Pine Barrens Tribune October 30, 2021-November 5, 2021

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October 30 - November 5, 2021

Republicans Seeking to Take Back Seats on County Board Accuse Rivals of ‘Following’ Instead of Leading Due to Recycling, Shelter Challenges

‘I AM THERE FOR YOU!’

Democratic Commissioners Counter ‘A Lot of Good Things Are Happening,’ with Historic Public-Private Partnership, Restaurant Week and Loan Program

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

Photo By Photo By Thomas Valentino

GOP Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield at the LeisureTowne Candidates’ Forum on Oct. 20, vying to unseat Republican turned Democratic Senator Dawn Marie Addiego.

Democratic Slate of Candidates in This Year’s 8th District Race Skips Pivotal LeisureTowne Forum with Rival Accusing Them of ‘Hiding Behind Smear Campaigns’ Run By ‘Camden County Bosses’ in Contrast to Stanfield, Who’s ‘Been There for Constituents,’ Challenging GOP-Defector Addiego Campaign Manager for 8th District Democrats, in Providing Reason for Their Absence from Event, Says They ‘Refused to Be a Party’ to the GOP Slate’s ‘Lies,’ Will Not Help Draw Attention to Them, Nor Do Addiego, Natale and Eckel Have Obligation to ‘Serve as Fact-Checkers’ to Team Stanfield; Umba Declares That State Senator ‘Should Be Fired’ by Constituents for Repeatedly Not Showing Up

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—It is a local political event that typically is a mustnot-miss affair for any Burlington County, New Jersey 8th Legislative District or 3rd Congressional District candidate who is serious about seeking political office due

to not only the important voting bloc it targets, but also the media coverage associated with it given it is one of only a few major, local political events where voters actually get to hear directly from the candidates in-person leading up to Election Day. And lending credence to just how

important this annual event is – Diane Allen, a Republican running for lieutenant governor in New Jersey, even made an appearance this year before it was over.

But the Democratic slate of candidates in this year’s 8th District race, skipped the LeisureTowne Candidates Forum hosted See STANFIELD/ Page 6

SOUTHAMPTON—After Democrats gained absolute control of the Burlington County Board of Commissioners (formerly known as the Board of Chosen Freeholders) last year, and the GOP lost control of the board for the first time in more than 40 years in 2019, Republicans Al Pallanti and John Adams are vying to win back two seats for the GOP this November, and in doing so, the latter during an Oct. 20 LeisureTowne Candidates Forum accused the Democrats of “following,” not leading.

Adams, in fact, excoriated the commissioners during the forum for mishandling county recycling, park grant opportunities for local towns, as well as animal adoptions and visitations at the county animal shelter, while also claiming that there was a fee increase passed on to county residents that was essentially a “tax increase.”

But Commissioners’ Director Felicia Hopson, along with Daniel J. O’Connell, deputy director, pushed back against those charges during the forum, with the director contending “we got a lot of good things going on in Burlington County despite what our competitors are saying” and the deputy director maintaining that “everyone has got their opinions, but there is really See BOARD/ Page 7

INDEX Business Directory..........12

November Events............11

Job Board........................16

Opinion............................14

Local News........................2

Worship Guide.................11

Marketplace........................14

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‘Unusual’ State Senate Debate Between One-Time Running Mates Reveals Where Addiego and Stanfield No Longer See Eye-to-Eye

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

M E DF OR D — A n “ u n u s u a l ” 8 t h Legislative District debate between a Democrat and a Republican who were once running mates, the result of threeterm state Senator Dawn Marie Addiego (also a former eight-year freeholder and two-year assemblywoman) deserting the GOP in 2019 for the Democratic party and now being challenged by Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield, a former 18-year GOP sheriff in Burlington County, played out on the evening of Oct. 24.

The 9 p.m. Sunday night, all-virtual oneon-one debate between the state Senate candidates in a district of some 220,000 residents with 175,000 individuals who are of voting age, was the only one in the state’s “most competitive” and “maybe most expensive” race of the 2021 election cycle, according to lead debate moderator David Wildstein, editor of the New Jersey Globe, which hosted the event.

Decision to Switch Parties It was the elephant in the room and the first topic tackled.

And Addiego had no choice but to confront questions head-on about her January 2019 decision to part ways with the GOP and become a Democrat.

“I wanted to have a seat at the table,” she said of the reason behind her decision, given that Democrats are currently in control of all three branches of state government.

Addiego added another reason for making the switch was that “let’s face it,” the makeup of the district and state “has changed.”

“My constituency has changed,” she maintained. “And I think I can better serve my constituents as a Democrat. I have proven that.”

By now having a seat at the table, according to the state Senator, she has not only been able to get “increased property tax freezes and retirement deductions for seniors,” but also more aid for local school districts that saw it reduced through a revised school funding formula (implemented by Senate Bill S-2, signed into law by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy). It has also allowed her, she said, to “fight the governor” to give up “bridge money for children with special needs who aged out in schools because of COVID.” “I think I did the right thing for the people and that is all I can do,” declared Addiego of her decision to leave the GOP. Stanfield, however, called the state Senator’s de cision to sw itch par ties “reprehensible.”

“She gave a seat away that wasn’t really hers to give away,” Stanfield maintained.

“It belongs to the supporters and the people who helped get her there. And the people who voted for her.”

Addiego’s “change in values,” according to Stanfield, is what compelled her to come out of retirement and “jump in” to the Assembly race in 2019 with Assemblyman Ryan Peters, who was a running mate of Addiego’s on the district GOP slate in 2017 and purportedly did not receive any advance notice of the state Senator’s decision to part ways with the GOP prior to it being announced.

“She a lso left one of my hero e s, Assemblyman Ryan Peters, a Navy Seal, high and dry,” Stanfield pointed out.

As for Addiego “‘wanting a seat at the table,’” Stanfield called that “very ironic” considering “time-after-time the state Senator doesn’t vote,” pointing to bills such as one that banned the use of plastic bags beginning in 2022 as an example.

But the most “disturbing” of the state Senator’s decisions to not vote, according

to the assemblywoman, was one for a bill that had made it illegal for police officers to notify parents that a juvenile belonging to them was caught in possession of marijuana or alcohol (see separate story).

The state Senator, in response, accused Stanfield of “misleading” the electorate “because it was my legislation that I coprimed that required police officers to notify parents when their children were caught with drugs or alcohol.”

But Stanfield countered that Addiego was a major sponsor of a cleanup bill “to cure the embarrassment she caused to begin with.”

“Sh e’s ly i ng!” d e c l a r e d Add i ego, m a i nt a i n i ng t here were pro c e du r a l requirements that had to be followed.

Addiego, during her opening statement, maintained that she was an “independent voice for South Jersey,” who is “unafraid to stand up to any party’s leadership.”

“I put the needs of my constituents first,” she maintained.

School Masking Mandates When it comes to masking kids in schools due to the Coronavirus pandemic, as is currently mandated by Murphy through a highly controversial executive order, Addiego said she “supports whatever the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says we should do.”

“We have done well as a state by following the CDC,” the state Senator contended. “If the CDC says we should do it, I think we should. If the CDC says we don’t have to, I certainly would support that as well.”

Stanfield, however, retorted that “the parents need to make these choices for their children.” She suggested that masking was not necessary for the teenagers in high school who have already been vaccinated.

“We need to start using commonsense and empowering parents again,” Stanfield asserted. “My child is my choice … I don’t want someone else telling me what to do with my child.”

State Aid Cuts to Schools Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, co-moderating the debate with Wildstein, pointed out that half the districts in the 8th District received increased school funding under the revised school funding formula, while “half of them have lost it (aid) by double digits.”

Addiego, in response, was quick to point out that she “did not vote for S-2.”

“I don’t want to hurt any school that benefited from S-2,” she declared. “I just think we need to do it fairly and we need to relook at it.”

The state Senator called for the school funding formula to be “reviewed more often” and maintained she has proposed legislation to create a “task force” to conduct such reviews.

Stanfield noted that she and Peters also submitted a bill to review the school funding formula, claiming that was done “way before” the state Senator submitted one.

She noted that a “pause” on the funding cuts was requested by the 8th District GOP delegation because they felt Murphy could have used federal COVID relief monies to avert having to cut aid.

“He just turned a deaf ear,” Stanfield maintained. “Everything that could be done hasn’t been done for our schools.”

Addiego pointed out that Stanfield “voted twice against passing the state budget,” which contained the school funding, but Stanfield countered that the budget was full of “wasteful spending.”

“Yes, there were some good parts to it,” Stanfield said. “But there were some parts of See DEBATE/ Page 8

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Full Term for Vacant Surrogate Post, Last Held By GOP, Up for Grabs Candidates for Position Explain Its Role Often Mistaken for Another

Saturday, October 30, 2021

Lieutenant Governor Candidate Makes Appearance in LeisureTowne, Criticizing Murphy for Long-Term Care Deaths, Early Prisoner Release Burlington County Favorite Diane Allen Says Government Should Be ‘of the People, by the People, and for the People,’ Not ‘for Murphy’

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

Photo By Thomas Valentino

Photo By Thomas Valentino

GOP surrogate candidate Deborah BuzbyCope, mayor of Bass River Township, explains that she would like to educate people on the importance of having a will.

Democratic surrogate candidate Brian J. Carlin, mayor of Burlington Township, points out he has written over 750 wills during his some 35-year law career.

By Douglas D. Melegari

of wills.”

“A lot of people, when I am talking to folks, they have no idea what a surrogate does,” she said. “When somebody passes away, folks would come to that office.”

And for that reason, according to Democratic surrogate candidate Brian J. Carlin, “while you have to carry out the judicial function” of the position, you also “have to be sympathetic and empathetic.”

“And you have to handle people in every different way,” he said of the circumstances that often present themselves given the range of emotions people experience during the handling of such delicate matters by the surrogate, who under state law, serves as a constitutional officer.

