Bilik less than honest again?

Marie Bilik is a candidate for Assembly who was recruited by a couple of energy company lobbyists to challenge Assemblyman Parker Space and Freeholder Gail Phoebus.  Why? It is a way for the energy lobbyists and county insiders to get back at Space and Phoebus for calling for an investigation of the Sussex County solar bailout that cost taxpayers millions.

Marie Bilik is a Washington, DC lobbyists herself.  She resides and works in Virginia and claims to make a 260 mile, 4 1/2 hour trip each way, several times a week, to a property she owns in Sussex County.  Based on the time she stays in New Jersey, Bilik is claiming residency and the right to run for office to represent Sussex, Morris, and Warren Counties in the Legislature.

A few days ago, candidate Bilik was asked by an anxious voter to clarify her residency situation. 

April 11 at 8:58pm

I heard that you live in Virginia now ( easily confirmed) I thought only people who resided in NJ can run in NJ. Please explain if I am wrong, I seriously would like to get this straight before voting. Thank you.

This is how Bilik herself responded on Facebook to this voter:

Marie S. Bilik Candidate for NJ Assembly District 24   You are absolutely correct. Only people who reside in NJ can run in NJ. I reside in Green Township. I have an efficency apartment in VA that I stay in two or three nights per week while I am at the HQ for my job. I am certified for all criteria, including residency, by the Secretary of State of the State of NJ. I commute...a lot! I am looking forward to my retirement and a short drive to Trenton!

An "efficiency apartment"?

That isn't how the Virginia assessors describe it.  First of all, the condo Bilik resides at in Virginia is worth more than her property in New Jersey.  It has two bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms and is located in an exclusive section of a fashionable suburb of Washington, DC.

Property Type:	CONDOMINIUM
Municipality:	LEE
Assessor's Parcel Number:	081-2-11-5935-B
Assessor's Parcel Number Unformatted:	812115935B
Living Building Square Footage:	1,244
Year Constructed:	1995
Number Of Bedrooms:	2
Total Numbers Of Rooms:	4
Number Of Bathrooms:	2.00
Number Of Partial Bathrooms:	1
Basement Finish Type:	NONE
Construction Type:	FRAME
Exterior Wall Type:	BRICK/STONE
Fireplaces Present:	Y
Number Of Fireplaces:	1

This does appear to be at variance with what candidate Bilik has claimed.  So which is true, her statement to the voter or the claims made by the assessor's office?

Of course, if candidate Bilik wishes to dispute anything here we of course will publish her rebuttal in full.  Watchdog exists as a means of getting to the truth and we always invite any public figure we criticize to dispute what we post.

While in Texas, Bilik attacks Parker Space in New Jersey

Washington, DC lobbyist/ Virginia resident/ New Jersey Assembly candidate Marie Bilik attacked Assemblyman Parker Space on the pages of TAPinto.net a blog run by a former Sparta school board member and liberal activist.  On the same day Bilik's attack came out on Space, whose family has owned and operated Space Farms since the 1920's, it was reported on the Texas website, Your Houston News, that Bilik was in Texas to give a school there an award on behalf of the lobby group she works for.

Here is a picture of Bilik taken in Texas and published in the Houston media, while she was attacking Assemblyman Parker Space here in Sussex County.  Weird, isn't it?

Energy Lobbyist to lead Bilik campaign

A local politician who works with Wendy Molner as an energy lobbyist has been chosen by Assembly candidate Marie Bilik to lead her effort against Assemblyman Parker Space and Freeholder Gail Phoebus.

According to the official minutes of several New Jersey municipalities, Molly Whilesmith has lobbied local governments on energy issues for Concord Engineering, the corporation where Wendy Molner is listed as Vice President of Government Relations.  Here she is, at a meeting of the Watchung Borough Council in November of last year:

Jersey Energy Group – Somerset County Energy Aggregation Program

Wendy  Muller (Molner?)  and  Molly  Whilesmith,  representatives  from  Concord  Energy Services  (CES),  were  invited  forward  by  Mayor  Pote  to  proceed  with  a presentation  regarding  a  County  approved  Energy  Aggregate  Program.  Councilman  Gibbs  requested  consent  from  Mayor  Pote  to  recuse  himself  from this  presentation.    Ms.  Whilesmith  explained  that  Concord  Energy  Services  and Jersey  Energy  Group  were  appointed  by  the  Freeholders,  via  Resolution  in October,  to  form  the  newly  established  Somerset  County  Energy  Cooperative.

Wendy Kuser Molner is an experienced lobbyist.  According to her bio, she has over 15 years of experience.  She worked in "legislative relations" as a member of the Corzine administration. 

As a member of the administration of Governor Jon Corzine, Molner helped sell projects cooked up by NJ Transit and the NJ Department of Transportation.  You know, those people who want to raise the tax on gasoline to pay for those projects that cost, per mile, twelve times what the rest of the country pays.

Molner is listed as the Vice President of Government Relations on the website of Concord Engineering, an energy engineering company from southern New Jersey that sells to county and local governments.  Concord is affiliated with the NJ Clean Energy Program, which promotes  "renewable sources of energy including solar." 

Concord is also affiliated with the U.S. Green Building Council, among other organizations that promote the use of taxpayer subsidized solar energy.  So let's be clear about who Molner lobbies for.

Molner is the author of letters to the editor that have defended the county bureaucrats and their handling of the Sussex solar mess.  These are officials who have pocketed nearly $2 million of taxpayers' money since this solar scam was sold by them to the Freeholders. 

With the addition of a second energy lobbyist to her campaign team, it becomes even more important for candidate Bilik to answer these basic questions:

(1) Do you support the non-disparagement (aka "gag order") clause that protects the solar scammers from public comment? 

(2) If elected to the state Assembly, would you propose similar non-disparagement clauses between the Legislature and failed corporate vendors? 

From Chairman Hambel's personal Facebook page.

One "Like" and it's Wendy Molner

Like we said, Wendy Molner runs Ailish Hambel, which makes Wendy Molner the boss of the Sussex GOP. What does that say about the party?