August 26, 2008
By BRUCE A. SCRUTON
STILLWATER -- Al Fuoco, a member of the Township Committee who was subject to a recall effort, has resigned from the committee, effective today.
Fuoco, who had one year left on his second term and who already said he wouldn't run for re-election next year, said, "I already had one foot out of this town," and in a discussion with his wife this past weekend, they decided "enough is enough."
The resignation letter was delivered early Tuesday morning to the Town Clerk's office. His resignation comes after a petition effort was successful in getting a recall question on this November's ballot.
That effort came after Fuoco voted against a resolution that committed the town to pay to spray for the gypsy moth caterpillar this past spring. Fuoco's stand against the spraying, however, was not the swing vote on the committee, which voted 4-1 in favor of spraying, and was the latest "no" vote in the past three years the issue has come before the committee.
Fuoco has maintained the recall effort was actually a front for those who are upset over his support for a larger police department the town has had the past few years.
Members of the recall committee have disputed his characterization.
However, on Tuesday, after learning of Fuoco's resignation, the recall committee issued a news release and refused to answer questions about the police issue.
Marion Gross, one of the committee members, read the release, which made no mention of the police issue, or any other issue.
"We are pleased he chose to resign," she read.
The statement said the success of the recall effort should be a reminder to all office holders that they "are accountable to the public."
After thanking the "855 residents who signed the petition, members of our group and carriers of our petitions," the statement then apologized to other residents who were not approached for a chance to sign.
One of those people who was not approached was fellow committee member Jay Burd.
During the committee's last meeting Aug. 19, Burd and Fuoco favored filling a vacancy in the police department that had just been created when the committee voted unanimously to allow an officer to transfer to another department.
"I respect his decision (to resign)," Burd said. "I don't necessarily agree with the recall. A disagreement with how someone votes is not what that law was meant for."
Burd said he and Fuoco often disagreed over issues, "but I have all the respect in the world for Al. He always treated me with respect."
Mayor William Morrison said, "I wish him well in his personal life," but strongly disputed Fuoco's belief that the police department issue is at the heart of the recall.
"These people (recall committee) aren't anti-police," he said. "We must look at the financial picture here."
Because of committee did not fill the vacancy, Police Chief Anthony Koslowski announced last week the department would become "part-time," with town officers working from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days and state police on call during the overnight hours.
Morrison said he was waiting for word from the town attorney on how the vacancy should be handled since it is close to election time.
Normally, the political party of the resigning member, submits the names of three possible replacements to the governing body, which selects from that list.
Given that an election is less than 90 days away, Morrison said he doesn't know if the vacancy can be filled or the committee needs to wait for the election.
"But I do know that government won't stop because we are short one committee member," he said.
Showing posts with label Z) Stillwater Twp. Recall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Z) Stillwater Twp. Recall. Show all posts
20080828
Under threat of recall, Stillwater committeeman resigns
August 26, 2008
by Jim Lockwood/The Star-Ledger
Stillwater Township Committeeman Al Fuoco submitted his letter of resignation today in advance of a planned recall vote in the Nov. 4 general election.
Fuoco's resignation will take effect Wednesday, which also happens to be his 65th birthday. Fuoco already had been planning to step down for an eventual out-of-state move, but the recall effort hastened his departure from the committee, he said.
"It's just not worth it," Fuoco said. "It's not something I choose to fight for anymore. Life is too short."
One of the recall-petition organizers, Marion Gross, read a statement saying she and the other two members of the petition committee, Carol Fredericks and Dania Bodensieck, are "pleased Mr. Fuoco chose to resign."
"The success of this campaign should remind other public officials that they do need to be accountable to the public that elected them," Gross stated.
Fuoco's departure will create a vacancy on the five-member township committee. The empty seat may now be temporarily filled by the local Republican municipal committee and township committee. Candidates seeking to fill the rest of Fuoco's term, which expires Dec. 31, 2009, also may independently petition to run in the Nov. 4 election.
