Marlboro No Longer Using Inkwell Global for Recreation Trophies

Inkwell Global has ended its business relationship with Marlboro Township, after an, whose husband Steven owns the marketing company.

Inkwell, a Manalapan-based company which supplied printed materials and trophies to the township and . The township is now using TJ's Sportwide Trophy of Dover, NJ, according to invoices.

The ethics complaint was filed by former council candidate Chris Dean, who alleged Marder had benefited from tens of thousands of dollars of business from the township.

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Dean supplied four invoices from Inkwell as evidence, which totaled $1,508 and change from 2010 to 2011. By law, a business is subject to a Township Council vote and public bid process if the business receives more than $17,500 from the township. Marder said the bills have never exceeded that.

The submitted invoices were for items such as the Shop Marlboro grocery totes and custom decals as well as other items.

An invoice from Sportwide Trophy to the township, dated June 4 of this year for trophies for Marlboro Recreation totals $2,776.15 for one order of trophies.

"I think it's absolutely unfortunate that a politically motivated lawsuit brought by Chris Dean, as Municipal Chairman of the Republican party in town, will ultimately cause more taxpayer dollars to be spent in order to purchase needed goods for the town," Mayor Jon Hornik said.

The , in addition to the fact that Marder nor any member of the council has voted on the business, and witness testimony stating Marder never solicited business from the township.

Township officials said the move to switch companies stemmed from a decision Inkwell made to stop its business relationship with the township.

Dean has now , asking the Local Finance Board to exercise original juridiction.

The former council candidate told Patch he has been advised by legal counsel not to comment on the issue during the appeals process, however Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Monmouth) issued a statement on behalf of Dean:

"This case has been appealed to the NJ Department of Community Affairs, where I am confident it will receive a full and fair review. Consideration by a state-level authority is necessary because there is a state statute addressing situations like these. It is an obvious and basic ethics principle that public officials should not solicit, engage in, or tolerate the steering of business to relatives of themselves or their allies. The particulars of one purchase are irrelevant -- without competitive bidding it is impossible to evaluate the terms of sale. What matters is that the public can never have confidence in the integrity of a business decision that clearly benefits the decision-makers -- whether or not it benefits the taxpayers." 

Handlin has openly backed Dean's decision to file the complaint, saying last November a township official’s spouse doing business with the town they serve “impugns the standards” of the law.

Hornik told Patch last September that Inkwell had been doing business with the township for decades. The company was not under contract because, Hornik said, the township didn't spend enough money there to warrant it.

Follow coverage of the Marlboro Ethics Board on Patch.