Fantasia, consultant, fell out over COVID pay for county workers.

By Sussex County Watchdog

Sussex County Commissioner Dawn Fantasia called a meeting of GOP county leaders last year. The meeting was held on March 18, 2022, at a private club in the county. A quorum of the Board of Commissioners was present, and the agenda revolved around one item: The Sussex County Watchdog blog and its editorializing in support of county workers. 

The Watchdog blog had long been critical of the Board and how it was managing county government. One point of contention was the Board’s poor treatment of frontline county workers – like road maintenance crews – and its lavish spending on, and expansion of, administrative staff. Fewer and fewer workers seemed to require more and more administration. And while these “insider-connected” administrators got raises and benefits – county workers qualified for food stamps, the food pantry, subsidized heating fuel, and other anti-poverty programs because they were paid so poorly for a fulltime work week. 

The Watchdog blog website and Facebook page are filled with these stories. You can read them for yourself. 

A particular point of contention was bonus pay for frontline county workers who continued to do their jobs while exposed to COVID hazards during the pandemic. These bonuses were covered under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and federal money would be used to pay them out. The county administration at the time opposed worker bonuses – and in a letter from the then county labor counsel, was quite frank about it. 

Commissioner Fantasia called the March 18th meeting to confront the Sussex County GOP’s consultant, Bill Winkler, because it was known that he wrote some of the critical stories about the Board. Fantasia and others – notably Jill and Parker Space – wanted the blog shut down or Winkler fired. 

Winkler explained that he did not own the blog – which is a fact beyond dispute – but was the author of some of the critical stories. He pointed out that he had voluntarily lobbied on behalf of better pay and ARPA bonuses for county workers, so his position was well-known. 

Given the number of County Commissioners at this meeting, a record should have been kept, but the meeting was called by Commissioner Fantasia and, if there is a transcript, she would have it. Other county officials were present, including the County Surrogate. 

At the March 18th meeting, Assemblyman Parker Space was asked about his road trip with actress Janeane Garofalo’s brother, in the aftermath of the terrorist mass murder of nine people (including Pastor and State Senator Clementa C. Pinckney). Space acknowledged that the purpose of the trip was a Confederate flag tattoo but refused to address it further. This incident factored into the deal made between him and Senator Steve Oroho, in which Space would announce that he wasn’t running for re-election in return for Oroho’s support for Jill Space for County Commissioner. Of course, much has changed since. 

There is a dearth of media platforms that stand in opposition to the establishment narrative or that present an alternative perspective. The situation is bad nationally – but even worse locally, where some counties and local governments have become transparency free zones with no external oversight. Local media simply doesn’t exist, and the situation is a great incubator of corruption. 

Think of the work done by New Jersey Herald reporters to uncover the Sussex Solar scandal that cost taxpayers $40 million. A similar scandal now would go unnoticed – except for blogs like Sussex County Watchdog and news websites, like Jennifer Dericks’ TAPinto. For better, or worse, this is all voters and taxpayers have left. There is nobody else to blow the whistle. 

Dawn Fantasia is an example of how politicians become when there is no local media to scrutinize them. They believe the First Amendment shouldn’t apply to politicians like them. They believe that they can suppress what remains of local media. 

Tucker Carlson reminds us, “Free speech is the main right that you have. Without it, you have no others.” 

Micah Rasmussen, Director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University, reminds us of what happens when there’s nobody watching the politicians: “Voters can't make informed decisions unless they're informed. If you asked any self-respecting constituent of George Santos, they'd tell you they wish they knew then what they know now.” 

Is it OK to suggest a candidate did something criminal when they didn’t?

By Rubashov

The Killian documents controversy (aka Memogate or Rathergate) involved six documents containing allegations about President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard in 1972–73. Dan Rather presented these documents as authentic in a broadcast aired by CBS on September 8, 2004, less than two months before the 2004 presidential election, but it was later found that CBS had failed to authenticate them. The documents were allegedly typed in 1973, but several typewriter and typographical experts soon concluded that they were forgeries.
 
Fast forward to 2023, and the legislative campaign of Parker Space, Dawn Fantasia, and Mike Inganamort has put out a mailer alleging that opponent Josh Aikens was a registered voter in Pennsylvania, while he was registered in New Jersey. To back up that claim, the campaign mailer includes an image of a document that they had shopped around to reporters last month.
 
