"Tender" feelings in the Sussex GOP

It wasn't too long ago when Freeholder Rich Zeoli expressed outrage that a Republican would dare submit an open records request (OPRA) asking for the public records of an elected Republican official.  Zeoli had a fit of histrionics over it.  Then again, this is the same fellow who, in 2004, suggested that Steve Oroho's run against an incumbent Republican Freeholder was unpatriotic.  Silly.

And despite his failing to file required campaign finance reports with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission for four years, Freeholder Phil Crabb never had anyone report him to NJELEC or file a complaint to generate an investigation.  How times have changed.  Now people call the police over a mistake.

If the email circulated yesterday -- you remember, the one that attempted to impersonate this website -- is anything to go by, somebody has eaten too many chili peppers and is suffering a tough morning after.  The email claimed that one of the freeholders listed his former campaign chair on his new campaign form.  It turned out that the former campaign chair didn't want to be listed again, but they had apparently failed to communicate.  So she flipped and called the police and filed a formal complaint with NJ ELEC.  This former campaign chair is an elected member of a township council and is political enough to know better. 

As if this wasn't enough low-brow drama for the week., now a new drama is emerging.  This one involved a judge, a local elected official, and a SCCC official who are locked in a three-way controversy that has the judge and SCCC official getting cozy to the detriment of the local guy.  Why?  Well it seems that some men suffer the same monthly cycles that women do.  Every so often, at somewhat regular intervals, they become "tender."  It looks like the judge and the SCCC official have gone tender.  Poor things. 

Look for more of these personal meltdowns and look for them to get a lot messier as the internecine battles between Freeholders gets hotter and the election gets closer.

Marie "I'm not local" Bilik exposes herself... again

Marie Bilik has spent a lot of time trying to convince Sussex County voters that she is from here.  But for every step she takes, she takes two backwards.

Take a look at her campaign expense reports filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJELEC).  She has no expenditures in Sussex County or anywhere near the 24th Legislative District. She spends money on a switch-hitter consultant from Florida (works for both Democrats and Republicans) and she spends money at Staples -- but not the Staples in Newton, like we would.

No, the Staples Marie Bilik spent money at is the Staples in Alexandria, Virginia.  Take a look at the page from her report, below.  You can't make this stuff up!

NJELEC PAGE

But wait, it gets better.  The Bilik campaign sends out a negative mailer attacking Gail Phoebus today that invites voters to call her.  Guess which telephone number she prints on her mailer?   Nope, it's not a Green Township exchange, or even a 973 area code.  Marie Bilik has a 609 area code with a 218 telephone exchange.  Here's the data on that:

AreaCode/Prefix (Exchange) 609-218

AreaCode/Prefix 609-218 Details

NPA/Area Code:	609	NXX Use Type:	WIRELESS
NXX/Prefix:	218	NXX Intro Version:	2005-12-12
City:	TRENTON	New NPA:
State:	NJ	Latitude:	40.2215
County:	MERCER	Longitude:	-74.7559
County Population:	366513	LATA:	222
ZIP Code:	08609	Overlay:
ZIP Code Pop:	13999	Rate Center:	TRENTON
ZIP Code Freq:	-1	OCN:	6391
Time Zone:	Eastern (GMT -05:00)	FIPS:	34021
Observes DST:	Unknown	CBSA Code:	45940
CBSA Name:	Trenton, NJ
Prefix Status:	Active
Carrier/Company:	CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS - NJ

That's some local gal, huh?  You can't make this stuff up!

Memo to Freeholder Director Rich Vohden and Deputy Director Dennis Mudrick

Gentlemen.  We all know that you are big supporters of your colleague, Phil Crabb.

You know him.  You vote with him.  You attend political cocktails and wine & cheese parties with him.  Talk to him.  Talk to him about following the law.

Get him to file his D-1 form.

As his leaders on the Freeholder Board, you are responsible for him.

Watchdog spoke with a very helpful state employee down in Trenton yesterday.  She works with the compliance section of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJELEC).

She said that Freeholder Crabb had failed to file his D-1 form and was in violation of state election law.

The law isn't tough to understand.  It can be found on Page 10 of NJELEC's Compliance Manual for Candidates (published in 2013):

No later than ten days after establishing a candidate committee, the candidate shall file the “Single Candidate Committee Certificate of Organization and Designation of Campaign Treasurer and Depository” (Form D-1). If any of the information contained on Form D-1 changes, the candidate must file an amended Form D-1 no later than three days after the change. If the candidate appoints a deputy treasurer or designates an additional depository, the “Designation of Deputy Treasurer and/or Additional Depository” (Form DX) must be filed with the Commission within five days of the designation or appointment. If any information contained on Form DX changes, an amendment to Form DX must be filed within ten days of the occurrence of the change.

Freeholder Phil Crabb has been collecting money for his re-election campaign since his secret kick-off event down in the Mulvihill's wine cellar at Crystal Springs.  That was December of last year.  He should have filed his D-1 six months ago.

Allow Watchdog to make it easy for you.  You can print a D-1 from here:

http://www.elec.state.nj.us/pdffiles/forms/compliance/d1.pdf

One great benefit about filing his D-1 is that Freeholder Crabb's campaign treasurer could become certified by attending a free campaign treasurer certification program provided by NJELEC.  Maybe Freeholder Crabb wouldn't break the law so much if he complied with this.

So how about it Freeholder Director Vohden?  How about it Deputy Director Mudrick? 

And when or if Freeholder Crabb does file his D-1, remember that the law requires him to file a copy with the Sussex County Clerk's office in Newton.  That's so Sussex County residents won't have to travel down to Trenton.  It's a courtesy.  It's also the law.

Transparency is the start of the next American revolution.

Sussex GOP Chair endorses Crabb

Sussex Republican County Chair Ailish Hambel formally endorsed Freeholder Phil Crabb for re-election last evening in an email sent to Republican county committee members, elected officials, and activists.  Hambel, who holds a patronage job in the Christie administration, attached a cryptic endorsement of Crabb to a funding appeal.  Hambel wrote:

Please help me make sure we keep Phill on the board he has experience, knowledge of the issues in Sussex County. We need that right now. Thank you for your consideration of these issues.

No mention was made about what "these issues" might be.

The "re-election fundraiser" for Freeholder Crabb is being held on Thursday, May 1st, at the Franklin Firehouse Hall, 137 Buckwheat Road, Franklin.  The event is called a "Gourmet Spaghetti Dinner" and is being catered by the Homestead Restaurant.  Tickets start at $60 per person.

We couldn't help but notice who the checks are being collected by:

Please make checks payable to: Crabb for Freeholder

Please mail to: Dennis J. Mudrick P.O. Box 1014, Sparta, NJ 07871

Is this being done because Freeholder Mudrick can be trusted to file his campaign finance reports and Freeholder Crabb can't?