Haddon Heights mayor touts political experience on business' website

When Haddon Heights Mayor Scott Alexander launched a website for his consulting business last month, he targeted municipal and school officials looking to develop a presence on Twitter or set up a system to pay parking tickets online.

One of his selling points? His experience as mayor.

"Scott's unique blend of thought leadership in Web services and serving in an elected position bring unmatched experience for PoliticWeb," reads part of his online biography on politicweb.com., which Alexander described as a partnership between his firm and a Web design company.

The intersection between politicians' financial interests and public office has long been a source of contention, especially in New Jersey. But few are as bold as Alexander in marrying elected office and personal business.

"I don't see the issue," the 48-year-old business consultant said. "I thought, I have this experience in the digital world and the government world, and to mix these two together would be very useful."

State ethics rules say an elected official should not "use or attempt to use his official position to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself or others."

Whether that prohibits a politician from using his office to draw business clients exists in a "gray area" of state law, said John Hughes, a legal analyst with the state Ethics Commission, which oversees the executive branch.

Alexander, who used to work for AIG and Merrill Lynch, sees no ethical question, gray or otherwise, in using his mayoral acumen to get his company, Marketing Enablement L.L.C., additional work.

"I'm always trying new business ideas and it's just another business idea," said Alexander, a Republican elected in 2007. "People in office like me, a volunteer mayor, need to make a living."

Matthew Weng, staff attorney with the New Jersey League of Municipalities, which advises local politicians on ethical questions, said he would tell any sitting elected official who wanted to advertise his office for business purposes not to do so.

A person doing so would be "using his public office for financial gain," Weng said.

There is no shortage of South Jersey politicians whose professional and public lives intersect, whether they are employed by law firms that work in the public sector or as corporate lobbyists.

But in advertising his elected office as a means to draw business to his company, Alexander seems to stand alone.

"It's certainly unusual," said John Weingart, the associate director of Rutgers' Eagleton Institute of Politics. "The ethical problem would be if somebody felt they needed to hire him to get favorable treatment, even if he didn't intend it. Like if a town wanted to enter into a shared services agreement, and felt hiring him might help that."

The website has drawn heated objections from Alexander's critics in Haddon Heights, who make up in vehemence what they might lack in numbers.

"He's supposed to be serving the residents, not himself. There's an ethical issue here," said David McGee, 45, a neighbor and regular critic of the mayor's.

On another of Alexander's company's websites, cap20.com, which advertises its services in helping towns meet the 2 percent property tax cap passed by the New Jersey Legislature this year, Alexander has posted a video of an interview Gov. Christie gave to a local television reporter.

On the campaign trail last year, Christie praised Alexander as a small-town mayor who has bucked the trend and kept taxes down. In the video he offers the sort of endorsement most any Republican politician, or businessman for that matter, would kill for, saying of Alexander: "He's a great guy. Call Scott Alexander and ask him what he did."

A spokesman for the governor's office said that he was not aware Alexander had posted the video and that determining whether it was appropriate would be up to state ethics officials.

So far, the company has yet to attract any clients with either site, the mayor said. In fact, business has been down lately.

"It's as expected with the economy the way it is. Adding new verticals is always a way to add new business potential," Alexander said.