But the image on the mailer is not the same document given to reporters. The Space-Fantasia-Inganamort campaign appears to have deliberately altered the document, removing a very important part of it (literally chopping it off). That part of the document indicates that the person in question, who shares a name with the opponent, last voted on November 2, 1999.
 
The opponent, Josh Aikens, was a 16-year-old in 1999 and a well-known member of the High Point High School soccer team. He was living with his parents in Wantage – not far from Space Farms.
 
Is the document even real? If real, was the document deliberately altered by the campaign? Is Josh Aikens a victim of identity fraud? Or is there some other explanation.
 
Tossing aside such reasonable doubts. The campaign mailer goes on to irrationally suggest that Aikens may have committed the crime of “voter fraud”. The mailer refers to Aikens as “shady” even though the document – both in its unaltered and altered forms – does not indicate that “voter fraud” occurred. Nevertheless, the Space-Fantasia-Inganamort mailer uses the words “voter fraud” and “shady”.
 
The penalty for voter fraud can include a fine, up to two years imprisonment, and disenfranchisement. It is a serious allegation and not something to be lightly tossed around. If it happened, it should be reported to the prosecutor’s office in both states. But, of course, it has not been. Reporting something as a crime, when you know no crime has occurred, can be a crime itself.
 
Along with the word “conservative”, the phrase “voter fraud” is fast being made meaningless by the language pimps who manage some of the state’s political campaigns. Unwittingly, these particular language pimps have opened the door to some embarrassing questions of their own making.
 
For example, will these language pimps suggest to their client – gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli – that he needs to register from his new address?
 
From her public Facebook posts, Sussex County Commissioner Dawn Fantasia appears to be residing on a farm in Warren County. How will the language pimps she employs advise her?
 
And what about those various public officials in Sussex County – both elected and appointed – whose residency in Sussex County is required, but who keep most of their lives outside the County? Once the language of impropriety has been tossed about, don’t expect it to end with a campaign.

1999. High Point High School
Sussex County, New Jersey

When faced with an allegation of voter fraud – an allegation of criminal behavior – Assembly candidate Josh Aikens (a family man with a spotless legal record) addressed it publicly. He faced two journalists and told them directly that he had never lived in Pennsylvania.
 
This stands in contrast with Sussex County Commissioner Dawn Fantasia, who has consistently refused to address her very real, and very spotty, legal troubles.
 
Last September, the Commissioner was embroiled in a legal battle with Ashley Furniture over a debt of $2,045.06 (Docket SSX-DC-001706-22). And it appears she avoided the court notice (not at that address?). Most recently, there’s docket number SSX-DC-000502-23, filed on March 6, 2023. The plaintiff – a credit card company – is demanding a judgment in the amount of $1,152.00.
 
There are other incidents as well. On March 7, 2017, judgment was entered in the Superior Court, Special Civil Part, in favor of plaintiff CAPITAL ONE BANK and against defendant DAWN CUNNEELY (the Commissioner’s former married name) in the amount of $1,623.85 plus cost of $57.00. A Writ of Execution was issued by the Clerk of the Superior Court, Special Civil Part, with regard to this matter (Docket SSX-DC-000051-17). On November 16, 2017, pursuant to said Execution, Court Officer MICHAEL SCRIVANI levied on all monies on deposit in the Wells Fargo Bank, in the name of DAWN CUNNEELY. Judge David Weaver issued the Writ of Execution for $1,898.44.
 
And then there was judgment SSX-VJ-000722-16 (Docket SSX-DC-000631-16) against defendant DAWN FANTASIA (aka DAWN CUNNEELY). In which an order to garnish wages was executed on June 17, 2016, for the amount of $826.21. The listed employer was ILEARN SCHOOLS in Elmwood Park, NJ 07407.
 
These court actions were taken while Dawn Fantasia held public office. We have avoided those that concerned her as a private citizen, but before she held office, Fantasia was a joint debtor in a bankruptcy, filed by her husband, in 2008.
 
The Space-Fantasia-Inganamort team are sending out mailers and making allegations against a 16-year-old. Does it not follow that their entire histories are relevant?  
 

- - -

 Senate candidate Parker Space has been dodging the question of when and why he got a Confederate flag tattoo. He denied having one and repeatedly lied to the media about it in 2017 -- that much is on the record.

