Trade: The Trenton Tax Trap | Elias

July 8, 2023 Adam J. Elias Taxes 0

From its inception, the senior tax credit plan introduced earlier this month by Democrats in the Legislature has been called several things, from reverse robin hood, to smoke and mirrors, election year politics at its worst, or simply nothing more than a trick to give Trenton lawmakers a victory lap in their districts as they recess for summer and campaign for reelection in November.

Reasonable minds can differ on whether the plan is good policy, but here is a question worth asking our representatives: is the plan even enforceable? Not at all.

The New Jersey Constitution limits the powers of the Governor and State Legislature to spend our tax dollars in two ways: The Appropriations Clause and the Debt Limitation Clause. The Appropriations Clause allows the Legislature to submit an appropriations bill to the Governor reflecting a “negotiated” budget for the upcoming fiscal year, with a balance of enough revenue to cover the wish list of expenses outlined in the bill. Our government cannot set aside a specific dollar amount for future budget years and tie the hands of future legislators who may find themselves dealing with unanticipated economic setbacks like a recession, or a pandemic.

The Debt Limitation Clause requires any newly proposed state debt amounting to more than 1% of the year’s budget to be submitted directly to the voters by referendum. By applying both of these principles to the Democrat StayNJ plan, specifically how the plan is supposed to be funded with annual increasing sums of hundreds of millions of dollars set aside in a “lockbox,” it is clear that the tax relief plan is nothing more than a pinky promise to set aside money “subject to” the State Treasurer’s approval and can be broken as early as next year’s budget season, well before the delayed start date of January 2026 as the next Governor is getting settled in at Drumthwacket.

This is the same reason why many state workers will never see their pensions, or at least as much of it as anticipated. In 1997, Governor Whitman suspended the State’s contribution to the pension funds in exchange for granting public employees a “non-forfeitable” right to their pensions, which was meaningless.

After Democrat Governors McGreevey, Codey and Corzine continued to suspend these payments with the blessing of a Democrat-controlled Legislature, Chapter 78 was enacted in 2011, phasing in the State’s obligation to fund the pensions for the first time in 15 years. While beach bum Chris Christie is often blamed for “screwing public workers” and taking more out of their pockets, voters should remember that it was the Democrat-controlled Legislature—the same folks promising senior tax relief—that voted to increase employee contributions in exchange for a “contractual right” to the State funding their pensions.

The New Jersey Supreme Court later ruled in 2015 that any such contract would violate both the Appropriations Clause and the Debt Limitation Clause and likewise amounts to another pinky promise by Democrats.

Herein lies the Trenton tax trap. Governor Murphy has followed through on that promise for the past six years. But for how long (if ever) can the State deliver on promises to our public employees AND our seniors? It is unsustainable, that is, without breaking another promise to the rest of New Jersey: more taxes.

It may be worthwhile to start considering whether the “Next New Jersey” needs the next New Jersey Constitutional Convention to overhaul the status quo. A Constitution that lays out protections for public employee pension benefits and/or senior property tax cuts, both of which can already be found in other states. A Constitution that restructures our State obligations and ties school funding to alternative, more equitable revenue sources like income taxes, as proposed every year for the past five years by Republican lawmakers. Most importantly, a Constitution that provides for a full-time legislature subject to reasonable term limits, spending its time wisely solving our State’s ever worsening problems rather than staving off retirement until the next pay raise.

In the meantime, with just four months left to go for an election with all 120 seats in the Legislature on the ballot, voters must give major consideration to a desperately needed overhaul of the Statehouse roster.

July 5, 2023 Matt Rooney

 Testa obliterates Ørsted bailout on ‘Fox & Friends’ (savejersey.com) 

A $2 billion wind farm bailout cleared the New Jersey legislature last week, one which isn’t only corrupt but guaranteed to increase energy costs rather than lower them.

On Wednesday, State Senator Mike Testa Jr. (R-1) joined Fox & Friends to explain why throwing billions at a foreign company is an indefensibly stupid idea.

Pappas Says Zwicker Overreaches on 

State Control of Local Libraries

Urges Age-appropriate Books 

Decided Locally with Parental Involvement

May 22, 2023

Branchburg – Mike Pappas, candidate for New Jersey State Senate, today offered comments regarding Sen. Andrew Zwicker’s sponsorship of legislation that would directly connect State funding for public libraries and School District libraries to traditionally local decision making.

“Andrew Zwicker wants to sensationalize this into a conversation about book banning. I am not advocating banning books.  However, there should be age-appropriate standards that are decided locally with the vital input from parents. The legitimate concerns of many parents, local educators and librarians could be summarily dismissed if Andrew Zwicker has his way. He seems to have determined that parents and local communities are incapable of making decisions that are in the best interests of their children and students,” said Pappas.

“The public policy advocated by a national library organization has been offered as the leading authority to be followed. I am sure this group has important professional perspectives but parental responsibility and parental rights should be supported and not negated,” stated Pappas. 

