April 28, 2008
By CHRISTINA TATU
FRANKFORD — A new committee is being formed in Frankford — the Robert McDowell Recall Defense Committee.
Mayor McDowell said the group was formed at the beginning of April, about a week after the township received a petition calling for McDowell to step down from office.
On Thursday, Frankford residents received a letter written by McDowell defending his passage of an ordinance that limits commercial development along Route 206 and urging residents not to support a "misguided recall effort" being led by local veterinarian Sam Castimore.
"Sam and his petition co-sponsors own property on Routes 206 and 565; they oppose the Township Committee's efforts to preserve our Township's rural character; and they are placing their personal interests above the interests of Frankford residents," the letter stated.
Allyn Jones, former vice president of Citizens for Responsible Development at Ross's Corner and a member of the Frankford Open Space Committee, Economic Development Committee and Plan Endorsement Committee is listed as treasurer of the group. McDowell said there are at least six other members, although he would not specify who they are. He said the members donated money to print the letter.
Jones did not return calls seeking comment.
"When the first threat of a recall came out, I decided that I had to respond to it. I think sending a letter gets directly to the voters of the township who are going to be faced with possibly signing this recall notice and I wanted to get the facts out about what happened and why I am backing various items which I'm now being attacked for," McDowell said.
The letter goes on to say that Castimore was a "vocal" supporter of the 90-store outlet mall at Ross's Corner because his family owns property in the area and has contracts with the developer.
"Now Sam wants to permit unrestricted commercial development up and down Routes 206 and 565 that could turn our roadways into extensions of the Newton Area sprawl."
McDowell did not say how much his supporters spent on the letter. He said that for now he does not plan on sending another letter and does not have any upcoming events planned.
According to Fred Herrmann, executive director of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, the mayor does have the right to establish a recall defense commission, but he must register the commission ELEC within 10 days of receiving the recall notice. The township received the original recall petition on April 3. A new recall petition was filed on April 15.
As of Friday, Herrmann said ELEC has yet to receive forms from the Robert McDowell Recall Defense Committee.
The penalty for not filing is a fine of up to $6,000 for a first offense and $12,000 for a second offense. Herrmann said the fine is usually paid by the mayor or the treasurer of the group.
McDowell said a "friend" has been handling the necessary paper work for the defense committee.
"I knew I sent some kind of notification, but I wasn't aware of the details of it. The paper work has been filed, and a letter is on its way," McDowell said.
"We are just trying to do this the right way. That's the way it is, and the way it always has been," McDowell said.