Sources have confirmed that the Assemblyman, accompanied by actress Janeane Garofalo’s brother, got the tattoo in the aftermath of the terrorist mass murder of nine people (including Pastor and State Senator Clementa C. Pinckney). Space was confronted about this at a March 18, 2022, meeting – attended by State Senator Steve Oroho and other Sussex County political leaders. He refused to address it.
 
Will his running mates care to comment on this? Two of those running mates, Commissioner Dawn Fantasia and Surrogate Gary Chiusano, were present at the March 18, 2022, meeting. In fact, Commissioner Fantasia called the meeting.

- - -
Commissioner Dawn Fantasia seems to believe that large parts of her public life – the life she made public – are off limits to discussion. When asked why, she invariably claims a feminist exemption. “I am the only woman running”, and statements like that. But there are statements she made, after beginning her political career in 2014, that need examination.
 
One such statement by Fantasia was made on the front page of the November 10, 2014, edition of the Star-Ledger, the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. In a story concerning her former husband, a schoolteacher who was convicted of a sex crime against one of his students (and “required to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law and… undergo parole supervision for life”, ibid April 18, 2008), the Star-Ledger reported:
 
“Like Jim Cunneely, Dawn Cunneely [Fantasia] believes he will never commit a similar crime. She calls him a good father, and she has granted him joint custody of the children.”
 
Studies vary, but the U.S. Justice Department’s National Sexual Violence Resource Center states: “Contrary to conventional wisdom, most re-offenses do not occur within the first several years after release. For example, in one study, subsequent sex offenses occurred as late as 10 years after prison discharge. The study found a 30 percent recidivism rate at year 10 of offender's release from prison. By the year 25, re-offending had increased to 52 percent.”
 
Nobody made this document up. It is on the front page of the state’s largest newspaper. And we’re not discussing events that happened when somebody was 16-years-old – but rather, statements of an adult pursuing a political office.
 
Nevertheless, Commissioner Fantasia believes that she should not have to clarify her statement – even though, as an Assemblywoman – a member of the New Jersey Legislature – she will be voting on bills that affect Megan’s Law and mandatory sentencing, and sex crimes, and child custody.
 
Fantasia’s statement certainly suggests that she might be open to policies that allow registered sex offenders, convicted of sex crimes against children, to be granted custody of minor children. That is why we asked her for a clarification of her statement from 2014. So far, she has refused.
 
Finally, before anyone suggests that we are revisiting some secret, best left in the dark, place – remember that the 2014 front page story was possibly in aid of marketing a book, written by Fantasia’s former husband. Published in 2013, it is called “Folie A Deux” and is 374 pages of self-disclosure. You can buy it on Amazon for $19.95.

“Voters can’t make informed decisions unless they’re informed.  If you asked any self-respecting constituent of George Santos, they’d tell you they wish they knew then what they know now.”
 
Micah Rasmussen
Director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University

Did Oroho lie on open primary? Turns on supporters vetted to run with him.

On March 18th of last year, Senator Steve Oroho and Chief of Staff Jeff Spatola had a meeting with Assemblyman Parker Space and GOP State Committeewoman Jill Space at a local Sussex County watering hole. What came from that meeting was a deal, whereby Parker Space would announce that he would not run for re-election to the Assembly and, in return, Senator Oroho would endorse Jill Space for County Commissioner, and in the process push Franklin Borough Councilman Concetto Formica off Oroho’s ticket.
 
An aside to this deal was that Councilman Formica had to shave off his very full beard (Formica is a union carpenter) in order to gain admittance onto Oroho’s ticket (which, in any case, Oroho wasn’t even a part of) as well as to desist in his battle against the Senator’s somewhat Woke son-in-law, the Superintendent of the Franklin School District. Formica complied and so left the race both clean shaven and with the feeling that his good nature had been thoroughly abused (which he was).
 
A number of people began to position themselves to succeed Parker Space in the Assembly. Most aggressive of these was Chester Township Councilman Mike Inganamort, who was pursuing a two-track strategy of running for Mayor of Chester Township while actively seeking the Assembly nomination.
 
Later, Assemblyman Hal Wirths would join Space in deciding not to run for re-election, which left two open seats on what would be a ticket actually headed by Senator Oroho in 2023. In the wake of Hal Wirths’ departure, many more names were added to the list of those seeking one of the now two open Assembly slots available on Steve Oroho’s ticket. Each candidate personally reached out to the Senator and each was given encouragement by the Senator.
 