The selected candidate will be sworn in immediately after the election, said Sussex County Clerk Erma Gormley.
Stillwater's recall effort was one of three under way in Sussex County in recent months. Petitions in Sparta against a trio of township council members failed earlier this month to garner enough signatures to get a recall on the Nov. 4 ballot.
But a recall petition in Frankford against Mayor Robert McDowell was submitted Aug. 13 with more than enough signatures needed. The signatures are still being verified, but it seems likely Frankford voters will have the choice of recalling McDowell on Nov. 4
by Jim Lockwood/The Star-Ledger
Stillwater Township Committeeman Al Fuoco submitted his letter of resignation today in advance of a planned recall vote in the Nov. 4 general election.
Fuoco's resignation will take effect Wednesday, which also happens to be his 65th birthday. Fuoco already had been planning to step down for an eventual out-of-state move, but the recall effort hastened his departure from the committee, he said.
"It's just not worth it," Fuoco said. "It's not something I choose to fight for anymore. Life is too short."
One of the recall-petition organizers, Marion Gross, read a statement saying she and the other two members of the petition committee, Carol Fredericks and Dania Bodensieck, are "pleased Mr. Fuoco chose to resign."
"The success of this campaign should remind other public officials that they do need to be accountable to the public that elected them," Gross stated.
Fuoco's departure will create a vacancy on the five-member township committee. The empty seat may now be temporarily filled by the local Republican municipal committee and township committee. Candidates seeking to fill the rest of Fuoco's term, which expires Dec. 31, 2009, also may independently petition to run in the Nov. 4 election.
The selected candidate will be sworn in immediately after the election, said Sussex County Clerk Erma Gormley.
Stillwater's recall effort was one of three under way in Sussex County in recent months. Petitions in Sparta against a trio of township council members failed earlier this month to garner enough signatures to get a recall on the Nov. 4 ballot.
But a recall petition in Frankford against Mayor Robert McDowell was submitted Aug. 13 with more than enough signatures needed. The signatures are still being verified, but it seems likely Frankford voters will have the choice of recalling McDowell on Nov. 4
20080810
Two recall petitions move forward
August 10, 2008
By SETH AUGENSTEIN
SPARTA -- Two out of three ain't bad, say some local activists.
The recent wave of recalls in Sussex County will successfully bring two local officials up for votes of confidence in November.
In Stillwater, the petition to recall Committeeman Alfred Fuoco was submitted and filed last week. And this week, the petition to recall Frankford Mayor Robert McDowell will be submitted to the township, according to organizers.
But the first of the recalls will end in defeat. In Sparta, the effort to recall three council members fell short of the required number of names and will not even be submitted to the township clerk before the deadlines this week and the next, according to Jesse Wolosky, the main organizer behind the movement.
Wolosky said he has been consulted by other municipalities seeking to remove their elected officials from office, including Stillwater and Frankford.
Wolosky said the Sparta petition movement failed because the 3,000-plus signature requirement was too vast for a relatively small group of collectors. But they tried anyway, because of the dissatisfaction people have had with officials.
"Some people said, 'We never knew we had this way to change,'" he said.
He cites a litany of grievances against the current officials, including the garbage collection ordinance which brought about a petition effort and a subsequent March referendum. But the main thrust of the issue in Sparta, he said, is to replace Henry Underhill, the township manager. He claims that the petitions to recall then-Mayor Michael Spekhardt and councilmen Brian Brady and Manny Goldberg were never done out of personal grudges.
Spekhardt refused to comment until after it's certain the group did not make the number of signatures. The deadline to submit the petition to recall him is Tuesday. During the months of the campaign against him, he has consistently railed his detractors for what he has called "lies" about him. Brady and Goldberg, whose petition deadline is a week after Spekhardt's, have similarly addressed the accusations against them -- even at public council meetings.
Wolosky said the recall efforts have a different focus in each town, but always bring the same conclusion -- a sense of empowerment for citizens. Sussex County's first recall was the successful ouster of Hardyston school board president Marbeth Boffa earlier this year. The recall possibilities opened some eyes, Wolosky said.