The surrogate is empowered to qualify executors and trustees named in wills, to appoint administrators for those who die without wills, and to appoint guardians for minors and legally incapacitated persons, according to state administrative code.

The surrogate, it states, is also responsible for overseeing the procedure in contested estate matters, in the declaration of incapacitation, in appointment of guardians, and in the granting of adoptions in the Superior Court.

Carlin, a 35-year attorney who practices law in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, told forum attendees he has written more than 750 wills over the course of his legal career.

“I never had one turned away by a surrogate or register of wills office when they have been taken for probate,” Carlin contended.

Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON— Control of the Burlington County Surrogate’s Office, with the top, elected post in it currently vacant, is up for grabs on Nov. 2.

Up until the resignation about a year ago of Mary Ann O’Brien, a Medford attorney elected county surrogate in 2016, the post had been the last one in county government that remained under Republican control after Democrats previously swept races for county commissioner and sheriff.

O’Brien, according to Burlington County Spokesman David Levinsky, was confirmed as a Superior Court judge after Democratic Governor Phil Murphy nominated her for the judgeship. Her nomination was then confirmed by the state Senate last October, and she had to resign immediately from the surrogate post upon her confirmation.

“Only Gov. Murphy has the authority to appoint an acting surrogate and he has not done so,” Levinsky told this newspaper on Oct. 26. “This year’s election will be for a full term.”

According to the website of the county surrogate’s office, Deputy Surrogate Bonnie Nutt Madara is currently leading the office.

A nd as G OP su r rogate c and id ate Deborah Buzby-Cope pointed out during a LeisureTowne Candidates Forum on Oct. 20, the position of county surrogate is not one where “you are carrying a baby for somebody,” which she said is often the biggest misconception about the post given it is confused with being a “surrogate mother,” but rather one that handles “estates, trusts, adoptions, guardianships and the probating

See SURROGATE/ Page 14

SOUTHAMPTON—There was only one moment during the LeisureTowne Candidates Forum on Oct. 20 – in one of the largest retirement communities in Burlington County, with a sizable veteran population – that provoked loud clapping from the audience during an attending candidate’s stump speech (besides when a candidate for local school board declared she was fighting for parents to have a seat at the table in student decisions).

And that was when Diane Allen, GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, a former prominent state Senator from Burlington County who came to power after a career in television news, and served stints as majority whip and deputy minority leader during her legislative tenure, pointed out that the “federal government is “looking into what went on,” or is investigating the deaths of some 8,000 people at nursing homes and veteran homes statewide during the past 18 months of the Coronavirus pandemic, all of which were attributed to COVID-19 complications.

The audience’s reaction signified why the topic, as another statewide media outlet put it, is central in Democratic Governor Phil Murphy’s fight for re-election, with more than 40 percent of the Coronavirus deaths in the state tied to the long-term care settings.

“COVID patients were put in nursing homes and veteran homes, and 8,000 people died,” Allen said. “And here is the thing, he was told by folks who run the nursing homes that people will die. We have recordings of those telephone conversations. People died and he did it anyway.”

Allen, running mate to Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, was referring to a conference call in which a nursing home operator warned state Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli that “people will die” if long-term care facilities are forced to comply with her controversial March 31, 2020, memorandum directive.

That directive stipulated, “No patient/ resident shall be denied readmission or admission to the post-acute care setting solely based on a confirmed diagnosis of COVID 19.”

“Persons under investigation for COVID-19, who have undergone testing in the hospital, shall not be discharged until the results are available,” it added. “Post-acute care facilities are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized patient/resident, who is determined medically stable, to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”

Allen, during the LeisureTowne forum, maintained that, “If someone says, ‘people

Photo By Thomas Valentino

Diane Allen, GOP candidate for lieutenant governor and a former prominent state Senator from the 7th Legislative District, discusses how New Jersey is broken and her and her running mate’s plan to fix it. will die,’ to her or Ciattarelli, “you better believe we will listen to that.”

Persichilli has since maintained state health department officials were “able to do as best we could” and that they “were very clear that the facilities could only readmit residents if they could separate them from other residents, maintain proper infection control and had sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) and staffing.”

Murphy, pressed repeatedly by reporters about the directive on a number of occassions, has also contended state health officials ordered patients to be separated on “their own floor, their own wing, their own building, and staff as well,” adding that the instructions given were “explicit, black-and-white.” He also has maintained that nursing home operators were told that if they can’t separate patients, “come to us and we’ll find another alternative,” with “many” doing just that.

“If they didn’t take our advice, they deserve to pay a price for that,” Murphy has said.

Allen, during the LeisureTowne forum, also took issue with another Murphy administration directive, which released some 3,000 prisoners beginning in November of last year as part of the governor’s COVID-19 prison initiative to help protect inmates from contracting the contagion in a confined setting.

Statewide media outlets have since reported on several instances in which See ALLEN/ Page 10

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Total Consolidation of Pinelands Regional Sending Districts Is Recommended by Consultants Who Did Feasibility Study

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

Proposal to Merge School Systems of 4 Towns into New District Projected to Save Taxpayers $2.4 Million Annually

LITTLE EGG HARBOR—A feasibility study of a proposal to consolidate all the existing schools in the four communities served by the Pinelands Regional High School District into a comprehensive new district that would encompass pre-K classes through 12th grade has culminated in a recommendation that moves toward such total regionalization.

T he prop os e d merger c ou ld have substantial advantages for both residents of the districts affected and the school systems at issue, according to the extensive analysis performed by the Morristown-based law firm of Porzio Bromberg & Newman and three professional consultants who took part in a special meeting to announce the results on Oct. 18.

But perhaps the biggest benefit, as explained by financial expert Steven Cea, would be an estimated annual collective savings of approximately $2.4 million for the taxpayers of Little Egg Harbor, Bass River and Eagleswood townships and the Borough of Tuckerton, based on a 100 percent equalized property value formula rather than one involving enrollment figures.

Combining the five school districts (Bass River, Eagleswood, Tuckerton, Little Egg Harbor, and Pinelands Regional) into a single entity, which would be contingent on first getting the approval of the elected officials of the communities involved and then their voters via a special referendum, could also expand their access to resources that aren’t now available to them, noted former state Education Commissioner Richard C. Espey, one of the consultants on the study, the results of which have been summarized in a 160-page report.

While praising the job local districts have done in educating students with the resources available to them, Espey, who participated in the session remotely, maintained that “there is a limit to what you can accomplish without regionalization.”

“It Iets you put in place the last pieces you just can’t get to through shared services,” he maintained, describing that as being very important in putting together certain aspects of a curriculum, creating programs for special education students and serving those who are struggling academically due to family issues or limited English proficiency.

Another effect of consolidating would be the disbanding of not just the local school boards, but the existing Pinelands Regional Board of Education, Kerri Wright, a principal with the Porzio law firm who helped chair the meeting, subsequently told the Pine Barrens Tribune. It would be replaced, she said, by a new nine-member board initially named by the executive county superintendent with input from the participating municipalities, until its members could be chosen by their voters, three at a time over the succeeding three years.

In turn, the new board, Wright said, would have the responsibility of selecting a new superintendent, who could either be the current one of Pinelands Regional, Dr. Melissa McCooley, or someone else, since, unlike other administrators such as principals, the superintendent does not have tenure under a provision of a state law.

In August the Pinelands Regional board awarded McCooley, who first assumed the post in 2018, a new five-year contract, but should a new regional district be formed, that agreement would no longer be valid, Wright said.

One factor that helped the study group arrive at its recommendation was its

Photo By Andrew King

Participants in the special meeting on the results of a feasibility study on consolidation of Pinelands Regional sending districts, from left, are consultants Steven Cea, Dr. Richard Grip and Porzio law firm principals Kerri Wright and Vito Gagliardi, Jr. expectation that the school-age population in the affected municipalities will undergo no significant growth and, if anything, will likely decrease in size, leading demographics consultant Dr. Richard Grip to conclude that “there is really no need for expansion.” The capacity of current educational facilities, he noted, “is projected to be adequate in each district,” so that students in each community can continue attending existing schools.

The recommendation of the consultants to move ahead with the proposal was by no means a foregone conclusion, noted the session’s co-chair, Vito A. Gagliardi, Jr., a managing principal of Porzio, who explained that it was one reached only after careful analysis “as opposed to a conclusion someone told us to reach and then write 150 pages to justify it.”

“There are times when our recommendation is not to go forward with what you initially thought might be a good

idea,” he contended.

Later in the session, he provided several concrete examples of instances in which the firm had actually ended up discouraging such initiatives in answer to a question from Sue D’Ambrosio, vice president of the Eagleswood Board of Education, who asked whether it could cite any studies it had done “where you thought it wouldn’t work,” as opposed to a recent successful consolidation process it had stewarded in Hunterdon County, which Gagliardi said was most similar to Pinelands in terms of the districts involved.

D’Ambrosio also indicated she was not necessarily convinced by the group’s decision to support consolidation.

“We’ve got a lot more homework to do before we can even come up with the slightest See CONSOLIDATION/ Page 15

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

STANFIELD (Continued from Page 1)

by the retirement community’s Civic League on the evening of Oct. 20.

That decision, which has the potential to cost the Democrats, comes as super Political Action Committees (PACs) pour millions of dollars into the race, particularly because GOP-defector Dawn Marie Addiego, a three-term state Senator, is trying to fend off a challenge from one-time Republican companion Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield.

Some political analysists have called the 8th District race the “most competitive” and “probably most expensive” in the state, now being closely eyed across political circles in New Jersey for that reason.

The 8th District Democratic slate’s absence from the event that drew about 60 people in one of the largest retirement communities in the district, located in Southampton Township with over 2,250 homes, led Stanfield to declare at one point, “I am there for you,” and that she always has been there for her constituents during both her 18-year career as Burlington County Sheriff, and since being elected to the Assembly nearly two years ago, particularly during the Coronavirus pandemic of the last 19 months when her office, she said, was “flooded” with calls over unemployment insurance and Motor Vehicle Commission issues during a statewide shutdown.