In the case of Steve Lonegan, the encouragement ran to “double dates” – with Steve and Rita Oroho joining Steve and Lorraine Lonegan for drinks and various culinary adventures. And while Chris Carney and Dawn Fantasia (both Sussex County Commissioners) were coy about expressing an interest, ELEC 825’s Kate Gibbs was not, campaigning furiously on their behalf and against Lonegan.
   
In December the Senator’s office held a series of vetting meetings with all the aspiring Assembly candidates – Josh Aikens, Enrico Fioranelli, Jason Sarnoski, Rob Kovic, Chris Carney, Dawn Fantasia, Steve Lonegan, and Mike Inganamort – at locations in Sussex and Morris Counties.
 
It was expected that Senator Oroho would select two Assembly running mates to join him on his ticket. There was significant lobbying. Dawn Fantasia told people at the county building that she had one spot locked up. Two senior leaders from Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 825 visited the Senator in Trenton to make their case. On January 12th, Oroho reached out to his senior office staff, SRM, and his longtime political consultants to schedule a conference call at 10am the following morning to “Discuss Announcement for My Campaign”.
 
On Friday, January 13th, Senator Oroho sent the following draft email to his office/ team and instructed that it form the basis for an email to the eight prospective candidates for Assembly:
 
I wanted you to know that today I announced my campaign for re-election.
 
I want to thank each of you for meeting with the screening committee. I have talked with the members of the committee and it’s clear to me that each of you would serve well in the State Assembly.  I consider you all friends.  Each of you would bring a strong set of conservative principles to the state legislature.
 
As you were going through the screening process and over the past few weeks I thought a lot about my own journey.
 
I’ve always believed that candidates should present their credentials, platform and message to voters.  You have all heard from me that I will never tell someone not to run, and I have been one of a few holdouts for having a “County Line”.
 
When I ran for Franklin Borough Council, I was a political unknown.   But I took my message to votes and I won.
 
When I ran for Freeholder, I was not the party choice, but I had the opportunity to make my case to Sussex County voters.  They agreed, and I was elected to serve as a County Freeholder
 
When I ran for State Senate, I was certainly not the choice of the Trenton Republican Establishment (not by a long shot!), but I took my case to the voters of Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon (at the time) and enough of the voters entrusted me with their vote to get me elected.
 
As you all know my first primary for Senate was a close election, after which I had to demonstrate to all the voters in the whole district that I would work hard to represent them well. Since then they’ve supported me with with good margins of victory.
 
I believe it is because I’ve worked hard to share my conservative agenda and worked hard to represent the values we all share.
 
I believe you all should have your chance to make your case to the voters.  So you can share your conservative vision with them.  And so that all of you can have a level playing field.
 
Representing the people of the 24th district is a serious undertaking.  We work for the people.   They come first.  And they deserve a voice in the process.  This process will ensure we continue to have the strongest Conservative Republican Team in the state!
 
Good luck in whatever you choose to do. Through this process I am confident that after the primary in June I will have an excellent pair of running mates to defeat our Democrat opponents and go on to serve our constituents and the rest of New Jersey well in Trenton.
 
In a follow-up email discussing the draft (which had by then morphed from the first to the third person), Senator Oroho added this sentence to the final statement: “And it is for that reason, in deference and with respect to all your candidacies, he will not be creating a slate with any of you.”
 
The final draft was approved by the Senator and the statement was sent by email to the eight Assembly candidates at noon that day. At 1pm, a press release was sent out accompanying the statement emailed to the Assembly candidates.
 
On the afternoon of January 13th, Senator Steve Oroho was a candidate for re-election, and he had announced an open primary in which he was stating no preference. Two weeks later, Senator Oroho became the third member of District 24’s shared legislative office to exit. A day later, Parker Space announced he would run for Oroho’s Senate seat. At the Morris County GOP convention on Saturday, LD24 Senate Chief of Staff Jeff Spatola worked the room alongside GOP political consultant Chris Russell.
 
Earlier today, Steve Oroho tore up his assurances to five of the seven remaining Assembly candidates who he claimed were his “friends” and who went through his vetting process and were assured by him that he would not pick sides in the Assembly race. Of course, this is not the first such reversal.
 
