From the Press of Atlantic City, Breaking News, Friday, November 6, 2009 - Rob Spahr, Staff Writer
MULLICA TOWNSHIP - The seven provisional ballots tallied by the Atlantic County Board of Elections on Friday did not change the outcome of the race for Township Committee.
Democrat Anthony Gabris received two provisional ballot votes to increase his total to 1,002 and fend off Republican incumbent Kathy Chasey by six votes. Chasey trailed Gabris by seven votes before the seven provisional ballots were opened Friday afternoon but only added three votes to her total and finished with 996.
The top vote-getter, Democrat Susan Polk, received three provisional votes to finish with 1,045, while Republican former Committeeman Bruce Crowe received the most provisional votes with five but the least votes overall with 961.
The votes still have to be certified, which Board of Elections officials are expected to do Tuesday.
Chasey told The Press of Atlantic City on Election Day that she would not challenge the results of the election and said Friday that she still had no plans to but said she would talk with the Board of Elections and the local Republican club before making that decision.
"I don't know. If it were one or two votes, then maybe. But you know, six votes is a lot of innocent errors for the machine to make," said Chasey, who has served on the Township Committee since 1996.
Chasey said she was not surprised with the results, especially after hearing from prospective voters about Gabris and Polk's "unrealistic" campaign promises.
"Obviously you can't follow them around to try and correct what (voters) were being told. There is only so much you can do. You can't be honest and beat that," said Chasey, who said she is unsure if she would run for public office again. "I would certainly congratulate Susan. And Anthony? Lots of luck."
The Democratic sweep of both of the open seats gives that party a 4-1 majority on the five-person committee. Deputy Mayor William Kennedy, who switched his party affiliation in April, is the only Republican left on the committee.
Gabris said he was on a virtual roller coaster of emotions throughout the entire campaign.
"When we first started, I didn't care one way or the other," he said. "But once I started to see the support we were getting, I felt like it was an obligation to win."
He said he would not even allow himself to enjoy the victory until the last provisional ballot had been counted.
"People kept calling and asking me what was happening. But I just said, 'As much as I like to say it's in the bank, it's not,'" he said. "But I feel much better now, like there's a load off my shoulders. Now everyone involved can lay back and take a breath of fresh air."
After taking his breath of fresh air, Gabris said he looks forward to restoring the township's faith in its governing body.
"We may not always agree on everything, but it will never be the way it was," Gabris said of the public infighting that has been commonplace among committee members. "The last two years was a disgrace."
Friday, November 06, 2009
Democrats still win in Mullica after provisional ballots
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21 comments:
Congratulations to Anthony and Susan and to the Keep Mullica Green Team for all the hard work and for the victory!!! The true winners will be the people of Mullica. They made a great choice in Anthony and Susan.
Yes, the last two years were a disgrace but the horrible,dishonest literature sent out by the Republicans in this campaign insulted the intelligence of the people of Mullica.
Even in this article,Chasey continues to lie. I had the unrealistic expectation that she would go out graciously but I was wrong.
Good luck To Sue and Anthony!!
I'm sure for these two, open, honest and respectful government is not an "unrealistic campaign promise".
Chasey couldn't be honest if her life depended on it.
Chasey says "I would certainly congratulate Susan".
For what reason would you congratulate her,Chasey????
For wining or for overcoming the "PURE EVIL" lies that you sent out to the school teachers????
This is not so much of an upset as might first appear. This is the third year in a row that Keep Mullica Green won in Mullica. The majority of the voters obviously wanted change for some time now.
Janet bears a lot of the responsibility in her role of mayor for the way that the meetings were conducted this year. It was like she wanted to get back at the opposing party by excluding them from the decision making process in an in-your-face fashion to try to demean and marginalize them, causing them to fight back. She had nothing to lose because she knew she wasn't running next year. Kathy let Janet do much of the dirty work for her and now she'll be gone too.
What will happen at the final meetings? Anyone want to bet on "Board Packing" and unbelievably long and expensive contracts?????
The letter left in the teachers' mailboxes at school that was critical of Susan Polk was so shameful that it was left unsigned. Who would write such ridiculous stuff?
