DEVELOPING STORY: Controversy In Delran; Were Nominating Petitions Forged?

Were nominating petitions in Delran forged? Many are wondering.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m a lucky guy or if people just like to give me other peoples dirt, like that time the Easter Bunny dropped off documents at my house.

Well, my lucky streak has continued because a source has provided me with documents and audio recordings that call into question whether or not a candidate’s signature was forged on a petition.

It appears the issue here is that former Delran Councilman Mike Schwartz was running for re-election in 2014. Unfortunately, at the time petitions were due to be placed on the primary election ballot Schwartz fell ill, ended up in the hospital and for a time slipped into a coma.

The rumors circulating in Delran are that Council President Gary Catrambone, who also happens to be Chairman of the Delran Democratic Party, went to the hospital to have Mike Schwartz sign petitions and was turned away by Schwartz’s family. The rumors in town are that Catrambone then forged Schwartz’s signature on the petition. Catrambone is also the Notary on the allegedly forged documents.

This is a developing story, so to be clear, I am not alleging anything, just laying out the information as I figure it out. Something that is clear is after listening to about an hour of audio is that folks are concerned a document may have been forged. In the following 2 minutes and 18 seconds of audio one guy can be heard telling the other that he was told that “Gary signed the paper” and that he was told not to follow it “because Mike could get in a lot of trouble.”

And in this clip of the audio files I have received a man can be heard saying someone else said, “I know what you did with Mike Schwartz’s petition.”

 Additionally, as you will see below, there are signatures of Mike Schwarts on the 2010 and 2014 “Oath of Allegiance” and “Certificate of Acceptance.” I am not a handwriting expert, but the signatures do appear to be different Also, based on the documents I have received, in 2010 Schwartz signed the signature sheet as a voter and in 2014, the year of the alleged forgery, he did not sign the signature sheet. After I confirm there are no missing sheets I will redact addresses and provide the signature sheets with a follow-up blog post.

Keep in mind, this is just a portion of the information that I received. There will be more to this story. So, stay tuned!

Camden Mayor: “We Will Not Tolerate Anyone Speaking Down To My City.” (Unless His Name Is Norcross)

Camden Mayor Frank Moran

“This is a warning to anyone that wishes to diss my city,” and “We will not tolerate anyone speaking down to my city.” You may recall those were the words of Camden Mayor Frank Moran after a perceived “diss” of the City of Camden by Holtec’s CEO Kris Singh. As has been pointed out in this blog, more than once, Moran has failed to recognize that Congressman Donald Norcross made remarks that backed up Singh’s comments.

Not only has Moran given Norcross a free pass on “dissing” his city, the mayor and congressman stood united at the Camden Working summit on Wednesday. The Courier-Post, noted in an article, “Holtec was conspicuous by its absence from the gathering.”

Of course, Holtec was absent from the Camden Working event, the mayor of the city attacked the company’s CEO because he said something that was so true that the area’s congressman backed up what the CEO said.

Now, I don’t live under a rock, nor am I an idiot, so I get it. Mayor Moran is a Democrat, so is Congressman Norcross and when one chooses to take part in partisan politics one should show party unity at every opportunity. That could be why Mayor Moran displayed a complete lack of a spine and never called out Norcross for his “diss” of Camden’s workforce.

I also understand there are times when rules need to be broken. I was part of Chris Christie ’09. I burned a lot of bridges that may never be repaired doing what needed to be done for then candidate Christie – even “bullying” a party chair into awarding him the line in the primary (that particular chair wanted to go with Steve Lonegan). But when Christie “dissed” South Jersey Republicans I called him out publicly. Some Republicans hated me for it, but it was the right thing to do because if you aren’t willing to stand up to people in your own party you lack credibility when fighting against the other.

Mayor Moran refused to recognize that you need to stand up to members of your own party. Instead he gave Congressman Norcross a free pass and then rubbed salt in the wound by standing with Norcross at the Camden Working summit.

The Courier-Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and South Jersey Times (to a lesser extent) all cover Camden politics and not one of them has called out Moran for not going after Norcross in the same way he attacked Singh. The South Jersey Times went the extra mile and propped up Norcross in an editorial. To me, the local press in South Jersey is part of the problem. If they are willing to join Camden’s mayor in giving the congressman a free pass, why should anyone stand up to fight the machine?

As far as the press is concerned the story is dead. We promised to stay on it and we are doing our best. Unfortunately, the protests are over, the Camden Working summit has passed and everyone in Camden has forgotten their mayor lacked the courage to stand up to one of his fellow Democrats and come election voters of that city will simply vote for Democrats even though that party has failed the city for decades.

The only question left is will Mayor Moran accept my invitation to come on The Bob & Steve Show and explain his double standard?

PRESS RELEASE: NJGOP Chairman: NJ Democrat Leaders Comfort With Corruption Is Frightening

NJGOP Chairman: NJ Democrat Leaders Comfort With Corruption Is Frightening

For Immediate Release

Trenton, NJ - Yesterday, Governor Phil Murphy defended the hiring of a former official who was convicted and jailed for taking a bribe. He said, the Department of Education's Office employee was "doing a heck of a job".  Tomorrow, disgraced U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, who was admonished by a bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee for his corrupt behavior, will keynote a New Jersey Democratic State Party event being attended by Murphy and Menendez’s running mates Mikie Sherrill, Tom Malinowski, Andy Kim and other Democrat leaders around the state.

NJGOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt offered the following comment:

"At a time when Democrats nationally are pining to own the government ethics narrative, New Jersey's Democratic leadership is showing an alarming affinity for abandoning it.  Phil Murphy has made it clear that he is fine filling his administration with people who were jailed for taking bribes. Moreover, Democrats from around the State are embracing corrupt Senator Bob Menendez despite his being found guilty by his own colleagues of violating federal law. 

"New Jersey has a chance to vote out Menendez in November, but I think we need to support Assemblywoman Schepisi's proposal to ban from working in public office, people who breached the public’s trust and were convicted of corruption."

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