A similar incident occurred in 2013, in the aftermath of legislative elections in which Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. pushed hard to defeat Senate President Steve Sweeney and other members of the Democrat caucus. Senator Oroho signed a public statement in which he, along with others, pledged their support to Senator Kean for re-election as GOP Senate Leader. But then Sweeney intervened and asked Oroho to vote against Kean and for a different candidate. Oroho did an about face.

Kean was not focused on the next political iteration of himself but on protecting what he has right now – the job he has held for the last six years.

He was calling nearly every Republican senator in his caucus and asking for his or her support for another term as leader.

He got 11 out of 16 names on a letter that was issued Wednesday. 
 

“We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.”

George Orwell

N.B. We welcome a conversation on this and all topics raised on this website.  Jersey Conservative is entirely open to your ideas and opinions.  To submit a column for publication, please contact jerseyconservativetips@protonmail.com.

Sussex County Awarded Federal Grant of $500K to Replace Skylands Ride Minibuses, Other Projects Underway

Jennifer Jean Miller
862-273-5379
jenniferjeanmiller@gmail.com

(Newton, NJ) The County of Sussex recently received federal grant monies to upgrade its commuter minibuses, with other projects coming to life thanks to federal funding, including revival of the Lackawanna Cut-Off Passenger Rail Project, as well as county road improvements, through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority.

Tom Drabic, the principal transportation planner through the Sussex County Department of Engineering and Planning, credited Sussex County Freeholder Joshua Hertzberg, for his involvement and assistance in seeing these projects come to fruition. “He’s been very involved in the NJTPA,” Drabic said. He also mentioned the advocacy of State Sen. Steve Oroho, R-24th Dist. for his support of large-scale projects, with tax dollars from the State Transportation Trust Fund aiding in financing projects. “I just hope everyone understands the amount of advocating it takes to get this much work done for Sussex County,” said Hertzberg.

“I have been lucky enough to work with and learn from Tom Drabic at the county. He has been an amazing advocate of our county and continues to do a great job on all of our behalf. I’m very proud of the work we have done together, and am thankful that our District 24 Legislators, Steve Oroho, Hal Wirths and Parker Space, make sure that Sussex County isn’t left out in Trenton.”

Drabic said Sussex County’s minibus project, which was proposed and applied for by the Sussex County Department of Health and Human Services/Skylands Ride, was one of three chosen by the NJTPA for $500,000 grant funding, as part of the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program for Local Mobility Initiatives.

Through that program, four of the Skylands Ride minibuses used for the Skylands Connect Route, which operates Monday through Friday to Newton, Sparta, Ogdensburg, Franklin, Hamburg and Sussex Borough, will likely be replaced, Drabic said. “This Route serves a number of employment locations within the county and is used by many people going to work,” Drabic said. The federal grant, Drabic said, should cover nearly the entire project, with little to no county funds required. The new minibuses, he said, will be handicap accessible with wheelchair lifts. They will also feature upgraded COVID protections, including plexiglass enclosures for bus drivers.

One of the other longtime projects that had been previously shelved, the Roseville Tunnel design and build project on the Lackawanna Cut-off, should be reality in the next few years, Drabic said. NJ Transit advertised for Request for Qualifications of firms capable of executing the design and construction phases of this complex project.

The historic and rocky Roseville Tunnel that served the Lackawanna Cut-Off from 1911 through 1979, will require excavation, waterproof lining, a pedestrian path within the tunnel, radio systems, cameras and other upgrades, to return it to current standards for passenger rail service, Drabic said. Firms that submit a RFQ will be short-listed, Drabic added, with those groups invited to submit a full proposal, chosen at NJ Transit’s board meeting in June.

In September, Drabic said the selected firm will be given the green light to move ahead with the project. Similar processes and schedules will follow for the Hudson Farm Culvert Replacement. Highway and bridge projects are additionally slated for Sussex County, Drabic said. One is the $12.8 million, federally funded Hardyston Route 23 Safety Improvement Project, with safety, drainage and operational improvements at the northern Laceytown Road, East Shore Road and Holland Mountain Road sections. Route 15 will also be upgraded, Drabic said, with replacement of the bridge in Lafayette over the Paulins Kill River, constructed in 1915.

This project, planned for completion by 2022 with $8.2 million in federal funds, will encompass sidewalk upgrades for pedestrian safety. A resurfacing project will be underway on Route 15 in Lafayette and Frankford, from Route 94 to Ross’ Corner by Route 206 and County Route 565, as part of the NJTPA Transportation Improvement Program for 2021. This project, expected to extend the life of the highway, will also be sourced from $7.3 million in federal funds. Drabic said Sussex County residents are welcome to offer their input for the NJTPA long range transportation plan, outlining goals through Plan 2050, by completing the survey at www.NJTPA.org.