"Nobody knew you could stop this stuff (in this way)," he said.
The recall reasons vary in each town. In Stillwater, Fuoco's stance on gypsy moth spraying was the first reason stated by the petitioners, who took only three months to collect the 707 signatures necessary. In Frankford, money is the main reason. George Lista, one of the Frankford petitioners, said McDowell is targeted because of his conduct -- and particularly how his conservationist stance is affecting the financial development of the entire township.
"Economics is the big issue," he said. "And they're just not following the protocol of how elected officials should act."
Whatever the reason, Wolosky says his role outside Sparta has been simply a numbers game -- about how to collect the signatures necessary to recall officials. He said he steers clear of the politics in other municipalities, and is simply looking to get the numbers for people who want to "make a change."
"I'm not into politics -- it's about the activism," he said.
As for the Sparta failure, he said he still sees it as a victory. In fact, the group is still fighting the township's garbage collection and the township's latest salary ordinance. This time, though, the battlefield won't be on the streets and in front of Sparta stores -- it will be in a Morristown courtroom next week.
"We tried our best in something we believed in," he said.
"It just needs to be known that if you're a public official, and you stop listening to the people... be prepared to be recalled."
By SETH AUGENSTEIN
SPARTA -- Two out of three ain't bad, say some local activists.
The recent wave of recalls in Sussex County will successfully bring two local officials up for votes of confidence in November.
In Stillwater, the petition to recall Committeeman Alfred Fuoco was submitted and filed last week. And this week, the petition to recall Frankford Mayor Robert McDowell will be submitted to the township, according to organizers.
But the first of the recalls will end in defeat. In Sparta, the effort to recall three council members fell short of the required number of names and will not even be submitted to the township clerk before the deadlines this week and the next, according to Jesse Wolosky, the main organizer behind the movement.
Wolosky said he has been consulted by other municipalities seeking to remove their elected officials from office, including Stillwater and Frankford.
Wolosky said the Sparta petition movement failed because the 3,000-plus signature requirement was too vast for a relatively small group of collectors. But they tried anyway, because of the dissatisfaction people have had with officials.
"Some people said, 'We never knew we had this way to change,'" he said.
He cites a litany of grievances against the current officials, including the garbage collection ordinance which brought about a petition effort and a subsequent March referendum. But the main thrust of the issue in Sparta, he said, is to replace Henry Underhill, the township manager. He claims that the petitions to recall then-Mayor Michael Spekhardt and councilmen Brian Brady and Manny Goldberg were never done out of personal grudges.
Spekhardt refused to comment until after it's certain the group did not make the number of signatures. The deadline to submit the petition to recall him is Tuesday. During the months of the campaign against him, he has consistently railed his detractors for what he has called "lies" about him. Brady and Goldberg, whose petition deadline is a week after Spekhardt's, have similarly addressed the accusations against them -- even at public council meetings.
Wolosky said the recall efforts have a different focus in each town, but always bring the same conclusion -- a sense of empowerment for citizens. Sussex County's first recall was the successful ouster of Hardyston school board president Marbeth Boffa earlier this year. The recall possibilities opened some eyes, Wolosky said.
"Nobody knew you could stop this stuff (in this way)," he said.
The recall reasons vary in each town. In Stillwater, Fuoco's stance on gypsy moth spraying was the first reason stated by the petitioners, who took only three months to collect the 707 signatures necessary. In Frankford, money is the main reason. George Lista, one of the Frankford petitioners, said McDowell is targeted because of his conduct -- and particularly how his conservationist stance is affecting the financial development of the entire township.
"Economics is the big issue," he said. "And they're just not following the protocol of how elected officials should act."
Whatever the reason, Wolosky says his role outside Sparta has been simply a numbers game -- about how to collect the signatures necessary to recall officials. He said he steers clear of the politics in other municipalities, and is simply looking to get the numbers for people who want to "make a change."