A nd Bra ndon Umba , one of t wo Republican candidates running for Assembly in the district, the other being Michael Torrissi Jr., slammed the GOP ticket’s opponents, including Democratic Assembly candidates Mark Natale and Allison Eckel, as well as Addiego, for being a no-show, asking, “Why are they not here today?”, before contending that it was because “they are hiding behind millions and millions of dollars of smear campaigns” against the Republican slate, particularly Stanfield, and that it was in the same vein as a past instance in which Addiego “didn’t even show up and vote” on a critical bill before the state Senate.

That latter vote Umba referred to is one involving state Senate bill S-3454, ultimately substituted with Assembly bill A-5342, which clarified marijuana and cannabis use and possession penalties for individuals younger than 21 years old, signed into law

by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy on Feb. 22.

The legislation was part of a historic adult-use cannabis reform package that also legalized cannabis use and possession for adults 21 years and older, as well as decriminalized marijuana and hashish possession.

However, Mu r phy’s ena ct ment of S-3454/A-5342 led to strong outcry from Republicans and even several prominent Democrats, due to a provision that had

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM made it illegal for police to inform parents if their juvenile children were caught in possession of marijuana and/or alcohol. The law threatened third-degree charges against police if they did so.

Addiego, according to LegiScan, which tracks the votes of the Legislature, was one of three state Democratic senators who “abstained” on A-5342 during final state Senate passage of the legislation, causing her decision to be recorded as “not voting.”

No Republican or Democratic senators, however, were recorded as being “absent” for the vote, according to LegiScan.

“You probably read about the legislation where they said, ‘If a minor was caught with marijuana or alcohol, they weren’t going to tell parents,’” asserted Umba during the forum. “Well, Senator Addiego didn’t even show up and vote. She was in the building, and she didn’t vote! When we brought that up (to her previously), she said, ‘Well I didn’t vote because I didn’t agree with the legislation.’

If I don’t show up to work, I get fired! And I think that is what we need to do for Senator Addiego, she needs to be fired!”

Umba pointed out that “‘yes,’ ‘no,’ or ‘present’” are “three choices for every piece of legislation,” before declaring, “If you are in the building, press the button and vote.”

“That is what we are paying you to do,” said Umba of Addiego. “And you know what, you can see it today. We don’t have three (physical) seats here, but they (the Democratic slate for the 8th District) are not here. You have to show up; you have to listen to your constituents; and you have to understand what they need! That is what you are going to get with ‘Team Stanfield.’”

Austin Lyle, a campaign manager for the Addiego, Natale and Eckel ticket, when asked about the marijuana bill allegation, didn’t specifically address it (though Addiego did respond to the charge when asked about it again during an Oct. 24 debate [see separate story]).

Lyle, however, did provide a statement to this newspaper about why the Democratic candidates for the 8th District chose to skip the LeisureTowne forum.

“We refuse to be a party to the lies of Jean Stanfield, Mike Torrissi Jr., and Brandon Umba and we will not help draw further attention to them,” Lyle declared. “They have leveled repeated false, and blatantly hypocritical, accusations regarding voting records, campaign financing, and our steadfast support of law enforcement. It is not our obligation to attend to serve as fact-checkers; it is our obligation to engage in fair-minded discourse based on facts, which we have done several times with our opponents. They have rewarded our benefit of the doubt with extremist lies because, in their desperation to portray a viable campaign, they have been forced to resort to personal attacks and lies against Senator Addiego, Mark Natale, and Allison Eckel, whose

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Brandon Umba, a GOP candidate running for 8th District Assembly, slams the GOP slate’s Democratic rivals for not showing up to the LeisureTowne Candidates’ Forum hosted by the retirement community’s Civic League on Oct. 20. records prove they are true champions for the people of Legislative District 8.”

The Democratic candidates for county commissioner and surrogate, however, did attend the LeisureTowne forum and challenge their opponents (see separate stories).

Addiego, according to public records, ultimately became a “major sponsor” of a “cleanup bill” signed into law by Murphy in March, which made it mandatory that parents are notified by police if their underage children are caught in possession of marijuana and/or alcohol.

“The importance of parental involvement in every aspect of a child’s development has been well documented,” said Addiego when the cleanup bill was passed. “Removing parents from a moment as pivotal as being caught breaking the law runs contrary to common recommended practice and quite honestly common sense.”

Prior to the for um at Laurel Hall beginning, the Civic League, in conducting its regular business, had an officer read minutes aloud from a prior meeting. It was noted in those minutes that a LeisureTowne resident had stated that he purchased a “false coyote” and put it on his lawn to keep Canadian geese away. The resident talked about its effectiveness, so as to encourage others to follow suit.

Umba, in further roasting the 8th District Democratic slate for skipping the forum,

declared, “I think they probably put coyotes outside this building because they decided not to come tonight.”

In elaborating on the charge that the Democratic slate for 8th District was spending millions of dollars on smear campaigns, Umba contended that they were being funded by the “Camden County party bosses.”

Waterford Township, part of Camden County, is the lone town in that county to comprise the 8th District.

Ca mden Cou nt y has long b e en a Democratic stronghold, home to state power broker George Norcross, who served as chairman of the Camden County Democratic Committee, and still, today, is regarded as New Jersey’s most powerful unelected leader, known for using his war chest to aid other Democratic candidates, particularly in South Jersey. The GOP, outside of the forum, has maintained that a Super PAC running negative ads against Stanfield has connections to Norcross.

“You are getting a lot of lies from the other side,” said Umba of what has been contained in the advertisements. “… They are lying about our record.”

One promotional piece appearing on the Facebook page belonging to the campaign of Natale and Eckel uses a 2019 photograph from Umba’s personal Facebook page of the See STANFIELD/ Page 10

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Saturday, October 30, 2021

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Democratic Director of the Burlington County Board of Commissioners, Felicia Hopson, declares during a LeisureTowne Candidates Forum on Oct. 20 “a lot of good things are happening” in Burlington County.

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(Continued from Page 1) only one set of facts,” including that taxes were never increased since Democrats have been in control of the board.

O’Connell, liaison to the Burlington Cou nty Health Depar tment and Department of Public Safety, also pointed to the challenges of the last 19 months due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but maintained that Burlington County avoided falling off an “economic cliff” due to the board’s initiatives and saw to it the “greatest public-

AD HOTLINE: (609) 801-2392 private partnership” in county history that vaccinated over 200,000 county residents against the contagion.

Adams, who at times shouted into the microphone and was sometimes quite animated in making his points, contended that there was a known national shortage of truck drivers back in 2019, but that the county commissioners “did nothing” to prevent it from affecting county services “for two years.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported that curbside recycling collection schedules for all towns in Burlington County were upended from late spring to mid-summer by a “perfect storm” that included a nationwide driver shortage and “multiple recycling truck drivers” quitting their job with the Occupational Training Center (OTC) of Burlington County, a nonprofit that collects and sorts the county’s recyclables.

The reason that the workers had quit their jobs with OTC was, in part, because of the vast number of job openings that paid better.

After public outcry that lasted for several weeks about recycling not being picked up, Hopson ultimately wrote a letter to area mayors, as previously reported by this newspaper, stating that the county decided to deploy truck drivers from the Burlington County Division of Roads and Bridges to “be trained to operate OTC recycling trucks to assist with collections.”

“Ask Mike Torrissi (GOP candidate running for 8th District Assembly, who attended the forum and owns Torrissi Transport [see separate story]); he is a trucker,” Adams asserted. “Do you think he waited for two years (to find truck drivers) until trucks didn’t move; until there is no gas or food at Wawa? Do you think that is what a leader does? But no, that is what they (the commissioners) did! Then it took them three months to find a solution to the problem!

That is not leadership, that is problems!”

David Levinsky, a county spokesman, when later asked for an update on the recycling situation by this newspaper, replied that collections have been back on a “normal bi-weekly schedule” for the last four months.

“This didn’t happen by accident and the commissioners thank the drivers from the Burlington County Bridge Commission and the Burlington County Division of Road and Bridges for stepping up and assisting with collections while the county’s provider worked to bring in other temporary and p er manent replac ement dr ivers,” he said. “Their help was crucial to restoring collections to a regular schedule as quickly (as possible), and the provider expects service will continue to remain on a regular schedule like it has the last several months.”

Levinsky pointed out that Burlington County is “also the only county in New Jersey that collects recycling from all its towns, and at 800-square-miles, it is easily the largest county in the state,” while noting the county “is also among the select few county recycling programs that does not charge towns or taxpayers a fee for recycling.”

“Recycling is funded with grants and money from our County Landfill and its tipping fees – not from property tax payments to Burlington County,” he added.

Another example of “mismanagement and poor leadersh ip” by the county commissioners, according to Adams, is their handling of the county animal shelter’s operations during the pandemic.

A S e p t . 16 l e t t e r w r i t t e n b y Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield (challenging Democratic Senator Dawn Marie Addiego in the 8th Legislative District for a state Senate seat [see separate story]) and Assemblyman Ryan Peters, addressed to the county commissioners, revealed to the public that they had “heard from countless residents

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♦ Page 7

Photo By Thomas Valentino

Deputy Director of the Burlington County Board of Commissioners, Daniel J. O’Connell, a Democrat, explains how the county saw to it the “greatest public-private partnership” in its history to inoculate residents against COVID-19. about their frustration and sadness” that the county animal shelter “remains closed to the public for walk-in visits.”

The letter added that the assembly delegation also observed “numerous alerts” from the animal shelter that “it is at capacity and in desperate need of adoptions or some animals could be put down.”

Stanfield and Peters then “strongly urged” the county commissioners “to open the animal shelter to the public” as “we believe it will help connect more pets to their forever homes and help alleviate the overcrowding issue.”

