South Jersey Democrats Desperately Defending High Property Taxes

Republican challengers across South Jersey have managed to stick to one unifying message: High property taxes are the fault of decades of Democrat control in the legislature and local government.

Staying on message has been paying off. Democrats are answering the attack across South Jersey. They’re busy twisting and bending the truth to make themselves look good.

One example is in Barrington where the Democrats sent a mailer claiming one of the incumbents, Shawn Ludwig, has served on Council since 2009.

Seems like a legit mailing EXCEPT Councilman Ludwig was not sworn in until January 2012 after being appointed to fill a vacancy. Don’t take my word for it, here’s a screenshot of the resolution from Barrington’s website:

In Gloucester County in their efforts to defend incumbent Commissioner Bob “Weekend at Bernies” Damminger the Democrats sent a mailer claiming “Homeowners pay $1,203 less per year in property taxes than the state average.”

That mailer was obviously sent in response to Republican Commissioner candidates Nick DeSilvio and Chris Konawel talking point that Gloucester County is ranked 28th of 3,143 counties in the nation in order of median property taxes. For the record, if you look at property taxes by percentage of median income Gloucester County ranks 24th of 3,143 counties. Check for yourself at tax-rates.org.

Add to that the fact that a member of the supposedly non-partisan Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, immediate past chair Lisa Carney, has taken to defending the high property taxes in Gloucester County on social media.

And, let’s not forget that Gloucester County Republicans had to drop a cease and desist letter in LD3 demanding that networks stop airing a Democrat commercial due to its misrepresentation of Assembly candidate Beth Sawyer. The Republican’s lawyer was clear, “The advertisement’s claims are provably false.”

To defend against a unified message, South Jersey Democrats have resorted to outright lies, trying to put a positive spin on high property taxes and “claims that are provably false,” which I believe is attorney speak for lying.

Democrats are responding and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that if they are responding they are concerned. Experience backs that statement up – I’m a veteran of many South Jersey campaigns, won some, lost some, the one thing that has been consistent is the Democrats ignore candidates they aren’t concerned about.

I don’t like making election predictions, I remember predicting a big win in 2008 and I did it on TV, then we lost. That was not fun. 13 years later, I am expecting some very good news on Election night, news so good I might have my first drink in six years, it’ll be a good reason to fall off my own self-imposed no booze wagon.

Gloucester County Commissioner Makes Sure Those Who Suffered Storm Damage Know Who Is Up For ReElection

The Gloucester County Board of Commissioners Director Bob Damminger has been kind enough to provide those cleaning up after Hurricane Ida with dumpsters.

It appears the dumpsters have come from the Gloucester County Solid Waste Complex. If that is indeed the case, the “provided” dumpsters are paid for with tax dollars – so, really those cleaning up provided themselves with dumpsters.

Not only did those cleaning up after Ida likely pay for the free dumpsters themselves, they also likely paid for the giant stickers on the dumpsters. And, of course, those giant stickers just happen to have the name of the County Commissioner who is up for reelection plastered on them. A nice taxpayer funded campaign ad for Damminger!

While Damminger seems to like having his name plastered on dumpsters I have not seen any evidence of him pitching in to help with any of the storm cleanup.

In contrast to Damminger’s effort in helping with storm cleanup, Gloucester County Republicans have been pitching in to help their neighbors.

Sean Sepsey, who is running for Assembly in LD5, has been out with his coworkers from Clearview Regional School District collecting donations and moving downed trees:

Other Republicans have enlisted members of their families to help.

Courtney Milward, who is running for Council in Pitman with Vince Kelly, has been very active helping with cleanup efforts, always with a warm smile on her face. Milward got assistance from her father’s construction company providing trucks to help move debris.

Candidate for Gloucester County Commissioner, Chris Konawel who is running with Nick DeSilvio, spent time with his dad helping cleanup efforts at Wellacrest Farms, even helping move a calf born the day after the storm.

 The difference here is that while Democrats were quick to use Ida as a campaign tool, quickly making it about climate change, Republicans have been out there helping their neighbors without using their efforts as part of their campaigns.

Note: At last check the cow pictured above is alive and well.

ICYMI: Gloucester County GOP Suing To Get A Bipartisan Board of Elections

Gloucester County GOP Chair Jacci Vigilante

I’m still catching up from my 10-day working road trip.

One big item I missed while I was away is that Gloucester County GOP Chair Jacci Vigilante, along with Gloucester County Board of Elections Commissioners Carmen DiNovi and George Shivery and Gloucester county Commissioner candidate Chris Konawel filed court papers on August 18 demanding a bipartisan county Board of Elections.

According to the New Jersey Globe a bipartisan Board of Elections is required by state law:

Gloucester County Republicans have filed a lawsuit alleging that the county is denying them a bipartisan county Board of Elections required by state law.

At issue is that for many years, Gloucester County had a shared service agreement between the Board of Elections, the County Clerk's Office and the Superintendent of Elections. This agreement expired in December 2020 and was extended through June 30, 2021. The two Republican Commissioners, DiNovi and Shivery, on the Board of Elections refused to vote to extend the agreement.

The issue with the shared services agreement is that it allowed County government to avoid the hiring of staff dedicated to the Board of Elections. Other counties, Camden County Board of Elections for example, hire an equal number of Democrat and Republican employees, making the Board of Elections truly bipartisan. In other words, Gloucester County Republicans are not seeking anything out of the ordinary.

The problem with the old shared services agreement in Gloucester County is that the agreement allowed the highly partisan County Clerk’s office and Superintendent of Elections to decide who works at the Board of Elections, meaning nearly every single person who handled voted ballots was a Democrat.

The problem with a highly partisan Superintendent of Elections office is that the state legislature clearly intended the office to be bipartisan. In counties of the Second Class, as Gloucester is, Title 19 states:

NJSA 19:32-26.1 Office of deputy superintendent of elections, certain; appointment; term; vacancies; salary

1. The governing body of a county of the second class in which the office of superintendent of elections for the county has been established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1947, c.167 (C.19:32-26) may establish, by ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, the office of deputy superintendent of elections. The office of deputy superintendent of elections in each such county shall be filled by a suitable person who shall be nominated by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall not be from the same political party as the superintendent of elections, and who shall hold office for a term of five years, running concurrently with the term of the superintendent and until the deputy superintendent's successor is appointed and has qualified. The initial appointment to the office of deputy superintendent of elections may be for a partial term, as appropriate. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment but shall be for the unexpired term only. The annual salary of a deputy superintendent of elections shall be 90% of the salary received by the superintendent of elections of the same county for performing the duties of superintendent of elections and commissioner of registration. The office of the deputy superintendent of elections shall be located in the county making the appointment.

“Who shall not be from the same part as the superintendent of elections,” is an important phrase.

Perhaps the reason why Gloucester County has never moved to appoint a deputy superintendent of elections is the Democrats simply do not want bipartisanship in an office that has anything to do with counting ballots or the way elections are run in the county.

Who knows? Last year’s Gloucester County Freeholder/Commissioner election was as close as 0.37%, maybe it would have been different if the Gloucester County Board of Elections were a truly bipartisan office.

Here’s hoping this lawsuit brings bipartisanship to Gloucester County’s Board of Elections.