"I'm not into politics -- it's about the activism," he said.
As for the Sparta failure, he said he still sees it as a victory. In fact, the group is still fighting the township's garbage collection and the township's latest salary ordinance. This time, though, the battlefield won't be on the streets and in front of Sparta stores -- it will be in a Morristown courtroom next week.
"We tried our best in something we believed in," he said.
"It just needs to be known that if you're a public official, and you stop listening to the people... be prepared to be recalled."
Politicians ponder 'recall without cause'
August 10, 2008
Holding officials accountable, residents sign petitions for their removal
BY JIM LOCKWOOD
Star-Ledger Staff
You might be able to fight city hall after all -- by trying to recall an elected official.
But is that necessarily a good thing, or sour grapes from a disgruntled citizenry?
Such sentiments and questions are being raised in three towns in Sussex County -- Sparta, Frankford and Stillwater -- where recall petitions against municipal officials have been under way.
It's too early to know for sure, but it looks like Stillwater and Frankford may have recall elections on the Nov. 4 ballot, but Sparta won't.
In Sparta, recall petitions against Mayor Brian Brady and councilmen Michael Spekhardt and Manny Goldberg are falling short of garnering the 3,125 signatures needed per petition, said Jesse Wolosky, the recall organizer there. The deadlines for petitions to be submitted in Sparta are Tuesday for the one against Spekhardt, and Aug. 19 for the ones against Brady and Goldberg.
"We will not be submitting a petition on the 12th or the 19th. We did not make our numbers," said Wolosky, who would not disclose how far short they fell.
Wolosky, who earlier this year engineered three other petitions against ordinances in Sparta and helped Stillwater and Frankford petitioners, cited "petition fatigue" as one reason for the recall failures in his town. He said his group has had no trouble obtaining several-hundred signatures needed to oppose ordinances, but a recall requires a much-higher threshold of 25 percent of registered voters.
"I don't think it's petition-fatigue at all," Brady said. "I stand by the fact that the council keeps the entire township in mind and we do what we think is right."
Recalls are allowed under a 1995 law that only recently has begun to be employed as a grassroots political tool throughout the state. Recall petitions are the most difficult petitions to achieve, as petitions need signatures from at least 25 percent of a town's registered voters. There also are limits on who can be recalled; officials in their first year or six months away from the end of a term can't be recalled. Residents also simultaneously choose a replacement if a recall passes, and the recall target can also be a replacement candidate.
Earlier this year, Hardyston had the first recall in Sussex County, in the April 15 school election, when former school board president Marbeth Boffa was recalled and replaced.
In Stillwater, petitions to recall Township Committeeman Al Fuoco needed 707 signatures and were submitted on Aug. 1 with 855 signatures. Last week, the municipal clerk determined there are enough valid signatures, and Fuoco now has until Aug. 19 to challenge any of them. If there still are enough after that, a recall election would occur on Nov. 4.
"This is a ruse for a political vendetta," Fuoco said. "There's a lot of personal animosity going back four or five years."
Carol Fredericks, one of the Stillwater recall organizers, disagreed and cited Fuoco's vote against gypsy-moth spraying as a catalyst for the recall drive.
"The will of the people wasn't done. We decided enough is enough," Fredericks said. "It's not a personal vendetta. Politicians have to be accountable."
Frankford residents targeted Mayor Robert McDowell for recall after the township committee restricted some commercial development along part of Route 206. They need 947 signatures for a recall election, and petitions have not yet been submitted.
Rich Wingle, one of the recall organizers in Frankford, said of McDowell: "He's against business and doesn't listen to residents. It's a pretty strong (recall) movement in town. I've been here 35 years and never seen anything like it."
McDowell, who said he's "hearing a lot of strong support against the recall," said he's not anti-business, but rather following state procedures to gain Trenton's approval for a town center. "You have to do certain things, pass ordinances. We did that and now we're getting a little backlash over it."