The letter had led to another outcry, and by See BOARD/ Page 9

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DEBATE

for, as Addiego put it, “voting against insurance protections for first responders who contracted COVID.” The state Senate bill referred to by the state Senator, S-2380, provides essential workers w ith wage replac ement and healthcare treatment under state workman’s comp. It was signed into law by Murphy just a little over a year ago.

Stanfield, when asked by the moderator why she voted against the legislation, responded that “workers who get COVID on the job can still use workman’s comp.”

The assemblywoman added that the bill was based on a “presumption” in July 2020 “when people were out and about and going on vacations.”

“It just wasn’t realistic at that point in time,” Stanfield asserted. “Maybe earlier in the pandemic it would have been more realistic.”

Addiego called Stanfield’s remarks about there being a presumption “disingenuous.”

“Are you saying nurses who were on the frontlines got COVID outside of the hospitals?” Addiego asked. “Or aides in nursing homes got COVID outside the nursing homes? I decided to vote with the people who desperately needed the money.”

Essential workers like nurses, according to the state Senator, “shouldn’t have to prove it.”

Addiego then maintained that “nurses, essential workers, State Troopers, the FOP and the PBA are endorsing me” and “not a 26-year sheriff.”

Stanfield countered she had been endorsed by the “statewide nursing association.”

(Continued from Page 2) it that were terrible, and I couldn’t in good conscious vote for something that would waste state taxpayer’s money for now and for years to come.”

Getting a “seat at the table,” Addiego clai med, is why she was able to get “extraordinary aid” for “all” the local schools in the budget.

“All the schools got extra money,” the state Senator said, causing Stanfield to retort, “But they are still being cut – many schools are still being cut.”

Motor Vehicles’ Nightmare The Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC)’s Delanco and Medford offices, as well as its Southampton inspection station, are most utilized by 8th District residents given their location.

Murphy had ordered MVC agencies statewide closed during the early months of the Coronavirus pandemic and then reopened them with limited in-person services as well as designated different facilities to offer only certain services. The result has been long lines and backlogs.

When Stanfield was asked if “things had returned to normal” at the local facilities, she replied, “No, they are not back to normal.”

Now, according to the assemblywoman, she is hearing of issues with the agency’s computer systems and their workers not returning to work, which is just adding to the issues.

“It is a nightmare,” maintained Stanfield, who pointed out her office was able to get the MVC’s mobile unit to come to the 8th District three times to help those experiencing delays. “They just did not plan ahead for all this. It has been over 18 months that we have been in this pandemic, and they are doing a horrible job. People can’t make appointments, and then when someone finally does get one, it is canceled.”

Stanfield pointed out that one of her granddaughters, who turned 17 in May, still can’t get an appointment to take her driver’s test.

“It is just ridiculous at this point,” Stanfield declared. “We should be doing better, and Governor Murphy is not.”

Addiego said she “actually agrees” more needs to be done to fix the MVC situation and acknowledged “Motor Vehicles was terrible.”

Seemingly capitalizing on her earlier point that Stanfield voted against the state budget, Addiego discussed how this year’s budget, which she supported, put money towards replacing antiquated technology that is apparently in use by the MVC.

Supporting Roe V. Wade Wildstein pointed out that in 2011, Addiego was the only state Senator to “vote against restoring women’s healthcare funding to the state budget” resulting in “a 100 percent rating from New Jersey Rightto-Life that year.”

The state Senator attributed decision “back then” to having “issues” with Planned Parenthood, adding that she was more interested at the time in putting money into “federally funded centers” that existed.

“I did fight for more money to be put in at that time,” Addiego contended. “I thought it was a good compromise.”

W h e n t h e s t at e h a d mor e f u n d s available, she added, “we did fund Planned Parenthood.”

Stanfield said Planned Parenthood “puts a lot of money into advocacy for abortion” and “doesn’t provide for a lot of other healthcare services that women need.” Federally funded healthcare centers, she added, do a great job at offering a “holistic approach.”

“Dawn’s record is what it is,” she asserted.

“I think she is coloring it a little bit to suit her new needs.”

Addiego noted she used the services of Planned Parenthood while in college, and based on that experience, knows they provide for women’s healthcare and “is there

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Saturday, October 30, 2021

Photo By New Jersey Globe

New Jersey Globe’s 8th Legislative District state Senate debate between Senator Dawn Marie Addiego (bottom left) and Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield (bottom right), co-moderated by David Wildstein (upper left) and Micah Rasmussen (upper right). for a lot of young girls,” including to conduct cancer screenings.

“There are plenty of Planned Parenthoods around that have nothing to do with abortions,” the state Senator maintained.

Addiego then declared that “unequivocally” Roe v. Wade “needs to be codified.”

Stanfield pointed out that she was “prochoice,” but would not support a bill under consideration by the Legislature that “goes way too far” by allowing a “baby to be aborted before birth.”

Addiego, when asked by the debate moderator about that aforementioned bill, was non-committal on how she would vote, which Stanfield called out.

“I do agree we need to protect Roe v.

Wade and am in agreement with the senator on that,” Stanfield said.

Reducing Budget Spending When Wildstein provided both candidates with a hypothetical power of having a lineitem veto for the state budget (the governor possesses that power), and asked what would they cut from it, Stanfield responded that she would cut $400 million worth of “Christmas tree items” that “make legislators look good in their districts,” before contending she would prioritize “fully-funding our schools,” particularly putting funding towards supporting kids with special needs.

Addiego said she would cut “fair-share funding” for North Jersey and “bring it down to South (Jersey)” because, “I am a big proponent of South Jersey.”

“I would probably shift some of the funding going up north and bring it back down to South Jersey in an effort of fairness,” the state Senator said.

No Additional Gun Control Addiego pointed out that the state “has some of the strongest gun laws that we have”

in the U.S. and that “what we need to do is enforce the laws that we have.”

“I don’t believe we need any new laws,” she asserted. “We have more than enough.”

Stanfield said she agreed with the state Senator, adding that when she served as sheriff, “we did things to make people learn how to use guns safely” and also gave out over 3,000 gun locks in just one event alone.

Tackling Warehouse Sprawl Warehouses are needed, Addiego said, but there are “places for warehouses” and “not necessarily where the developers want to put them.”

The sprawl of warehousing, replacing farmland, has become a significant issue in the northwestern parts of the 8th District, prompting outcry amongst residents in Eastampton and Mansfield townships.

Addiego is one of the major sponsors of a measure that would exclude farmland from redevelopment or rehabilitation under the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law of 1992, which allows municipalities to designate land for those purposes. There are other bills as well in the Legislature that would negate the sprawl, but they have run into considerable opposition from developers.

Addiego said the bill she introduced on the topic came about after meeting with concerned residents from both Eastampton and Mansfield, when she learned of a “loophole” in the redevelopment law “that is silent as to the use of farmlands.”

Now, the state Senator said, she is on a mission to “fill that loophole.”

“Farmland isn’t blight,” she declared.

“Farmland isn’t empty buildings. The whole point of that (1992 legislation) was to redevelop empty buildings. And we have plenty of them. But for developers, it is cheaper to do them (build warehouses) See DEBATE/ Page 15

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(Continued from Page 7) the morning of the next day, Levinsky put out a press release announcing that the “animal shelter is waiving all adoption fees for dogs and cats for the next 30 days as part of a ‘clear the shelter’ promotion to help find pets loving homes and alleviate a space crunch.”

That release also announced that the shelter is also “offering walk-in visiting hours during normal operating hours on Saturdays and Sundays to help encourage adoptions and fosters,” and that visitors can schedule appointments between noon and 3:30 p.m. during weekdays.

Following Levinsky’s release, Stanfield wrote on Facebook that she was thankful to the commissioners for listening to their pleas and “while we will continue to push for Burlington County to open its shelter for visitors seven days a week, we are grateful that a concession was made to open for walkins on weekends.”

Levinsky’s release at the time did contain an acknowledgement from O’Connell that “our shelter is at capacity now with an abundance of adorable dogs and cats who are looking for good home,” though it noted that as of Sept. 17, for 2021, more than 870 animals have been adopted from the shelter and over 285 have been placed in foster care, or with supportive rescue groups from across the East Coast.

“They (the county commissioners) did nothing about it (the issues) until volunteers got on Facebook and started telling people what was going on, and now they come up with a solution to allow people to go in there to adopt the animals,” contended Adams during the Oct. 20 LeisureTowne forum. “I am sorry, that is not leadership, that is following!”

While neither Hopson nor O’Connell

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AD HOTLINE: (609) 801-2392 specifically responded to the animal shelter charges during the forum, Levinsky did put out a press release on Sept. 3, prior to the outcry, noting that the “shelter was at capacity” and “now is the perfect time to consider adopting a pet from the Burlington County Animal Shelter.”

Another release was issued by Levinsky on Sept. 7 noting that the shelter was “getting some extra help and attention from one of the nation’s most enthusiastic animal lovers,” Kris Rotonda, who visited it in early September “to spotlight many of the animals available for adoption” and to raise funds for needed equipment.

Levinsky, when asked by this newspaper after the forum for a status update on the situation at the animal shelter, replied that “the shelter continues to operate normally and is open for walk-ins and guided tours on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 3:30 p.m., and for weekday visits by appointment.”

“More than 900 cats and 330 plus dogs have been adopted from the shelter so far this year,” he added. “Another 127 dogs and 80 cats have been placed with rescue groups.

The shelter’s capacity is about 99 dogs and 200 cats. Currently, it is running high, but not at maximum capacity.”

Adams in further criticizing the county commissioners, pointed to a Burlington County Times report last year that revealed that “Democratic-controlled municipalities received, by far, the largest sums” in park grant dollars during the Democraticcontrolled board’s first opportunity to award county park grants since gaining control of county government. The published report also stated that “the majority of towns passed over for funding currently have Republican leadership.”

