Do South Jersey Democrats control a non-profit “church”?

 By Rubashov

Is it the Church of the Most Holy Sweeney?

No, it’s a non-profit called Volunteers of America Delaware Valley. It’s a Camden-based organization. GuideStar and BoardSource (which now operate as Candid) report: “This organization is not required to file an annual return with the IRS because it is a church.” Now that’s something you don’t see every day… and it’s a $62 million operation to boot!
 

According to Candid: “Daniel L. Lombardo has served as President/CEO of Volunteers of America Delaware Valley, Inc. since 1988, transforming the organization from Chapter 11 status to a booming $62 million operation. Lombardo has been a Camden County resident for 23+ years – active in professional and community organizations throughout the region and serving in multiple public policy capacities. A passionate advocate for vulnerable populations, Lombardo’s professional highlights include appointments to New Jersey’s first-ever Sentencing Policy Study Commission and Philadelphia’s Mayoral Task Force on Management and Productivity. Additionally, during his career, Lombardo was selected by New Jersey Governor’s to serve on both the New Jersey Family Development Advisory Board and Parole Advisory Board, where he was elected Chairman. In addition, Lombardo has been appointed by last five New Jersey Governors to serve on their transition teams for corrections, parole and juvenile justice.”
 

This is interesting, because NJ Globe reported last week on a “dark money group tied to South Jersey Dems” that was spending $530,000 on cable TV “tying GOP candidates to (Senator Ed) Durr.” The Globe explained:
 

A new dark money group with ties to South Jersey Democrats has purchased about $530,000 of Philadelphia network and cable TV ads seeking to tie Republican candidates in three South Jersey districts to controversial comments on abortion made by State Sen. Edward Durr (R-Logan).
 

Brighter Future Forward accuses State Sen. Vincent Polistina (R-Egg Harbor Township), GOP State Senate candidate Christopher Del Borrello, and Assemblymen Michael Torrissi, Jr. (R-Hammonton) and Brandon Umba (R-Medford) of standing by while Durr “spews hate.”
 

Alexis Degan, a Democratic operative who previously served as chief of staff to the 5th district legislative delegation, filed the new group as a non-profit in June.  No filings have been made with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission…
 

Degan worked for the Camden County Democratic Committee and then the Camden County Office of Constituent Services before joining the 5th district office in 2012.  She worked for State Sens. Donald Norcross (D-Camden) and Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Barrington), Assemblymen Angel Fuentes (D-Camden), Whip Wilson (D-Camden), and Arthur Barclay (D-Camden), and Assemblywoman Patricia Egan Jones (D-Barrington).
 

She is currently vice president of development and communications for Volunteers of America/Delaware Valley.  Degan did not immediately respond to a message left with her assistant.
 

Under “Ethics and Transparency”, Candid reports that the VOA DV “board and senior staff” has not “reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year.”
 

In addition to former Assemblywoman Patricia Egan Jones, the VOA DV’s board of directors has a number of interesting folks on it, not least of which is the former Clerk of the Gloucester County Freeholder Board, Robert N. DiLella.
 

Bob DiLella was the fulltime Clerk of the Gloucester County Freeholder Board for 28 years – much of that under Freeholder Director Steve Sweeney – but that wasn’t his main job. DiLella also ran a political consulting agency that did much of the direct mail for Camden and Gloucester County Democrats.
 

DiLella’s firm – Strategic Message Design Group – boasts a client list that includes national and international clients, both corporate and political. Their “partial client list” includes: The National Party of Grenada, Prime Minister Herbert Blaize of Grenada, COPEI Party of Venezuela, Movimiento Electoraldi Pueblo of Aruba, Prime Minister Nelson Oduber of Aruba, Prime Minister Miguel Pourier of Curacao, President Zhelev of Bulgaria, Prime Minister Evelyn Weaver Croes of Aruba, the Aruba Tourist Authority, Dupont, Natural Gas Supply Association, Sunoco Logistics, Valero Energy, and the Camden Charter School Network.
 

DiLella became somewhat infamous while serving as Sweeney’s Clerk of the Board of Freeholders. It was in his role as a consultant to the Aruban government and that country’s tourist authority. DiLella provided “crisis communications” during the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an Alabama teenager who went missing during a class trip, was never found, and is presumed dead.
 

Holloway’s family blamed Aruban authorities for the way the case was handled. The prime suspect in the case was the son of an Aruban judge who was later prosecuted for human trafficking and found guilty of murdering a young woman in South America. He was never prosecuted for his role in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance.
 

The Holloway family was particularly angry for what they believed was Aruba’s attempts to blame them for the tragedy. Archives related to the disappearance describe DiLella’s role:
 

“In June of 2005, Robert DiLella and Stephen Cohen met with the Aruba Tourism Hotel Authority (ATHA) and the Aruban Tourism Authority (ATA) in order to create the Strategic Communications Task Force (SCTF). SCTF’s mission was to control the media coverage of the Natalee Holloway case. Members of the Steering Committee for this Task Force included many of the Island’s most influential people who were all heavily invested in Government or tourism.”
 

As does contemporary media coverage:
 

Boycott has little effect on travel, agents say (tuscaloosanews.com)

The old NJ Conservative Online website, then operated by the late Rob Eichmann, wrote a good background piece on DiLella:
 

Sweeney’s cronies: Taxpayer rip-offs? | (wordpress.com)

Coincidentally, Fox News and the New York Times are reporting that a major breakthrough in the Natalee Holloway case is set to come out tomorrow in federal court in Birmingham, Alabama:
 

Suspect in Natalee Holloway case expected to reveal new details about her death (fox10tv.com)

Stay tuned…