While acknowledging that recall organizers are exercising their rights, the officials each expressed concern with how laws do not require petitions to contain any reasons for a recall. They feel recalls should be reserved for corruption or malfeasance, and not over political feuds or disagreements about decisions.
"I believe what they're doing (in Stillwater) is an abuse of the recall process," Fuoco said. "There's no basis for a recall, no malfeasance. It's the way people who are angry and can't get their way at the ballot box go about it now."
McDowell said, "I'm really concerned about where this recall thing (in Frankford) is going to go. If this is the nature of what recalls are about, why would people run for office in the future?"
Brady, who plans to fight for a change in the law to require a reason stated on a recall petition, said, "I feel for anybody who becomes subject of a recall without cause, for doing nothing more than what you were put in office to do."
Petition organizers note they adhered to the recall law, and also set up web sites or issued letters, mailers or word-of-mouth information stating various reasons for recalls.
"We live in a democracy," Fredericks said. "You can't fight city hall? I think that's changing."
Holding officials accountable, residents sign petitions for their removal
BY JIM LOCKWOOD
Star-Ledger Staff
You might be able to fight city hall after all -- by trying to recall an elected official.
But is that necessarily a good thing, or sour grapes from a disgruntled citizenry?
Such sentiments and questions are being raised in three towns in Sussex County -- Sparta, Frankford and Stillwater -- where recall petitions against municipal officials have been under way.
It's too early to know for sure, but it looks like Stillwater and Frankford may have recall elections on the Nov. 4 ballot, but Sparta won't.
In Sparta, recall petitions against Mayor Brian Brady and councilmen Michael Spekhardt and Manny Goldberg are falling short of garnering the 3,125 signatures needed per petition, said Jesse Wolosky, the recall organizer there. The deadlines for petitions to be submitted in Sparta are Tuesday for the one against Spekhardt, and Aug. 19 for the ones against Brady and Goldberg.
"We will not be submitting a petition on the 12th or the 19th. We did not make our numbers," said Wolosky, who would not disclose how far short they fell.
Wolosky, who earlier this year engineered three other petitions against ordinances in Sparta and helped Stillwater and Frankford petitioners, cited "petition fatigue" as one reason for the recall failures in his town. He said his group has had no trouble obtaining several-hundred signatures needed to oppose ordinances, but a recall requires a much-higher threshold of 25 percent of registered voters.
"I don't think it's petition-fatigue at all," Brady said. "I stand by the fact that the council keeps the entire township in mind and we do what we think is right."
Recalls are allowed under a 1995 law that only recently has begun to be employed as a grassroots political tool throughout the state. Recall petitions are the most difficult petitions to achieve, as petitions need signatures from at least 25 percent of a town's registered voters. There also are limits on who can be recalled; officials in their first year or six months away from the end of a term can't be recalled. Residents also simultaneously choose a replacement if a recall passes, and the recall target can also be a replacement candidate.
Earlier this year, Hardyston had the first recall in Sussex County, in the April 15 school election, when former school board president Marbeth Boffa was recalled and replaced.
In Stillwater, petitions to recall Township Committeeman Al Fuoco needed 707 signatures and were submitted on Aug. 1 with 855 signatures. Last week, the municipal clerk determined there are enough valid signatures, and Fuoco now has until Aug. 19 to challenge any of them. If there still are enough after that, a recall election would occur on Nov. 4.
"This is a ruse for a political vendetta," Fuoco said. "There's a lot of personal animosity going back four or five years."
Carol Fredericks, one of the Stillwater recall organizers, disagreed and cited Fuoco's vote against gypsy-moth spraying as a catalyst for the recall drive.
"The will of the people wasn't done. We decided enough is enough," Fredericks said. "It's not a personal vendetta. Politicians have to be accountable."
Frankford residents targeted Mayor Robert McDowell for recall after the township committee restricted some commercial development along part of Route 206. They need 947 signatures for a recall election, and petitions have not yet been submitted.
Rich Wingle, one of the recall organizers in Frankford, said of McDowell: "He's against business and doesn't listen to residents. It's a pretty strong (recall) movement in town. I've been here 35 years and never seen anything like it."