Since that report, however, additional park grants have been awarded, and according to a county press release,

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Republican-controlled municipalities have been given significant awards, including Medford Township, which received $100,000 for playground equipment replacement in Bob Meyer Park.

“And when they did the park grants, they first only gave them to Democratic towns,” maintained Adams during the forum of what occurred. “And then, when county residents objected and complained about it, they said, ‘Oh yeah, we will give them to the Republican towns.’ That is not leadership!

That is following! That is what they do!”

Adams also maintained during the forum that both Hopson and O’Connell “are going to tell you, ‘Oh, we didn’t raise your taxes,’” but that about two years ago, they raised your fees.”

“Now those are ‘taxes!’” he claimed.

O’Connell, however, in the only charge of Adams’ during the forum that he specifically addressed, said that the GOP candidate “said it right” by stating “we didn’t raise your taxes.”

Adams, however, pointed out that during the 2020 budget cycle, the commissioners initially proposed a budget with an $8.43 million increase in the tax levy to support county operations. However, that budget was ultimately adopted with no tax increase.

“What actually happened: they presented a budget with a huge tax increase, and only when the residents of Burlington County came to the meeting and objected to the taxes, did they try to figure out a way to not raise them! And they did that by raising the fees,” Adams said.

Adams added that “if this is what you want in Burlington County” and if residents “want a Burlington County that is mediocre, not leading and not doing the things that it is supposed to do,” elect both Hopson and O’Connell back into office.

“But if you want a better Burlington County, a Burlington County of leaders who are trying to make things happen and

♦ Page 9

Photo By Thomas Valentino

John Adams, a GOP candidate for Burlington County Board of Commissioners, excoriates the county commissioners during the LeisureTowne forum for mishandling county recycling, park grant opportunities for local towns, as well as operations at the county animal shelter. who are trying to make this a better place to live, for both you and for me,” Adams urged county voters to elect both him and his running mate, Pallanti, to county office.

Hopson, in the wake of Adam’s remarks, declared “we got a lot of good things going on in Burlington County despite what our competitors are saying” and “a lot of new things” are happening in the county, while also maintaining “we did not raise your taxes.”

“But they are going to say that we did,” she asserted. “But the record is there for you to go and check it for yourselves because you See BOARD/ Page 13

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STANFIELD (Continued from Page 6)

GOP candidate sleeping in a hammock with an undisclosed waterfront in the background.

Among the charges made against Umba, former acting business administrator of West Deptford, is that “it must be exhausting work to get kicked out of one public job after another.”

It also contains a quote attributed to Denise DiCarlo, mayor of West Deptford, stating, “During his six months as acting administrator, Umba has demonstrated he lacks the knowledge, character, judgement, and respect for our taxpayers and even sometimes for elected officials – that the job requires.”

Other pieces, some not directly funded by the Democratic slate, but Democratic PACs, have apparently accused Umba of raising taxes while serving West Deptford.

According to NJ Advance Media, which publishes the South Jersey Times, covering news in the Gloucester County area, including West Deptford, Umba “resigned” from West Deptford after the township committee became Democratic-controlled, with Umba citing “frivolous reprimands” from the Democratic-controlled township committee and that he could “no longer in good conscious continue to serve.” It was also reported that DiCarlo was critical of Umba even when she was the lone Democrat on the West Deptford committee.

“I introduced the 2014 budget,” said Umba of his time in West Deptford, in defending his record during the LeisureTowne forum. “That budget decreased taxes. I also introduced a 2015 budget. And then that budget was rejected by the governing body. And they did what they wanted to do, and then I left West Deptford to go to Lumberton. I wasn’t kicked out! I didn’t do a bad job! I decided to leave! I moved on and went to Lumberton.”

Over the course of his six years in Lumberton as a business administrator, Umba said he “basically took the tax rate and lowered it” by some $415,000, and while doing so, increased the ranks of the Lumberton Township Police Department from 17 officers to 24, and funded a $6.5 million emergency services building.

Lowering taxes, while expanding services, he indicated, is a philosophy that is “missing in Trenton.” Instead, under Democratic control of the Assembly, state Senate and governorship, “we grew the state budget by $11 billion” and “passed a millionaire’s tax to benefit 36 percent of New Jerseyans.”

“No one in this room received a $500 check in order to benefit from that,” Umba asserted, noting there are some 9 million people who live in New Jersey. “… I don’t believe you need to pass a tax in order to give money back to people.”

Umba, now the business administrator of Manchester Township, also called for fully funding the state’s pension system, contending that previous deferments by the state occurred despite municipalities not being allowed to defer their costs.

“We have to fully pay it,” he said. “The state should do the same thing. And we need

ALLEN

(Continued from Page 4) convicted felons, released through the initiative, were subsequently arrested for murder.

“He (Murphy) let violent criminals out early, and a number of them have now murdered New Jersey residents and are now back in jail,” asserted Allen during the forum.

Allen maintained that “our veterans, seniors and police are the backbone of our state” and “must have a voice” in

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to look at the budget, and we need to go in and need to turn over every single item and be able to look at it.”

Torrissi, who only delivered brief remarks during the forum, simply pointed out that locals have probably seen his fuel trucks on the road, as he owns a petroleum transporter business, Torrissi Transport, and that he is “looking forward as a business owner, farmer, and truck driver to bringing common sense to the State of New Jersey.

Umba, however, pointed out that Torrissi has also “had his record attacked,” with charges made by the Democrats that Torrissi raised taxes while serving as a councilman in Hammonton, Atlantic County. (Another promotional piece appearing on the Facebook page belonging to the campaign of Natale and Eckel, using the picture of Umba in a hammock, maintains Torrissi raised taxes five times, resulting in a 50 percent increase.)

“You want to know what happened in Hammonton when he (Torrissi) was a councilman?” Umba asked. “They increased their bond rating. You now save on every single bond you put out. And he was able to also keep taxes low. In five straight years, there was not a tax increase!”

The Facebook page belonging to the campaign of Natale and Eckel, in yet another instance using the picture of Umba sleeping in a hammock, says of the GOP candidate that voters “will have to wake him up” to find out what he says of his running mate.”

That post then accuses Torrissi of having to “pay millions of dollars in fines for reckless drivers who caused unnecessary deaths, injuries and property damages,” warning voters that they “can’t let him take his deadly mismanagement to the state Assembly.”

But Umba, during the forum, said “let’s take a look at our opponents,” maintaining that “you can learn a lot from someone’s social media accounts” and “about what they believe and how their philosophies are.” He then pointed to a past retweet from Eckel that references “defunding the police” and a “racist police state.”

“She retweeted she wants to defund our police departments,” Umba declared.

“You know we are having a difficult time in this state trying to attract good people.

My brother is a police officer. I am a thirdgeneration fireman. My parents raised us to give back to the community to serve and now we are vilifying those people. Yes, there are a few bad apples. But to paint that honorable profession with a broad stroke is wrong and it is going to have long-term effects.”

Natale, he said, based on what he has seen of his social media postings, “believes we should just ignore laws and adopt sanctuary cities.”

Especially the subject of the smear campaigns, as Umba put it, is Stanfield.

Dozens of mail pieces have been received by 8th District voters in their mailboxes accusing the assemblywoman of voting for higher taxes on senior’s retirement savings and voting against the senior tax freeze to being “Dr. No” for voting against providing essential workers with wage replacement and healthcare treatment under state workman’s comp.

Stanfield, however, has long had a

reputation of providing services to seniors, particularly during her time as Burlington County Sheriff, holding senior expos. Her initiatives had previously earned her bipartisan praise and led to her often being a top-vote-getter.

“The fact of the matter is it is downright sickening what they are doing to Jean Stanfield in this race,” declared Umba on Oct. 20. “I ran because Jean stood up and, I said, you know what, I am going to stand up with her.”

Ryan Peters, who has been a two-term assemblyman representing the 8th District, decided not to seek re-election this November.

The assemblyman, however, is known for prevailing in a tough re-election battle two years ago when Democrats went after him for making an issue of Addiego’s defection to the Democratic party, often discussing the importance of “loyalty” as a Navy Seal.

Peters won that race despite his one-time running mate, Addiego, switching parties, and Joseph Howarth, his other one-time running mate, challenging him and Stanfield in a primary bid after losing the party-line amid allegations that he was also in the process of switching parties.

While Peters has kept a relatively lowprofile in the current race, Stanfield, during the forum, said of him “he is my hero, an assemblyman and Navy Seal.”

Stanfield also called her time in the Assembly with Peters “interesting” due to the pandemic dominating all but two months of their current terms, maintaining with “everything shutdown” the elected officials “had to find new ways to help people.”

“Our office was flooded with calls from people having trouble with unemployment insurance, and from people who couldn’t get through to Motor Vehicles,” Stanfield said.

“And it was just a nightmare for so many people. And our office staff did a fantastic job of fielding every single phone call and helping everyone who contacted us, whether they lived in our district or not.”

The assemblywoman, who declared during the forum that she is “a conservative,” maintained, while seemingly responding to some of the statements made about her in the mailers, that her office “did a lot of community programs for seniors and kids” over the past two years, “continuing that community philosophy in the Assembly” from her days as county sheriff.

Letting people who are facing “very scary” times or circumstances know that “there are people there who care for you,” Stanfield added, “is the way I approached things as sheriff, the way I approached things in the Assembly and will be the same way I will approach things as being your senator.”

“I am there for you!” she declared. “I will listen, take your phone calls and just be a resource for you.”

Umba, in pointing out that the Democratic slate did not show up to the forum, asserted, “Jean has been there, and Mike and I will be there for you too.”

Eckel, a member of the Lenape Regional High School District Board of Education, representing Medford, was photographed by this newspaper attending a LRHSD board

government, and if they say “this is what we need and this is the way things need to be done,” they must be listened to.