GOP Chair Scanlan slams Democrats on Murphy ties

Late this afternoon, New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein covered an exchange between Sussex County Chairs Jerry Scanlan and Leslie Huhn of the Republican and Democrat county committees, respectively.  Responding to Huhn’s earlier announcement that Trenton lawyer-lobbyist Deana Lykins and ethically challenged attorney Dan Smith had been recruited by Governor Murphy to target Sussex County natives Parker Space and Hal Wirths, the GOP’s Scanlan delivered with both barrels:

Sussex County Republican chairman Jerry Scanlan wonders why his Democratic counterpart, Leslie Huhn, isn’t taking on Gov. Phil Murphy and the issues involving his former aide, Al Alvarez.

“As a woman, Chair Huhn should question why has it has become unsafe for women to volunteer on Democrat campaigns – and why, when they do come forward, a cover-up ensues and victims are treated so poorly,” Scanlan said.

Scanlan says that if Democrats want to do something about “job creation, transportation issues, high property taxes and the opioid epidemic,” they should put those questions to Gov. Phil Murphy.

Scanlan’s comments came after Sussex Democratic chair Leslie Hahn announced her slate of Assembly candidates opposing incumbents Parker Space (R-Wantage) and Hal Wirths (R-Wantage).

Hahn’s candidates in the 24th district are former Senate Democratic staffer Deana Lykins and former municipal court judge Dan Smith. 

“They need to ask Governor Murphy and the Trenton Democrats why they slashed school funding in LD24, placing pressure on local school boards to raise property taxes,” said Scanlan.

“They need to ask Governor Murphy and the Trenton Democrats why they added almost $2 billion in new state taxes – part of which to cover the cost for their Sanctuary State scam and more benefits for illegals.  Now they are looking to raise taxes again and have even passed a bill placing a tax on rain water.”

“Until she has answers to these questions, Chair Huhn should agree with us that there is a need for more Republican legislators, not less,” said Scanlan.  “Nobody wants to see Murphy’s one-party state become even more unbalanced.”

Huhn issued her endorsement “on behalf of the Sussex, Warren, and Morris County Democratic Organizations”.  Word has it that local Republicans could not be more delighted.

Michael Hill the liar. NJTV's attempted hit in LD24.

We all remember when Governor Chris Christie shut down NJN in 2011.  The old time journalists there were stunned.  One of the few Republicans who dared to stand up to Governor Christie was Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose (R-24).

On the vote to kill NJN, McHose cast a vote against Christie.  Chancing upon her family's old friend, NJN reporter Michael Aron, the Assemblywoman shocked him with the news that she had told Christie no.  She added, "I did it for you, Michael."

But in the end, a bi-partisan majority came together to screw the New Jersey Network and the measure of transparency it had provided the public.  Christie got what he wanted -- but so did certain Democrats, when Christie ceded to them effective control over the new entity that was to come out of the closure of NJN.

The new station was called NJTV.  It is owned by the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority and operated by Public Media NJ, a subsidiary of WNET.org.  Programming and content is farmed out, under contract, to a non-profit organization called the Caucus Educational Corporation (CEC). 

The boss of CEC is Steve Adubato Jr. -- a former Democrat Assemblyman and son of the Essex County Democrat Party machine boss.  Yep, that's who is doing the programming and content behind what you see on NJTV.

Yes, the Democrat machine boss' baby boy not only had an Assembly seat handed to him when he was but a mere lad, when he got tired of playing with that, the boss got a Republican Governor to hand him one of the most lucrative patronage deals in the state.  What you ask?  Well, do you care to guess how much little Stevie makes off of this so-called non-profit?  How does $537,218.00 a year grab you?

Now, do you feel better... or worse?

Long Sussex County's first family, old Senator Bob Littell had often come to the aid of public broadcasting and NJN in particular -- and Mrs. Virginia Littell was an active fundraiser and friend of the station.  Both the late Senator and Mrs. Littell were long-time friends of the Space family, which went back in Sussex County history as long as theirs.  Mrs. Littell was Parker Space's campaign chairwoman when he ran for Freeholder in 2010, and Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose endorsed Parker Space for Assembly in 2013.  Both Mrs. Littell and the former Assemblywoman were active in Space's 2017 campaign -- Mrs. Littell as the spokeswoman, while the former Assemblywoman cut a radio spot for him.