McDowell, who said he's "hearing a lot of strong support against the recall," said he's not anti-business, but rather following state procedures to gain Trenton's approval for a town center. "You have to do certain things, pass ordinances. We did that and now we're getting a little backlash over it."
While acknowledging that recall organizers are exercising their rights, the officials each expressed concern with how laws do not require petitions to contain any reasons for a recall. They feel recalls should be reserved for corruption or malfeasance, and not over political feuds or disagreements about decisions.
"I believe what they're doing (in Stillwater) is an abuse of the recall process," Fuoco said. "There's no basis for a recall, no malfeasance. It's the way people who are angry and can't get their way at the ballot box go about it now."
McDowell said, "I'm really concerned about where this recall thing (in Frankford) is going to go. If this is the nature of what recalls are about, why would people run for office in the future?"
Brady, who plans to fight for a change in the law to require a reason stated on a recall petition, said, "I feel for anybody who becomes subject of a recall without cause, for doing nothing more than what you were put in office to do."
Petition organizers note they adhered to the recall law, and also set up web sites or issued letters, mailers or word-of-mouth information stating various reasons for recalls.
"We live in a democracy," Fredericks said. "You can't fight city hall? I think that's changing."
20080516
Recall petition filed in Stillwater
May 15, 2008
By BRUCE A. SCRUTON
STILLWATER — A committee to recall two-term township committeeman Al Fuoco has filed a letter of intent with the township clerk and expects to circulate petitions seeking a November vote — apparently because of the gypsy moth.
The notice of intent, which was accepted on Wednesday, is signed by Carol Fredericks, Marion Gross and Dania C. Bodensieck, but doesn't specify any reasons for the recall.
In a news release sent out late Wednesday, the women said, "There are numerous reasons for the recall of Alfred Fuoco," and said one area is "lack of fiscal responsibility."
The release then cites the burgeoning problem with gypsy moth caterpillars and the recent "health issue" of people developing rashes from contact with the emerging caterpillars.
Fuoco said he believes in the recall process, "but I always thought it should be used for things that are unethical or immoral, not just because you disagree on one issue."
Stillwater is on the cusp of the gypsy moth caterpillar invasion in Sussex County, and Fuoco was the only dissenting vote last month when it came time to approve paying for aerial spraying of part of town. The total cost of the spraying will be nearly $130,000, but the town is expecting about $30,000 in subsidies from a federal program.
Stillwater now becomes the third town government to find someone on the governing body subject to a recall petition. In fact, three people on Sparta's Township Council — Mayor Michael Spekhardt, Deputy Mayor Brian Brady and Councilman Manny Goldberg — are subject to recall petitions.
Frankford Mayor Robert McDowell is also the subject of a recall petition in that town.
Earlier this year, a successful recall ended the term of Hardyston school board member Marbeth Boffa, who had been board president.
The Boffa recall was just the second school board member in state history to be successful and points to the difficult, and technical, road that must be followed.
Even in filing the notice in Stillwater, the three women made a mistake, and their initial letter was rejected by Municipal Clerk Susan Best. She did accept the second attempt on Wednesday.
Now the recall committee must put together the petition and have that accepted before it can seek signatures.
"It's very technical," said Best. "The Legislature, while making recalls possible, also made it difficult so it wouldn't happen every day. They even specify what size paper the petition must be on."
In order to gain a spot on a ballot, the petition must be signed by 25 percent of the eligible voters in the last general election, which in Stillwater's case amounts to 700 people. And they all are people who were registered to vote in that election, not people who have since registered, Best said.
The petitions must gather the required number of signatures within 160 days.
In this case, the committee has stipulated that should they get enough names, they are requesting the vote be held on Nov. 4, during the general election, and not at a special election. The cost of the recall vote to the town would be minimal.
While the press release said there are "numerous reasons," Fredericks said the gypsy moth issue is "first and foremost. He was put in office to do the will of the people and he didn't. That's part of the fiscal irresponsibility. They should have been putting money aside to pay for this."