“We believe in government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” declared Allen of her position and that of Ciattarelli.

“It is not a government for Phil Murphy, for big government – it is for the people.

We always have to put our residents first.”

But that is not what is happening now, she said, with residents unable to get appointments at Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) agencies due to a backlog (after Murphy closed them for months and then reopened them with limited, specific services due to the pandemic) and running into

problems in getting their unemployment benefits.

One friend, Allen said, spent “three months” trying to get an appointment with the MVC and “then we get there, and they wouldn’t even let us in.”

Another, she noted, “almost lost his home” after “unemployment checks didn’t come for months.”

“And I was upset, and I didn’t understand it,” Allen explained. “Then, it turns out that the University of Chicago did a study of all the states, and we are number 50 when it comes to the ability to reach an actual human in government to get a problem solved. We are at the very bottom.”

Saturday, October 30, 2021

Photo By Thomas Valentino

GOP Assembly candidate Michael Torrissi Jr. says during a LeisureTowne forum he is “looking forward as a business owner, farmer, and truck driver to bringing common sense to the State of New Jersey”. meeting during the forum. She is one of 11 members on the regional school district board.

Natale, an employment attorney, was one of two Democrats who previously mounted an unsuccessful Assembly bid against Peters and Stanfield in 2019, running at the time with Gina LaPlaca, who is now mayor of Lumberton.

According to the Burlington County Clerks’ Office, LaPlaca received 24 percent of the vote, while Natale also received 24 percent of the vote, compared with Peters and Stanfield who both received 25 percent of the vote, respectively.

Natale, at the time of his defeat, discussed the “progression of the 8th District from a reliably Republican one to a district that is up for grabs.” Both Natale and LaPlaca did attend the 2019 LeisureTowne Candidates Forum.

The Pine Barrens Tribune, following the LeisureTowne forum, received a statement from the Team Stanfield campaign regarding their opponents not showing up to the event.

“Senator Addiego and her team will do anything to conceal their radical, far-left views and anti-police, pro-criminal rhetoric from voters,” the campaign said in the statement.

“Senator Addiego is trying to hide behind the millions of dollars in dark money being spent

by Camden Political Bosses who she sold out to when she switched parties. They have no respect for the voters. They just want to buy the election with smears and personal attacks.”

New Jersey is “broken,” she declared, and she and Ciattarelli, who has a “MBA and is a CPA,” have a plan to fix it.

That plan, Allen noted, includes making “government much leaner” and “working for all of you.” Allen pointed out that there are over 800,000 people working for state government, with their pay, pension and healthcare benefits accounting for about $12 billion of the annual state budget.

But despite that, she contended, Murphy sent home many of the workers “for the past 18 months” and “they weren’t sent home to work from home, they were just sent home.”

See ALLEN/ Page 11

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NOVEMBER

EVENTS/WORSHIP GUIDE

♦ Page 11

To promote your December Events and special event on this page promotions contact Jayne Cabrilla at happening locally 609-801-2392 or email this month! jcabrilla@pinebarrenstribune.com

November 1 Train Rides Through the Woods of New Gretna

Location: Bass River Township Details: The Woods of New Gretna Park and the New Jersey Shore Live Steam Organization provide train rides for all each Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The small steam locomotives, and other trains, wind their way through the beautiful park. The rides are provided by a group of dedicated volunteers who have revitalized the park and laid out the railroad track, based on the historical Tuckerton Railroad. The volunteers maintain the railroad and follow us on walking trails, and are constantly expanding them. Riding the trains is free, facebook.com/MedfordUMC but donations are very much appreciated. The train rides are outdoors.

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Location: Southampton Township Details: The Southampton Historical Society is hosting the program, “Incorporating Art and World War II,” on Monday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m., at the Southampton Township Municipal Building, 5 Retreat Rd. Mike Panrella, a former History teacher at Shawnee High School, will engage the audience with his program using art and music to tell stories of WW II. From Norman Rockwell and the Saturday Evening Post to Dr. Seuss, Panerella will explain how the war was portrayed using print media. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 609-859-0524.

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November 11

Lenape High School’s Fall Play, “Alice in Wonderland” Location: Medford Township Details: Fall down the rabbit hole with “Alice in Wonderland.” Lenape High School will follow Alice while she meets many peculiar and exciting characters of Wonderland. The dates and times of the play are: Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. and Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The cost per ticket is $5 for students and $10 for general admission. Tickets are available online at https://lrhsd. schoolcashonline.com/ or at the door.

November 29 2021 Annual Juried Poetry Contest Location: Medford Township/Virtual Details: Medford Arts Center is hosting its 14th Annual Juried Poetry Contest for Burlington County Adults, and its 4th Annual Juried Poetry Contest for Burlington County High School Students. The deadline for each contest entry is Nov. 29. Cash prizes for the top three poems include: 1st place, $125; 2nd place, $75; and 3rd place, $50.

Students: submit your poems by email to poetrycontest@medfordarts.com

by Nov. 29. Be sure to include in the subject line “2021 High School Poetry Contest.” Include your name, residential address, high school and grade, and your contact information (mobile/text number).

Adults: submit your poems by email to poetrycontest@medfordarts.com by Nov. 29. Include in the subject line “2021 Adult Poetry Contest.” Include your name, residential address and your contact information (mobile/text number).

The awards ceremony will take place virtually in December 2021. For more details and the contest application, please visit www.medfordarts.com or contact Naomi Dispenza at 609-654-9033.

A Special Section From

ALLEN

(Continued from Page 10) “So lucky them, they got full paychecks, whereas other folks didn’t have that ability as many people lost their jobs, and many other people had to transition to working at home and teaching their kids at the same time,” Allen declared. “… There are some great people who work in state government and I am not saying they are all bad. I am just saying that there are so many of them and this governor didn’t seem fit to make them work. We could have put terminals at each house and made them work, but we didn’t do that. Apparently, we weren’t the important ones.”

Allen also pointed to Murphy’s past remarks that “if taxes are not your issue, this probably isn’t your state.”

“Well, taxes seem to be a number one issue as everyone I have talked to says taxes are ‘the issue’ and seniors are leaving in droves because they can’t afford to stay,” Allen said.

Allen said to encourage seniors to remain in the state, she and her running mate plan to “not tax retirement income” and “lower property taxes” by “changing the school funding formula.” On that latter point, Allen claimed that some school districts in North Jersey were receiving $35,000 to $40,000 per pupil, contending there are “plenty of places educating kids very well with much less money.”

A for mer state Senator of the 7th Legislative District who resides in Burlington County, Allen also took aim at Murphy’s decision to sign a cannabis reform bill that had made it illegal for police to notify parents in the event their juvenile child(ren) were caught in possession of marijuana or alcohol (see separate story).

“We are also going to make sure we support police,” she declared. “That hasn’t been happening and is very important to me.

This governor has handcuffed the police. He told them if you come across kids drinking and doing drugs, you can’t tell parents.

So that just demoralized police and made kids go wild. Now they have had to close down beaches because kids are going on a rampage.”

While a cleanup bill has since been signed

by Murphy, following an outcry, police departments across the state have contended there are now “little consequences” that can be brought about to juveniles in possession of marijuana or alcohol.

“Government should work for all of you, but right now the government does not put all of you or us number one,” Allen declared.

As Allen continued her remarks, an audience member’s telephone rang loudly, which caused the candidate to wrap-up her speech by declaring, “That’s Phil Murphy calling – he is angry!”

Murphy and Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver did not appear at the forum to challenge what was said.

Early Reservation STRONGLY ENCOURAGED. Space & Copy Deadline November 16, 2021 at 4:00 p.m Publication Date November 20, 2021 Call 609.801.2392 or email dmelegari@pinebarrenstribune.com for details.

Page 12 ♦

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BOARD

(Continued from Page 9) can’t always trust (what you are told). I will leave it up to you to go and do that, but we did not raise your taxes.”

I n st e ad , Hop son m a i nt a i ne d , t he county commissioners have “increased opportunities to help small businesses” and “to help small businesses thrive,” while “also keeping taxes down,” including by establishing Burlington County Restaurant Week and offering HELP loans (zerointerest loans) to “help small businesses through COVID.” The county, she said, also partnered with the state to “help skillup unemployed workers” so that they can qualify for job opportunities.

Most of the services offered by the county, she pointed out, are “free of charge.”

“We have our (county commissioners’) me eti ngs on the s e cond and fou r th Wednesdays of every month,” pointed out Hopson, who resides in Willingboro is also vice president of operations for a professional services company. “My colleagues and I are there all the time, completely engaged. I don’t quite see, however, our competitors there holding us accountable to what they are accusing us of doing. So, if you are going to accuse of us something, be there at the meetings and hold us accountable. And make us prove to you that we didn’t raise taxes.”

O’Connell, in further defending the county board’s record when it comes to taxes, after Adam’s attacks seemed to have struck a chord with the Democratic county commissioners, told residents that they can go to the Department of Community Affairs to “verify that Burlington County has the lowest county taxes in New Jersey.”

“That is a fact,” he declared.

Levinsky later contended that “the combined county tax rate (operations, open space and library) has not increased since 2015.” When asked if fees were raised during the 2020 county budget cycle to compensate for the county commissioners ultimately deciding on a flat budget, replied, “I spoke to our county chief financial officer (CFO),

who said there were no fee increases as part of the 2020 budget.”

However, he added, “there were some environmental health permit inspection fees that were adjusted in December to compensate for some of the increased costs for digitizing records the Health Department is mandated to maintain.”

Adams, during the forum, had also said at one point that the county commissioners ultimately “didn’t raise ‘taxes’” because “they got a gift from the governor’s office for COVID-19,” a reference to pandemic relief monies given to the state’s counties.

O’Connell retorted that money was “for nothing other than COVID-relief,” including “millions and millions of dollars” spent to provide for COVID testing.

Burlington County, he said, was one of the first counties to offer COVID testing.