“Parents should be given every opportunity to be involved in the education of their children and the State government should not take the heavy-handed approach that Mr. Zwicker wants. He is trying to confuse the issue and divert attention away from his extreme position that places greater control in the hands of State government that is insulated from parents and communities,” said Pappas.

“I urge Andrew Zwicker to step forward and join me in respecting and supporting parental responsibility. I urge him to support age-appropriate books and educational materials for school-age children. Grammar school-age children, such as first and second graders, are not taught algebra or geometry, they are taught basic arithmetic such as addition and subtraction. This should hold true for all educational materials,” concluded Pappas. 

# # #

Michael Pappas

Candidate for New Jersey State Senate

P.O. Box 5016, North Branch, NJ 08876 

District 16

Pappas Highlights $13 Million Impact to South Brunswick School District Due to Andrew Zwicker’s Inaction 

May 15, 2023

Branchburg – Mike Pappas, candidate for New Jersey State Senate, today issued the following statement concerning impact to the South Brunswick School District:

“When Andrew Zwicker was given the chance to vote to restore full funding for school districts due to the S2 school funding formulas, he abstained from voting – twice! When given the chance to vote to use some of the State’s $10 billion budget surplus, his decisions to abstain on March 10 and 30, 2023, are prompting these scenarios in school districts throughout New Jersey. 

The South Brunswick School District, his hometown, is reported to expect a $13 million shortfall,” said Pappas.

See attached article from South Brunswick Patch

south brunswick schools could be in financial jeopardy in 2024-25, saynofficials - Search (bing.com)

“When it mattered to his constituents, Andrew Zwicker was absent. He chose to ignore the needs of the people he actually represents in Trenton,” concluded Pappas.

# # #

Michael Pappas

Candidate for New Jersey State Senate

P.O. Box 5016, North Branch, NJ 08876 

District 16

Governor Murphy: Do Your Damn Job and End the Rutgers Strike

 April 13, 2023, 9:24 pm 

New Jersey’s 14th legislative district is situated in close proximity to Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus. Consequently, the current strike by Rutgers University employees is having a disproportionate impact on many families in the district with students just a few weeks away from concluding the spring semester or graduating college.

Today, Adam J. Elias, candidate for the General Assembly in the 14th legislative district, called on Governor Murphy to take more deliberate steps to end the strike and get faculty back to work with their students.

https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/governor-murphy-do-your-damn-job-and-end-the-rutgers-strike/

Tax Increase And Audit Demonstrate Need For New Leadership In Mercer County

The need to end single-party rule in Mercer County

HAMILTON TWP – Republican candidate for Mercer County Executive, Lisa Richford, said today that passage of a tax-increasing county budget last week and the expected release of an audit of county finances this evening demonstrate the need for new leadership in Mercer County government.

“Last week the County Board of Commissioners voted to raise our taxes and announced they will be releasing details of an audit of the county’s finances this evening.” Mercer County Executive candidate Lisa Richford said, “The thing is we should not be raising taxes on residents who are already among the highest taxed, 16th as a percentage of median income, in the nation.”

Richford continued, “Families are tightening their belts, our government should be doing the same. Instead they choose to point the finger of blame at the county’s former Chief Financial Officer. That’s not leadership!”

“Mercer County’s next Executive needs to understand that we cannot tax our way out of our problems, especially living in the era of Bidenomics.” Richford added, “Real leadership and transparency in the government’s budget process along with innovative ideas to solve our problems are what will win the day for the people of Mercer County.”

“The mere fact that we are looking forward to this evening’s release of an audit of county finances demonstrates the need to end single-party rule in Mercer County,” Richford said. “Mercer County’s column B team will end single-party rule and bring innovative leadership to Mercer County.”

By Ricky Suta, August 21 2023 11:48 am

The Republicans in the 14th legislative district unveiled their “StayNJ Today” plan, which would move the existing StayNJ plan’s start date from 2026 to 2024.

A 2026 start isn’t soon enough for State Senate candidate Patricia Johnson and Assembly candidates Adam Elias and Skye Gilmartin.

The plan, approved by the legislature and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in June with bipartisan support, provides a 50% property tax credit for qualifying seniors, with accommodations to renters.  Until StayNJ kicks in, the $250 tax rebate under the ANCHOR program remains in effect.

“The voters need representatives committed to taking action now while we have a $10 billion surplus, rather than making promises for a day that may never come,” Johnson said.

Although all but two Republicans in the legislature voted to pass the StayNJ plan, the delay in the program’s start date has been a concern among Republicans in the legislature since the legislation was first introduced.

“Republicans in both the Senate and Assembly moved to amend the bill to take effect now, and the Democrats rejected the amendment because they were never serious about helping our seniors in the first place,” said Elias.

State Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) and Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) voted for the StayNJ plan and will headline a town hall on the tax relief program this Wednesday in Monroe.