Is it a coincidence that the last time they ran there was another unsigned similar letter that went out and its only when they campaigned so you can figure out clearly who was behind the PURE EVIL letter. Chasey could have shown the public that for the good of the town she would help the new group into the transition with ll her power and experience and contacts but" NO" she turned and slapped Anthony the sarcastic "Good Luck". AS long as things went her way she was fine but now we see the other side. Dont expect her to either get onboard or let bygones be bygones. Her partner in all this seems to now lost her"political meal ticket" so expect her also to be involved in trying to undermine and sabotage any good will or deeds the new group tries.
How where the little boys excluded from any decision making process? the weiners had their vote, even though it obviously didn't count. So they have their committee stacked this year, 2 weiners , a see no, hear no speak no evil mouse, and a pissed off ex-employee. This election was obviously a popularity contest, with the nice little second grade teacher carrying the mean OLD zoning guy. I feel bad for Mr. Kennedy. What did he do to deserve this!
It is a shame that Kathy could not take the high road and wish her opponents well. What she showed instead was the face behind the smiling mask that she wore. Behind the mask there was no civility just ugliness. To think that she has been in leadership positions in Mullica for as long as she has is quite disturbing.
Congratulations to Susan and Anthony and to Keep Mullica Green. I am looking forward to a NEW Day with honesty, openness and fairness as promised for all of the people in Mullica. Hopefully Mullica will now become a place where folks can put any campaign sign on their lawn or speak out without fear of reprisals. I like to think that the bullying of the citizens of Mullica will now end. It is more than time.
Here is the story of a master manipulator who was used by her friend who got her position as Mayor and getting building permits on unbuildable land. As stated by other readers Chasey got burned in the election for all these issues while Janet escaped the voters anger and ultimate rejection. If its true that while winning elections is very emotional being a loser is 1.000 more painful Mrs Chasey will be dealing with this the rest of her life.The biggest irony is the man she fired for being too honest now has her job after she was fired. I cant even imagine her emotions on that note. She should have quit a long time ago and never gotten involved with Janet.
re 6:36pm
St. Amour and Graebener are intelligent, honest men who did their best to follow their voters wishes even though their hands were tied and votes were blocked by the infidel Kennedy.
Gabris and Polk will bring honesty and integrity to our Committee. They both are hard working and determined to do the best they can to serve all the people of this Twp.
It is my opinion that Kennedy is a complete, big mouth idiot. I can only hope that he will not cause anymore harm or bad publicity for Mullica for the remainder of his term.
Re 6:36 PM
I can give you credit,Ms Lovelace, that you at least had the intelligence not to run for office.
Your big fat ego wouldn't stand the defeat.
RE6:36pm
So Linda Lovelace, you're back to making nasty comments. I'm sure you could care less about Kennedy. You used the fool and you're probably going to take advantage of his loose lips in the future.
Just remember that he fed Larry a lot of information about the police and then turned on him. I hope Bill bites you on your ass real soon.
Kennedy goes the way the wind blows.
The 6:36 post must be by Kathy or Janet. Weiners to describe fellow committeemen?? How nasty, vindictive, and juvenile in approach can these women get? There is total lack of respect for others. "I feel bad for Mr. Kennedy. What did he do to deserve this!" What he did was betray the people of this community and the people that helped him get elected.
As we celebrate this victory we should not forget those who helped us get here. Larry Angel for his tireless dedication to rooting out truth; Vin Thoms for his love of Mullica and can do attitude; Frank Busch for his love of Mullica and work on preserving the rural life style and last but not least Marie Schroeder for having successfully fought the first dump effort and passing on the courage to stand for what is right. Their spirit is still with us and I honor them for their work to help us get to this victory point.
re 636pm
Your post seems to be the rambling of someone who is going mad. You need to get some serious help here or you'll be spending your days muttering "I hate Gadfly01" I hate Larry Angel!" I hate Mary Hunt" etc etc/ LET IT GO!!!
RE636PM
You said "I feel bad for Mr. Kennedy. What did he do to deserve this?"
What happened to Kennedy? He's still on the committee and will be there another two years thanks to the people he betrayed.
The only thing he lost was his swing vote which made him feel powerful.
Maybe he will start to think for himself and vote for the betterment of the community and not for the betterment of Chasey, Forman and a few select people.
re 11:23 pm
It's a shame but some people are motivated by hate and it gives them temporary satisfaction to strike out and hurt innocent people.
These are the people that are empty inside and have no personal happiness within themselves.
Money, power and material things will never give them the happiness, love or approval that they seek.
Think about it. After the New Year all five committee members will have been Keep Mullica Green candidates, including turncoat Kennedy, who later sided with Waszen and those trying to help him out.
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