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May 23, 2024Is Teacher Union President Sean Spiller Running For Governor?
You can’t fault Montclair Mayor/NJEA President Sean Spiller for lack of ambition: In 2016 he lobbied for President Joe Biden’s nod as U.S. Secretary of Education and now there are multiple reports that the dark money PAC Spiller formed in 2022, “Protecting Our Democracy,” is using teacher dues to fund his run for New Jersey’s next governor.
Here is Politico’s Matt Friedman (who titles his playbook entry, ”ASK HIM IF HE’S RUNNING AND HE’LL PLEAD THE FIFTH”):
“The New Jersey Education Association has so far this year poured $2 million into a group promoting its president, Sean Spiller, who’s considered a potential candidate for governor in 2025…Protecting Our Democracy has been sending out mailers around the state promoting Spiller, who’s also the outgoing mayor of Montclair, as well as running cable and internet video ads. … Spiller’s time as mayor is ending in controversy, with the town settling a whistleblower lawsuit this month for $1.25 million. One allegation in the lawsuit was that most members of the township’s governing body, including Spiller, received either health insurance or opt-out payments for health insurance benefits they weren’t entitled to as part-time employees.”
Here is Sunlight’s Mike Lilley on the vehicle NJEA leaders used to funnel money to Spiller’s PAC:
“NJEA leadership hides the existence of Garden State Forward from teachers. Most teachers have no idea Garden State Forward even exists, let alone that they are funding it. They certainly don’t know that their dues are funding Spiller’s personal political career. This means that the conflicted Spiller is using teachers’ regular dues to fund his own political ambitions without their knowledge or consent.”
What is going on here? Is Spiller (who is not running for another term as Montclair’s mayor) really planning to enter the crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary that already includes Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, former State Senate President Steve Sweeney, and (possibly) U.S. Congress members Mikie Sherill and Josh Gottheimer? Aren’t PACs not supposed to support specific candidates? Yet it happens all the time: Think of Tammy Murphy’s short-lived senate race, which was funded by a PAC called Garden State Integrity that happened to have a mail drop right across the river from the Murphy household.
You can see from the ELEC filing below that NJEA took $2 million from its super PAC called Garden State Forward and donated it to Protecting Our Democracy. Yet there is nothing in Protecting Our Democracy’s literature to suggest that the money is for anything but advocacy for “a healthy democracy and the ability of hard working families across New Jersey to realize their dreams.” The only tie-in to Spiller’s political ambitions is that he is chairman of the PAC.
See how that works?
As Michael Kinsley once said, “the scandal isn’t what’s illegal; the scandal is what’s legal.”
4 Comments
Either Spiller will be Governor or some other unethical agent. It’s all in the works, and it’s most disheartening.
Laura – please note that the description of the $2 million misappropriated by Spiller is labeled “Charitable Contribution”.
When did using tax-exempt purpose assets to promote one’s own political ambitions become a charitable purpose?
Anyone questioning my expertise in this area should know that I am a retired CPA, accountant, auditor, trained fraud investigator and expert in tax exempt organization compliance and reporting.
George Washington’s farewell address provided the ,”disinterested warnings of a parting friend,” As for Protecting Our Democracy, Washington offered 8 items of advice. As it relates to this article, one the tenets being education is essential. “In a government based upon the will of the people, it is vital that the opinion of the people be informed and knowledgeable.”
So under the guise of “Protecting Our Democracy” a non-profit dark money PAC is founded by the NJEA President and funded using members union dues without their informed and knowledgeable consent.
This is not only disturbing, but a sleezy calculated manipulation of legal stealing, which should be outside the bounds of acceptable behavior for any potential gubernatorial candidate.
How about putting the same effort and time used to come up with that scheme to promote reading, writing, and arithmetic in the classroom and give the teachers the support needed using the $2 million worth of union dues taken from them; because as Washington warned, democracy will be lost if its people are not educated.
Presently, New Jersey school system under the leadership of Mr. Spiller is facing unprecedented learning losses and is the sixth most segregated school system in the nation.
The NJEA’s dictatorial influence could be squashed if enough people took a Mike Lilley approach and said enough is enough. Unfortunately, not enough people stand up to the criminality, and that’s why NJEA’s influence remains unstoppable. It’s like an evil monopoly with many crooked tendrils. NJEA fuels Spiller (and vice versa) and substandard, shady factions like NJCTL (and vice versa). It’s a sickening, monstrous, bullying cycle that’s only going to get bigger and worse. Spiller is a shoe-in for governor because of it. I hope I’m wrong. Lord knows I’d love to be proven wrong!