This Gloucester County GOP Chair Is Putting In The Effort

Gloucester County GOP Chair Jacci Vigilante (from gcrepublicans.com)

I admit it, I haven’t always been warm and fuzzy with the county party where I live. The previous county chair didn’t much like me and, to be honest, I wasn’t his biggest fan either. My problem was that the town in which I am the GOP municipal chair, Greenwich Township, was treated as the proverbial red-headed step child, despite having the currently longest serving Republican mayor in the county. You might think the former leadership might try to help the guy a little bit. Instead it was, “Oh, they’re fine. They raise their own money, blah, blah…” It never seemed to matter that the Democrats always have a target on the mayor’s back.

Fast forward to the present and all I can is the new Gloucester County chairwoman, Jacci Vigilante, is putting in the effort. From the new and improved website to now hosting a monthly breakfast, which I unfortunately cannot attend as I’ll be doing the radio show with Bob, and a monthly Gloucester County Happy Hour designed to build some camaraderie among the rank-and-file, something that’s been missing in Glouco for years.

Not only is Vigilante trying to build camaraderie, she’s making the effort to rebuild previously burned bridges. She took the time to sit with Greenwich Township Mayor George Shivery and me in a meeting brokered by state GOP Executive Director Theresa Winegar, and trust me, Vigilante knew she was heading into hostile territory. Vigilante did as a party leader should and worked to rebuild a bridge that had been, not just burned, nuked by the previous chair.

I’m not always the easiest guy to get along with, as I explained to Vigilante when I introduced my mayor, “Everyone loves George, me, I’m an acquired taste.” She made the effort, there is now peace between the county and municipal parties. Even better, she gets that in my role as a municipal chair my chief responsibility is to support my elected officials above all else and that anyone, regardless of party, taking a shot at or disrespecting my mayor will suffer the consequences.

Gloucester County’s new GOP Chairwoman is not relying on what others have to say and is actively meeting with fellow Republicans and forming her own opinions. In other words, she’s acting like a leader. She’s giving Glouco Republicans a reason to get a little excited.

She’s got some opportunities coming up. There’s a special election in the 5th district for assembly. The district is shared with Camden County and not very winnable but, working with the folks in Camco it’s possible to put together a spirited campaign. Vigilante also has to choose a consensus candidate for the special election for County Surrogate.

Bottom line: Vigilante is doing a good job, especially considering the condition the previous chair left the party in. She’s light years ahead of the last chair. Let’s hope she can keep it up.

Plot Thickens In Haddon Township

This is the sixth time Haddon Township Commissioner Paul Dougherty, the elected official who crashed into a car and left the scene, gets a mention in this blog. Readers may recall Camden County Republicans called on Dougherty to resign from his post as a commissioner and as a municipal prosecutor in several towns.

Not only have the county Republicans called on Dougherty to step down, so have many residents in the Township. Some plan on attending the Township commission meeting on August 28 to ask him to resign. Silent in all of this are the county Democrats.

Why are county Democrats silent on all this? We now know Dougherty tried to pin his misdeeds on his wife. According to sources she wasn’t at the event the night of the accident at which Dougherty was allegedly seen drinking alcoholic beverages. Trying to throw his own wife under the bus reason is enough to stop protecting him.

Because at The Bob & Steve Show we believe family members are off limits we will never mention the name of Dougherty’s wife. Multiple sources in the Township have told us she is a very sweet lady. Unfortunately, she may be the reason Camden County Democrats have yet to tell Dougherty to resign. It turns out the father of Dougherty’s wife happens to be a man who was a somewhat powerful member of the Camco Democrat machine.

On top of having a former somewhat powerful member of the Camco Democrat machine as a father-in-law, multiple sources have informed The Bob & Steve Show that Dougherty’s wife holds a job in Camden County Clerk Joe Ripa’s office.

A former somewhat powerful member of the Camco Democrat machine as a father-in-law and a wife with a job in the County Clerk’s office. Are these the reasons Camco Democrats have yet to call on Haddon Township Commissioner Paul Dougherty to resign?

We’re waiting for answers.

BREAKING Haddon Twp Commissioner Tried To Blame His Wife For Accident, Did Not Call 911, Instead Called Police Chief’s Personal Cell Phone

Haddon Twp Commissioner Paul Dougherty

The saga of Haddon Township Commissioner Paul Dougherty continues as we learned tonight that he originally told police that his wife was involved in a crash and she left the scene.

The information comes to us from a source who lives in Haddon Township and copied and pasted a post in a closed Facebook group, then emailed it to us.

Apparently, a Haddon Twp citizen filed a bunch of OPRA requests and discovered Dougherty initially lied to police. In fact, Dougherty never called 911, he called the Police Chief’s personal cell phone.

