Vacant county administrative position prompts disagreement

Newton - The leaders of the county’s major political parties have elected to sling accusations at each other while Sussex County voting commissioners mull over applications to fill a soon-to-be vacant administrative position. Members of the Sussex County Board of Elections disagreed this week on whether the part-time administrative position they created last year was intended to be temporary or lead to a full-time post to replace JoAnn Williams, the current administrator who is retiring in June. The process to fill the vacant position prompted allegations from Sussex County Democratic Party Chairman Howard Burrell, who has called for federal and state district attorneys to investigate possible “behind-the-scenes” tampering with the elections board process. The allegations of “improper - and maybe illegal - tampering,” Burrell believes, stem from the commissioners acting to create a part-time position to keep a state pension active. “Bring it on,” said Rich Zeoli, Sussex County Republican Party chairman. “The Republican Party in Sussex County has nothing to hide.” Zeoli called on Burrell to get his own house in order in the aftermath of statewide scandals involving the Democratic Party including a report that Gov. Jon Corzine provided $5,000 in bail to free from jail a Trenton lobbyist arrested for stalking the Democratic State Party chairman and breaking into his car. “At present, there are at least four major statewide scandals involving the Democratic Party, yet Democratic Chairman Howard Burrell remains silent on calls for federal and state investigations into his own party’s blatant misuse of the public trust,” said the Sparta resident. “Clearly, there are some real bombshells.” In December, the elections board, which consists of two commissioners from both the Democratic and Republican parties, agreed to ask the county freeholders to create the part-time administrative position. During the meeting with freeholders, the four commissioners also agreed that Stanhope Mayor Brian McNeilly, a Republican, would groom the eventual new election board administrator. Audio tapes of the meeting reveal that the commissioners believed it was important for McNeilly to take on his new role by the end of 2005, so that his participation in the state pension program would not expire. The discussion raised a red flag with Burrell, who began to believe the job was being created solely for pension purposes. “There have been some serious allegations with tampering with the election board that many people in the county question,” said Burrell. “Everything is fair in love and war and politics, except when it is illegal.” Burrell also said one of the election board commissioners, Democrat Joe Kelso, told him that he and incoming elections board commissioner David Mortimer made a deal to hire McNeilly. He said Zeoli took part in those discussions. Zeoli said he never supported creating a position to save a pension or “pension padding,” a practice used to promote a government official before retirement. After McNeilly withdrew last month as a candidate for the part-time post, Zeoli introduced E. Gregory Kresge, a former U.S. Marine and substitute teacher, who will retire as Hamburg chief of police on March 30, as a candidate for the job. Burrell said the county GOP chairman is trying to hand-pick a candidate to strengthen his ties within a bickering party. “We’re proposing this man who has spent his entire life cleaning up corruption,” said Zeoli. “Why would the Democrats oppose him?” The board has received eight résumés from candidates hoping to succeed Williams. Stanhope Councilman Brian Murphy is among the applicants.