Additionally, he said, the money was used to secure personal protective equipment (PPE) for first responders “who had to go to work everyday to keep our society working.”

“So, when you hear things, everyone has got their opinion, but there is really only one set of facts,” the deputy director told those in attendance at the forum.

O’Connell noted he wanted to make a point of talking to forum attendees “about our health department,” adding that, “I can’t say enough about what this health department has done for all of us over the last 19 months.”

Through a public-private partnership with Virtua Health, a healthcare provider in the Burlington County area, according to O’Connell, the county vaccinated over 200,000 residents, administering some 295,000 shots.

“It was probably an example of the greatest public-private partnership certainly in Burlington County, if not in all of New Jersey,” declared O’Connell, a former Delran councilman. “When I went to the mega-site (in Moorestown where most of the vaccinations were administered), individuals came up to me and said, ‘Dan, we couldn’t believe how well run that is and how well it operated.’”

The two entities, he said, are now in

discussions to open another mega-site to administer booster shots of the COVID vaccinations that are being rolled out.

And while the county board, O’Connell said, was “focused on economic development and small businesses” pre-pandemic because its members realize “small businesses create more jobs in our country” than even the larger companies such as General Motors and IBM, when COVID came along and businesses closed, “we were really concerned we were going to fall off an economic cliff.”

“The good news is we didn’t,” he declared, suggesting the county commissioners’ efforts to steer the county through the difficult times has paid off.

O’Connell, a county commissioner of three-years, who retired in 2016 after a 42-and-a-half-year career as a locomotive engineer and the political director for a labor union representing railroad and bus workers, maintained that he and Hopson, should they be re-elected, want to not only continue what they have done, but “we want to put COVID-19 in the rear-view mirror, and we want to see our economy rebound for all our sakes.”

Ad a ms, a g radu ate of We stPoi nt, contended that none of the current county com missioners are veterans or bring military experience to the board, but that he and Pallanti would like to “bring back the military connection that is now lacking.”

Pallanti, he said, while not a veteran, would assist with that as his business provides “service and support to Fort Dix and other military installations.”

Pallanti, however, noted that it was one of his “biggest regrets” to not follow through on a childhood ambition to serve in the military, after ultimately deciding to go in a different direction. But serving as a county commissioner, he said, would now be “my way of giving back.”

T h e G OP c a n d i d a t e fo r c o u nt y commissioners added that he “backs the blue 100 percent” and will always say “no” to “defunding the police,” calling such a movement “ridiculous.” He appeared to brand himself during the forum as a candidate of “law and order” who is for

Photo By Thomas Valentino

Republican Al Pallanti, seeking election to the Burlington County Board of Commissioners, declares he is a candidate of “law and order” who is for “protecting the military and police.” “protecting the military and police.”

“You defund the criminals, not the police,” Pallanti declared. “It is that simple.”

Pallanti pointed to a recent robbery at a Wawa in Mount Laurel and the shooting of a teenager in Pemberton, warning, “it is coming.”

“At the end of the day, I will keep Burlington County safe, and I don’t want Burlington County to become Philadelphia County,” he said. “That is my theory.”

While Adams in particular launched sharp attacks against his Democratic rivals during the forum, ultimately all four candidates shook each other’s hands, with O’Connell pointing out “our opponents are nice people.”

“That is the other thing I wanted to say, they are our ‘opponents,’” O’Connell said. “They are not our ‘enemies.’ We have differences of opinion, but just take a look, we have a record, and they are telling you what they are going to do.”

Page 14 ♦

MARKETPLACE/OPINION

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OPINION Murphy, Democrats Are Putting Country, State on Road to Disaster Governor Phil Murphy said he wants to turn New Jersey into California. That a good reason to vote ‘no’ on Murphy and ‘yes’ for his opponent, Jack Ciattarelli – because we are New Jersey.

The damage California Democrats are doing to the entire country, including New Jersey, is because of their stupid ports policies, which have resulted not only in shortages of consumer goods but of materials necessary for production by industry. Read businesses losing money and or going bankrupt, plus higher prices for you! Not perfect together!

It’s not because of COVID, or shortages of longshoremen or truck drivers. Democrats

have outlawed the use of trucks older than three years in California, and that impacts all of America. They were warned years ago that this plan was disastrous. President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom can now order unloading ports 24/7 and bring in the National Guard, but without trucks to move the goods, none of this will get better.

In fact, expect it to get worse as they refuse to acknowledge the core problem, which is political posturing by Democrats to blame everyone else but themselves. This was done to combat fossil-fuel use, but it is actually causing more oil consumption as ships are now traveling via the Panama

Canal to unload on the East Coast!

But back to Murphy and his wrongheaded pandemic leadership. Murphy ordered COVID-positive patients to be sent to nursing homes, despite being warned that was dangerous and the wrong thing to do. That resulted in death sentences for thousands of our frail elderly. Other Democratic governors did the same thing to reinforce their unified “political science”based positions.

Removing COVID from the equation, in what world would you send highly contagious patients into nursing homes with large numbers of older patients, many with compromised immune systems? On what

science is that based? Why did Murphy ignore his own experts’ advice not to?

For that reason alone, you should not vote for Murphy.

We could also talk about the out-ofcontrol taxation, spending and borrowing, but all of that pales in the face of such life or death incompetence. Vote ‘no’ on Murphy and all of his Democrat allies. Our collective futures depend on a course correction. So, do it for your kids and convince your friends to vote for Jack Ciattarelli and our local Republican candidates. Send the message!

Bruno DiStefano Medford Lakes, New Jersey

The Pine Barrens Tribune would like to hear from you about what is happening in your town, or your opinions on any news story and subject! To submit a Letter to the Editor, email letters@pinebarrenstribune.com. Letters should be about 150 words maximum, and include your full name, address and telephone number where you can be reached.

All submissions become property of the Pine Barrens Tribune and its affiliates and may be published in print and online. We reserve the right to not publish all submissions.

SURROGATE (Continued from Page 4)

Given that he has been “in and out” of the surrogate offices in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, he said, “I am quite familiar with the people who are there, the practices, and the legalese of the position.”

Bu zby- Cop e, who is a Do ctor of Chiropractic, and pointed out that she has been practicing for over 30 years with both a human and animal practice, did a “great job describing some of the roles that the surrogate does,” according to Carlin, who explained further from a legal standpoint how a surrogate “carries out a judicial function,” particularly involving guardianship.

“You appoint guardians after it has gone through the court process,” he said. “So, you have to carry out that legal function of going through, looking and making sure that everything is in place to be able to appoint people.”

Some people will just want to quickly move through processes of the surrogate’s office, Carlin maintained, while others, especially when it comes to guardianship, will be “fighting about who is going to take care of mom.” There are also times where individuals, he said, are so “devastated by a loss,” they have difficulty moving through the process.

“So, you have to have your people trained to be able to handle that,” Carlin maintained.

“And, as I have said, I have some experience with it. I have walked into clients across that board. So, the management side (of this position) is training your people to be able to handle it, to be able to represent you, and to be respectful of the people who come before you.”

Carlin, also the mayor of Burlington Township for the past 11 years, which he said has provided him with administrative experience, pointed out that the county surrogate’s office is one where “most of the time you are going to see us.”

“You are going to come in, it (the decision) is going to be presented and it

is going to be person-to-person contact,” he said. “So, that (handling people with empathy) is important because you want people to leave feeling as if they have been treated fairly and represented well.”

And that’s why Buzby-Cope said she views her having the opportunity to fill the surrogate post “as being a continuation of what I have been doing for the past 40 years,” providing “customer service” to and “listening to people” as well as having “patience” with them.

“When somebody comes in and they are probating a will, usually it is for somebody who just passed away, and they are very upset, and sad for losing that individual,” said Buzby-Cope, an elected official for over 21 years in Bass River Township, currently serving as the municipality’s mayor, a post she held for the last 13 years. “And they like to talk and tell their story. They just need somebody there who can listen to them, and (that they can) both laugh and cry (with as they share memories).

“And I feel that after these past 40 years, especially after dealing with patients, I’m able to listen to all their problems and what they have going on in their lives and can try to help them through to better days.”

According to Buzby-Cope, some of her patients are “disabled adult children,” which she pointed out have guardians who “would go to that department (surrogate’s office) to handle things.”

“I feel that you have to be compassionate, and you have to have empathy,” she said. “And I feel this is just a continuation of what I do.”

Buzby-Cope noted that she would like to visit the different communities in the county, should she be elected surrogate, and educate people on “how important it is to have a will.”

“Not a lot of people have wills,” she said.

“They also don’t have a living will or power of attorney. But the biggest thing is knowing where those documents are kept. A lot of people pass away, and relatives and friends who were taking care of them have no clue where those documents are kept.”

Saturday, October 30, 2021

DEBATE

(Continued from Page 8) on farmlands.”

But some of the strongest charges of the evening came when Addiego accused “my opponent” of “taking money” through a “dark money PAC” wanting to build “1.2 million square-feet of warehouse space in our smallest town.” She then claimed the PAC didn’t disclose the contribution.

Stanfield retorted that she has “been in Trenton only 18 months” and has “nothing to do with warehouses” because “it is a local issue.” The Assemblywoman, however, acknowledged “Ocean County Strong” had contributed $3,000 to her campaign and, “I guess some of those people are involved in warehouse development.”

“And I am sure if you look at what Dawn has taken in over the years, Dawn has plenty of money from people who do warehouse development,” Stanfield quipped.

Stanfield then alleged that Addiego “herself has a development company,” and “her buddy,” state Senate President Stephen Sweeney “is in development.”

The assemblywoman then suggested Addiego was “lying” and being “deceptive” to “make things look like what they are not,” calling it “heartbreaking” to see what “politics” has devolved into with “shadiness” that she has “never seen before.”

“It is just really disturbing and very sad,” Stanfield declared.