So imagine the surprise in Sussex County, in the Assemblywoman's old district, when the successors to NJN showed up the day before Tuesday's election to ambush Assemblyman Space and his running mate in District 24.  Now ambush journalism is never pretty, and is always based on a misrepresentation or lie by the reporter.  In this case, the reporter -- a guy named Michael Hill -- claimed to be doing an election wrap-up with a focus on women candidates.

Of course, he wasn't.  Actually, Michael Hill was doing a coordinated hit on Assemblyman Space and running mate Hal Wirths, the former state Commissioner of Labor.  He wasn't there to "wrap-up" anything, but rather to open up or re-open a can of worms.  As if enough hadn't been written already about Assemblyman Space attending a Hank Williams Jr. concert and being photographed with a Hank Williams Jr. band banner -- NJTV's Michael Hill wanted to get one more hit in before Election Day.  Hill also wanted to bring up again -- the day before the election -- the illicit tape recording made of Assemblyman Space, during a private conversation, by a Democrat campaign worker.  In private, Space is heard referring to one of his opponents as a "bitch".  

The Democrats complained bitterly about Space's use of the word, despite it being a word heard frequently in Democrat circles.  That, and being sexually molested by major party fundraisers, appears to have been commonplace with the Democrats.  Their motto -- at least until the last few weeks -- seems to have been, "Don't ask, don't tell."   

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of this attempted political hit piece is the involvement of Rutgers' Center for Women & Politics.  Another so-called non-partisan organization with a tax exemption from the IRS.  Apparently, the Center's Executive Director, Debbie Walsh was the impetus behind the scam, as the hand-written note below indicates.
 

Curiously, Ms. Walsh believes that when a Republican legislator is accused of using the term "bitch" that makes him unfit for office, but when a Democrat legislator is taken to court for stalking women -- she's okay with that because, well hell, that guy's a Democrat!  This is the part of the modern day, partisan-first fake feminism that we don't buy.  

We get the feminist movement for the same reasons we support the trade unions movement -- people have the right to organize and collectively stand up to the powerful who are screwing them over.  But what we don't get is when so-called feminists get bent out of shape over a very commonplace word that 99 percent of them use -- but then make decades of excuses for the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Bill Clinton.  

If Republican Assemblyman Parker Space is a bad guy, then what does that make Democrat Assemblyman Raj Mukerji?  What does that make Joe Waks, accused of sexually harassing a woman employee and the man who runs Democrat Speaker Vinnie Prieto's SuperPAC for him?

Walsh, whose interview was actually part of the hit piece couldn't contain her smug self-satisfaction at pulling it off.  She reminded us of a constipation sufferer who had just taken a hard dump.  Boy, could you read the satisfaction on that face.  In the interview, she warned that women legislators would hold what Space said against him -- but apparently they forgive stalking and sexual harassment.  No big deal, right?  So long as it comes from a Democrat.

What should be remembered and not ever forgotten is that these people are partisan dirtbags.  Don't cooperate with them.  Don't feed them stories and when they come looking for sustenance cut them off.  If they want to be one-sided then leave them only one-side that will cooperate with them on their bullshit.  Turn them inside out and make them the dull propagandists that they are.  Without available foils, they will soon bore and dry up.
 

Sussex Democrats use vigil to attack opponent

Last month, dozens of Sussex County residents met on the Green in Newton to hold a vigil in support of efforts to end opiate addiction.  Most were there for an honest, solemn purpose.  Some were there to get dirt on their neighbors.

It is no secret that Kate Matteson wants Parker Space's job.  She wants it bad enough to try to damage his business.  She wants it bad enough to try to turn a solemn vigil into a political sting operation.  While everyone else was praying to end the community's curse of opiate addiction, Matteson was trying to screw somebody over.

In a Politico column published yesterday, Democrat candidate Matteson admitted that her operatives used the vigil to try to lure her opponent into a conversation, tape it, and then use it as a kind of blackmail.  Perhaps the goal is to force Assemblyman Space out of office, much as the Left has attempted to force President Trump out of office?  This would represent a direct challenge to democracy and the will of the voters because Assemblyman Space is one of the highest vote-getters in the Legislature of either party. 