I have communicated with the Haddon Twp citizen, who wishes to remain anonymous, and the information that follows is accurate and did come as a result of OPRA requests.

Here is the citizen’s post exactly as it was sent to us:

Good Evening HT Residents! 
There are many strong feelings regarding the Hit & Run MV crash involving Commissioner Paul Dougherty on the night of July 19th. There were many accusations and comments, both for and against, Mr. Dougherty. I stand by my statement that Mr. Dougherty needs to resign immediately. After receiving my OPRA request, I feel even stronger now. As taxpaying residents, we all deserve to know the truth, and here it is. (Please know this is all based on written documents that I received through Haddon Township and through Camden County)
The victim called 911 and reported she was rear ended at 9:16pm. She was asked if there were any injuries, and her response was, "I don't think so. I was hit hard though."
At 1:27 into the 911 call, the victim tells dispatch she is still in the center of the road and has not moved her vehicle. 
At 1:41 into the 911 call, you can hear a man ask the victim if she is ok and what happened. She explained she was rear ended. This indicates that Mr. Dougherty had already left the scene and it had not even been two minutes yet. This also indicates that Mr. Dougherty was unable to see the vehicle he hit and the surrounding citizens who came to assist the victim all in the same location where he had struck her. This is completely unbelievable that he would not see this from the Walgreen's parking lot where he reported he "waited for the other driver to show up."
Police arrived on scene at 9:21pm and Mr. Dougherty was nowhere to be found. 
I have every radio transmission from the victim, the dispatcher, and every police officer that arrived on scene. There is not one call that came from Mr. Dougherty's cell phone or house phone proving that Mr. Dougherty's report of "calling the police" is a lie. 
Mr. Dougherty did not call the police .... Mr. Dougherty called off-duty Chief Cavallo on his private cell phone. Mr. Dougherty told Chief Cavallo that HIS WIFE was involved in a MV crash and she left the scene. Chief Cavallo called the "Sergeants Phone" and spoke with Officer Schwartz. Chief Cavallo informed Officer Schwartz that Mr. Dougherty's wife was involved in a crash and she left the scene. 
It was only determined after Officer Schwartz went to Mr. Dougherty's residence that it was not his wife driving, it was in fact him. It is known that Mr. Dougherty attended a concert at Crystal Lake Pool this very same evening and was witnessed by residents consuming alcohol. One cannot be investigated and/or charged with a DUI once they flee the scene and are safely at home. 
The next interesting fact is Officer Schwartz's activity log from this evening. After clearing Mr. Dougherty's residence, Officer Schwartz noted on her log, at 22:15 hours "Follow up re: above crash Notification made to Capt. Bishop (Lt. Gooley away on vacation) and received information as to appropriate reporting/notification requirements" Why on earth is a 20+ year Officer seeking advice from the Police Captain, so late at night, if there was no underlying issue here?
The MV Crash report does not contain the information about Mr. Dougherty first reporting it was his wife driving. The report does indicate Mr. Dougherty was issued the summonses for Unlicensed Driver and Leaving the Scene of a MV Crash. The next fact, in block 120a of the crash report (This is used to describe the drivers apparent status), Mr. Dougherty was marked as a "00". a "00" indicates "Unknown." The victim was marked as a "01" which means "Normal." This further indicates that Mr. Dougherty did not appear "Normal" or sober to a 20+ year Officer. 
With all these facts, I am very comfortable stating Mr. Dougherty has disgraced his position as Commissioner, a Prosecutor, and an attorney. I will keep my personal opinion to myself about a man who would blame his wife to avoid getting in trouble. 
I am calling on all residents to appear, and speak, at this coming Commissioners Meeting on Tuesday August 28th at 7:00pm. We pay a lot taxes in this town, and we certainly do not deserve a leader such as this. I'm not explaining to my children how this man blatancy broke the law and is still able to remain one of our town leaders. Last I checked, it is a crime to falsify a police report, so I further want to know why Mr. Dougherty has not been criminally charged yet. 
I will certainly be at the meeting, with all documents, demanding answers as well as demanding better for all the residents of Haddon Township. I hope you all feel just as strongly about this town and feel even stronger about who should be running it. 
After these facts are now public, Mr. Dougherty needs to step away from his position as Commissioner. You do not get to break the law and keep such a respected position. If he does not do the respectful thing and step down on his own, Mayor Teague and Commissioner Mulroy need to do the right thing for this town and make it happen.

There is much more to come on this story. But for now, one has to ask what kind of scumbag would try to throw his own wife under the bus? We'll try to answer that question on The Bob & Steve Show Saturday morning.