Just prior to the debate, the Pine Barrens Tribune received a news tip that provided screenshots of a profile pertaining to Krystal Construction Services, LLC, a firm with an address in Marlton. The profile lists Addiego as the firm’s “office manager.”

A not he r s c r e e n shot of t he fi r m’s website lists its services as including site development services; such as excavating and grading, underground utilities, road construction, soil stabilization, dump trucks/ trailers, concrete work, asphalt paving; transportation services, such as triaxles, van trailers with lift gates, intermodal transport; disposal services, such as waste sampling and profiling, analytical services, treatable studies, disposal approvals, manifesting and labeling; remediation services, such as soil remediation, field services, interior demolition, site clearing, excavation and restoration; and com mercial interior renovation, such as demolition of interiors/ storefronts, carpentry metal, wood framing, drywall, millwork, cabinetry, masonry, concrete work and flooring.

“Fi r st of a l l, I don’t work for a development company, I work for a womanowned business that does environmental remediation, which actually cleans up the dirt from environmental issues and beneficially reuses it,” declared Addiego during the debate. “And there is literally three people in it. I don’t know of a development company that has only three people in it.”

An “about us” webpage for Krystal

CONSOLIDATION (Continued from Page 5)

idea of what we want to do,” she declared.

“A lot of due diligence is needed.”

Also questioning the proposal was Isabella Pharo, the president of the Eagleswood board, who wanted to know what the district stood to lose in order “to gain this incentive” and contended that the expectations of savings was one based on “assumptions.”

Gagliardi replied that “the savings are not based upon cuts, but are a function

AD HOTLINE: (609) 801-2392 Construction notes that in 1996, two women entrepreneurs founded Krystal Homes, Inc. as a “custom and semi-custom home builder.” Later, according to the webpage, the company “diversified into environmental services and became Krystal Construction Services, LLC.” “We now provide high quality services to meet most of your construction needs,” the website states.

Addiego, after Stanfield maintained during the debate that the state Senator actually owned a development company, claimed “all the money given to me over the years has been given to me legally,” with her campaign following all New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) laws. She added that while she “properly and legally reported” any received funds, Stanfield’s contributions were “not legally reported.”

“People need to know where the money is going and who you are beholden to,” declared Addiego, causing Stanfield to retort, “Dawn has a Camden County Boss who pledged $10 million to her campaign!”

“Talk about being beholden, c’mon!” added Stanfield, claiming her opponent switched parties to “get big money.”

Addiego then doubled down on her charge that Stanfield took “dark money” from a “warehouse developer,” declaring, “That is illegal!” Then the state senator began talking over the moderators, asking, “Did she give the money back?”, before shouting, “No, she took more money!” and “She took a $1,000 more!”

Quite bizarre was that both women smiled as those latter charges from Addiego were made.

maintained. “It is kind of ironic she ran on it as a sheriff and now is doing exactly what she criticized her opponent for doing! A little disingenuous!”

Support for Gay Marriage As was pointed out by Rasmussen, Addiego “voted several times against gay marriage,” while Stanfield “supports gay marriage.”

“In actuality, things have evolved over time,” said the state Senator of her decisions, adding she thought it was great that the federal government stepped in.

Addiego explained that her “last vote” on a bill concerning gay marriage had to do with her being a Catholic and a stipulation in the legislation “forcing churches to perform gay marriages when it is against their ideology.”

“That was my only issue with the last piece of legislation and had they taken that out, I would have voted for it,” she said. “And I would have been glad to have performed the first marriage.”

Stanfield noted “many people who I love are gay” and reaffirmed that “she is for gay marriage.”

“I am glad Senator Addiego had a change of heart,” Stanfield said. “Many of her other changes I don’t agree with, but this is one I do.”

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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debt payment the state has ever seen,” as well as to support veteran causes. She also claimed there was “property tax relief” and “homestead rebates” in the latest state budget.

“I am sorry, but millionaires don’t need all the money,” Addiego declared. “For our firemen and working families, that $500 could pay for food for a month.”

Stanfield, in reply, pointed out, “I am working on bills for our firemen, first responders and EMTs” to give them a stipend “for their work during the pandemic and give them tuition reimbursement.”

“I have bills that will make real changes for them,” Stanfield quipped.

Pension Double Dipping?

Another claim in the many mailers sent to 8th District homes is that Stanfield is “double dipping” by drawing a pension for being a retired county sheriff, while also getting paid for being a part-time legislator.

Rasmussen asked Stanfield if “you and other legislators should be able to draw a pension as an elected official while at the same time collecting a salary for serving as an elected official, or should you have to leave elected office to draw a pension again?”

Stanfield responded that a “pension is something that you pay into” and she “worked for 30 years in government service paying into that pension.”

In this case, the assemblywoman said, her current job is part-time, which is different from taking another full-time government job and getting two full pensions.

“It is less than the pension I draw, and it would be ridiculous to work for $20,000 less than what I am making now,” she said. “I couldn’t even do it – couldn’t even consider it.”

Stanfield added she “worked very hard” to get her pension.

Addiego pointed out that “we” agreed to “fully fund” the state pension system this year and quipped, “You’re welcome, Jean.”

She then recounted how Stanfield “ran on this issue” in criticizing a prior opponent during a sheriff’s race as “double dipping.”

“It is the same thing she is doing as soon as she left the sheriff’s office,” the state Senator

Millionaire’s Tax Divide More than 760,000 New Jersey households, referred to as “middle-income taxpayers,” including couples making less than $150,000 in income with at least one dependent child, as well as individuals with income below $75,000 and at least one dependent child, are now eligible for a rebate check of up to $500.

However, the rebate is being funded through a “Millionaire’s Tax” enacted by Murphy, which increases the state’s gross income tax rate on income between $1 million and $5 million from 8.97 percent to 10.75 percent. (Individuals with income over $5 million already pay that top rate.)

Stanfield voted against the Millionaire’s Tax, Rasmussen pointed out.

“I know people who own two pizza parlors who would be devastated by this Millionaire’s Tax,” Stanfield maintained.

“It is not just about the multi-millionaires … It hurts the mom-and-pop businesses, so I voted against it.”

As far as the $500 rebate, Stanfield added, she would have liked to have seen it go to “more people,” including seniors and those who are without children.

“It is just a gimmick,” the assemblywoman asserted. “They borrow money to give out these $500 checks because it is an election year. And we’re going to be paying a lot of interest, or debt on the money that they borrowed for this. It is just a game!”

The way to get money back to people, according to Stanfield, is “cutting taxes,” not “taking their money and giving them a few dollars back.”

Addiego, however, retorted that “it wasn’t a game to the people who got the money” and added that some of the funds were given to seniors and the state used the increased tax rate on millionaires to also make the “largest

Politics Destroys Friendships?

Wildstein observed that the debate between Addiego and Stanfield was an “unusual” one in that they “were once running mates, and more importantly, both friends.” But after watching the race closely, in an era where “politics destroys friends,” he said, “I don’t get the impression you are friends anymore.”

Stanfield had previously indicated (and reiterated it during this debate) that she found Addiego’s parting with the GOP and leaving without notifying Peters in advance, “reprehensible.”

There were also the previous charges that now-former 8th District Republican Assemblyman Joseph Howarth was quietly working with Addiego and in talks to also switch parties, ultimately causing the GOP to not give Howarth the party line, instead giving it to Stanfield. Stanfield ultimately defeated Howarth (who was known to be good friends with Addiego, though he had denied the charges made against him) in the 2019 GOP primary, ending his career in the Legislature. She went on to win with Peters in the General Election that year.

The whole episode led to major contention and bitterness. And now, two years later, some supp or t i ng Add iego’s c u r re nt campaign have gone after Stanfield even more pointedly than they did during her 2019 run for office.

“Is it possible for the two of you to sit down after the election for a beer and figure out how you can disagree on policy and still resume your friendship someday?”

Wildstein asked the candidates.

“Ab solut ely,” repl ie d St a n field to Wildstein’s question. “But Dawn has shifted her ideas, and I am disappointed, I am not going to lie. She went from being one person to someone I really don’t know now. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to get to know her again.”

Addiego, as Wildstein asked his question, notably rubbed her neck before placing the palm of her hand on her chin, a gesture known to those who study body language “as stroking the chin,” signifying when someone is in deep thought and is trying to conclude something or make an important decision.

“If she would be willing to go for a dirty martini, I think we could do it!” declared Addiego, with both legislators left smiling by that remark.

Early voting ends at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 31, with Tuesday, Nov. 2 Election Day.

of formula,” and that “we’re not making assumptions on what boards would do, but relying on boards doing what they have been doing.”

He further pointed out that “with five separate school districts going down to one, there are a whole host of ways to save money, but the only changes in staffing that are baked into these numbers are changes we know you’ll have to make. “ Yo u’r e n o t g o i n g t o h av e fi v e s u p e r i n t e n d e n t s , fi v e b u s i n e s s administrators, and five auditors,” he asserted. “Those are things we know. But other things, the way you operate your

school district day-to-day, year-to-year, our assumption is … that you’re going to continue to do what you have been doing because in our considerable experience in doing this, that is the best predictor of what you’re going to do.”

Other attendees at the meeting expressed dissatisfaction with not having been provided with advance copies of the report summarizing the study, with one Eagleswood resident questioning why Colleen Neil of the New Jersey Education Association, who asked a number of questions, got one and ”we didn’t,” saying she would have “liked to come up here with educated questions.”

“That tel ls me there is someth ing incredibly shady here you don’t want us to see,” she declared. (The study is now posted at the Pinelands Regional Board of Education website.

An optimistic view of the consolidation prospect, however, was the opinion voiced

by Cea that it would represent “a fresh start” and “an opportunity to say the things we’ve done in the past don’t have to be done that way in the future,” as well as “to create something new, refreshing and exciting.”

“I think it is something that is worth everyone considering,” he added.

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