The question is this:  What kind of person would use a vigil for this purpose?  The vigil was to be a non-political gathering of concerned residents.  Who would authorize such an action?  Who would attempt to sell it to the media?

Democrat Senate candidate Jennifer Hamilton dismissed the whole affair as a personal clash between Matteson and Space, telling Politico that she believed it was about "Parker Space venting his frustration about what he perceived as an attack on his family business.  And that was the premise of the conversation. That was the build-up to that moment.  I don’t feel I need to be brought into peoples’ personal disagreements or battles with one another in terms of their personality conflicts. I think it’s clear from what we’ve seen in our local media that there is conflict between the two of them [Space and Matteson]."

As it turns out, the recording is not a very professional one and contains a number of garbled voices.  It is unclear if Assemblyman Space's is even among the voices present on the tape, while another voice (a woman's voice) apparently agrees with a negative assessment made of candidate Matteson, and still another voice repeats the phrase "elitist one-percenter" when referring to Democrat Matteson, the well-to-do-spouse of a wealthy doctor.

In the article, Matteson, who only began voting in 2016, actually tries to compare Assemblyman Space to President Trump -- fiercely attacking both in the process.  She may have only started voting last year, but she seems determined to make up for it with an extra dose of venom.

This isn't the first time candidate Matteson has used a solemn occasion for political purposes.  On September 11th, she and her running mate, Gina Trish, attended their first 9/11 observance and promptly turned it into a campaign photo opportunity.  It was rather disgusting and occasioned the remarks of many present for its gross lack of class.  Candidate Matteson might be upper class when it comes to having money, but she lacks it when it comes to manners.

Chair Currie proves Dems have a sense of humor

It was a moment of mock seriousness when Democrat State Committee Chair John Currie commented on an aside made by Republican Assemblyman Parker Space to his Democrat opponent at a debate Tuesday night.  Trying his best to maintain self-control, Currie said that the "episode was no laughing matter."

We all thought he was about to lose it but you have to hand it to the gentleman, he has self-control.  Tight-lipped and buttock-clenched he continued:  "Elected officials have a solemn duty to work on behalf of their constituents to promote a safer, more prosperous New Jersey.  Assemblyman Space’s statements from last night suggest that he is neither capable of nor interested in fulfilling those responsibilities."

And then we all started laughing, rolling around on the floor, crying even.  There wasn't a dry pair of underpants in the room. 

Who did they get to write that?  Maybe it was the lobbyist who signs all Currie's checks -- Democrat State Committee Treasurer Kelly Stewart Maer.  Remember her, Mr. Chairman?  Did you keep track of all those critters she lobbied for during the past twenty or so years?  Those are not mere words, those are actions.

Your Treasurer -- the person who signs off on every expenditure made by your committee -- is a master of the over-the-top hyperbole  you are engaging in now. Need we remind you that in 2003 (when she was a lobbyist shilling for the corporate man) she actually accused Senator Loretta Weinberg of pandering to pedophiles.  We shit you not Mr. Chairman.  That's the hammer your Treasurer laid down on Senator Loretta -- and mightily pissed she was too. 

Now we don't want to be telling you your job, Mr. Chairman, but you used the words "solemn duty."  Are you kidding?  You have Democrats in the Legislature who think it's their "solemn duty" to have their love-interests employed at taxpayers' expense.  Need we go there?

But hey, if you really and truly are concerned about elected officials who appear unwilling or disinterested in fulfilling their "solemn duty" to "promote a safer, more prosperous New Jersey" then we want you to call this number...

(856) 251-9801

You recognize that number?  Yep, it belongs to your good buddy Senate President Steve Sweeney.  Now brother Sweeney has bottled up an important piece of legislation designed to crack down on this...

You, Chairman Currie, you should call Senate President Sweeney and ask him... no, Mr. Chairman you should INSIST that Senate President Sweeney allow that legislation to come to the floor for a vote when the Senate is in session after the election.

See, Mr. Chairman, until you can GUARANTEE that violent attacks like this will not happen to New Jersey families people will want the right to protect themselves from violence, bodily harm, and death.  And with police response times falling in poorer and working class areas, it is especially important that people are allowed to defend themselves.  After all, the Democrat Party can hardly ask people to suffer violence and death just so a few rich lobbyists can make a fashion statement.