Fuoco, whose second term expires at the end of 2009, said it's an open secret that he won't be seeking reelection next year.
"I've given good service to the town," he said, then added he believes the move is "strictly political," and notes that one of the women, Marion Gross, is wife of a political foe, Charles Gross.
"Charlie Gross is behind it," Fuoco said. "It's got him written all over it."
Gross lost to Fuoco when he ran for Township Committee for his first term in 2003. Gross served 18 years on the committee himself, including five years as mayor.
Gross said "I'm not the guy who started it," but added: "I do hope he's recalled. I'd do anything to get him out of office."
By BRUCE A. SCRUTON
STILLWATER — A committee to recall two-term township committeeman Al Fuoco has filed a letter of intent with the township clerk and expects to circulate petitions seeking a November vote — apparently because of the gypsy moth.
The notice of intent, which was accepted on Wednesday, is signed by Carol Fredericks, Marion Gross and Dania C. Bodensieck, but doesn't specify any reasons for the recall.
In a news release sent out late Wednesday, the women said, "There are numerous reasons for the recall of Alfred Fuoco," and said one area is "lack of fiscal responsibility."
The release then cites the burgeoning problem with gypsy moth caterpillars and the recent "health issue" of people developing rashes from contact with the emerging caterpillars.
Fuoco said he believes in the recall process, "but I always thought it should be used for things that are unethical or immoral, not just because you disagree on one issue."
Stillwater is on the cusp of the gypsy moth caterpillar invasion in Sussex County, and Fuoco was the only dissenting vote last month when it came time to approve paying for aerial spraying of part of town. The total cost of the spraying will be nearly $130,000, but the town is expecting about $30,000 in subsidies from a federal program.
Stillwater now becomes the third town government to find someone on the governing body subject to a recall petition. In fact, three people on Sparta's Township Council — Mayor Michael Spekhardt, Deputy Mayor Brian Brady and Councilman Manny Goldberg — are subject to recall petitions.
Frankford Mayor Robert McDowell is also the subject of a recall petition in that town.
Earlier this year, a successful recall ended the term of Hardyston school board member Marbeth Boffa, who had been board president.
The Boffa recall was just the second school board member in state history to be successful and points to the difficult, and technical, road that must be followed.
Even in filing the notice in Stillwater, the three women made a mistake, and their initial letter was rejected by Municipal Clerk Susan Best. She did accept the second attempt on Wednesday.
Now the recall committee must put together the petition and have that accepted before it can seek signatures.
"It's very technical," said Best. "The Legislature, while making recalls possible, also made it difficult so it wouldn't happen every day. They even specify what size paper the petition must be on."
In order to gain a spot on a ballot, the petition must be signed by 25 percent of the eligible voters in the last general election, which in Stillwater's case amounts to 700 people. And they all are people who were registered to vote in that election, not people who have since registered, Best said.
The petitions must gather the required number of signatures within 160 days.
In this case, the committee has stipulated that should they get enough names, they are requesting the vote be held on Nov. 4, during the general election, and not at a special election. The cost of the recall vote to the town would be minimal.
While the press release said there are "numerous reasons," Fredericks said the gypsy moth issue is "first and foremost. He was put in office to do the will of the people and he didn't. That's part of the fiscal irresponsibility. They should have been putting money aside to pay for this."
Fuoco, whose second term expires at the end of 2009, said it's an open secret that he won't be seeking reelection next year.
"I've given good service to the town," he said, then added he believes the move is "strictly political," and notes that one of the women, Marion Gross, is wife of a political foe, Charles Gross.
"Charlie Gross is behind it," Fuoco said. "It's got him written all over it."
Gross lost to Fuoco when he ran for Township Committee for his first term in 2003. Gross served 18 years on the committee himself, including five years as mayor.
Gross said "I'm not the guy who started it," but added: "I do hope he's recalled. I'd do anything to get him out of office."
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