NAACP Files Ethics Complaint Against Senators Lesniak and Bateman For Sponsoring Affordable Housing Bill
By Henry T. Chou, Esq.
The New Jersey NAACP has filed an ethics complaint against Senators Ray Lesniak (D-Union) and Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R-Somerset), alleging that the Senators' joint sponsorship of a new affordable housing bill that would, among other things, eliminate the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing poses a conflict of interest because the Senators' respective firms would stand to prosper financially from the proposed legislation.
The NAACP, which opposes the proposed bill (S-1), asserts that the measures proposed by Senators Lesniak and Bateman are favorable to municipalities and would generate additional legal work on zoning and affordable housing issues for the Senators' firms, who represent over 40 municipalities throughout the State. Senator Lesniak claims that the ethics complaint is frivolous.
Next, the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards will review the ethics complaint and determine whether the allegations made by the NAACP warrant further investigation and action.