Vince Farias

For Immediate Release

October 19, 2006

Contact: Chris Fifis (609) 206-1678

Cook and Atkinson to Burlington GOP: DON’T REAPPOINT DeMARCO
Burlco Dem Freeholder candidates call on Farias, Wujcik, and Haines to replace DeMarco when term expires later this month

(Mount Laurel, NJ) – Democratic Freeholder candidates Gail Cook and Sharon Atkinson issued the following statement today calling on Republican Freeholders James Wujcik, Vince Farias, and Bill Haines to replace Garfield DeMarco on the Burlington County Bridge Commission when DeMarco’s term expires later this year.

“We are calling on Freeholders Haines, Wujcik, and Farias not to reappoint Garfield DeMarco to the Burlington County Bridge Commission because it has become a cesspool for corruption and cronyism under his tenure.

“By giving a no-show job to Republican Senator Martha Bark, DeMarco’s cronyism speaks for itself. He has had way too many personal conflicts of interest, and acted as the triggerman for the GOP for far too long. It’s time to replace him when his term expires later this month.

“We need to inject fresh blood into the Bridge Commission and replace DeMarco with someone who has the highest level of integrity and ethics standards. Freeholders Wujcik, Haines, and Farias have refused to accept any responsibility for Garfield DeMarco’s unethical and questionable conduct on the Bridge Commission over the last few years. Now it’s time for them to stand up, accept responsibility and say enough is enough.

Atkinson and Cook pointed to DeMarco’s record of cronyism, unethical behavior, and excessive abstentions as a result of his conflicts of interest as reasons for replacing him.
• In November 2005, DeMarco abstained from voting to appoint Capehart Scatchard solicitor, Commerce National Insurance the commission’s broker and Government Strategies the public relations consultant.
o DeMarco abstained on those votes because of personal or business connections. (Courier-Post, 11/10/05)
• During the Whitman Administration, DeMarco, gave land to the state to avoid paying $600,000 in fines for expanding his cranberry company's operations into protected wetlands. The state inspector general said the agreement had the appearance of "a sweet deal."
o DeMarco is a major GOP donor. (Associated Press, 12/22/00)

• Courier-Post: The Burlington County Republican Committee received donations from 13 of the 15 people or firms that received the most money through no-bid contracts from the Bridge Commission.
o In 2004, the Courier-Post analyzed two years of no-bid contracts and donations. The recipients of the remaining two contracts in the "top 15� did not contribute to the GOP. They are companies headed by prominent Democrats.
o "We pick the very best people we can find to do the jobs,� said DeMarco, the commission chairman since 1986. (Courier-Post, 9/20/04)

• Opponents of building Seneca High School long have suggested that DeMarco, who funded a multimillion dollar campaign to build the fund, stood to gain financially because having a new school nearby his vast property holdings would increase the value of that property, most of which stretches across Woodland.
o DeMarco owns or helps control about 75 acres in the last buildable areas of Chatsworth, a village that serves as Woodland's center, and in other small pockets of the township, a Courier-Post analysis of property records found. DeMarco helped engineer Woodland's entry into the Lenape district in 1996. A year later, he created a political action committee to lobby voters in the Lenape district's eight towns to approve a $68.7 million bond referendum to build Seneca and expand Cherokee High School in Evesham. (Courier-Post, 6/11/02)

Atkinson and Cook also said they believe the Freeholder Board should have the power to veto Bridge Commission minutes and agenda for the best interest of taxpayers and toll-payers.

“The Bridge Commission has the authority to recklessly spend taxpayer dollars without any accountability. It is time for the Freeholders to accept direct accountability and oversight of the Bridge Commission,� they concluded.

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COOK AND ATKINSON FOR FREEHOLDER
KOTCH FOR SURROGATE

For Immediate Release
Contact: Chris Fifis
(609) 206-1678
October 12, 2006

BILL HAINES - JUST PLAIN WRONG!

Republican Press Release Contains Incorrect Facts, Misinformation and Bad Spelling

(Mt. Laurel, NJ) - Democratic Candidates for Burlington County Surrogate and Freeholder responded today to the error-filled press release issued by incumbent Bill Haines. “Bill Haines demonstrated today why he is unqualified to continue to serve as a freeholder in Burlington County,� noted Sharon Atkinson, Democratic Candidate for Burlington County Freeholder and a current New Hanover Councilwoman. “When you don’t know the difference between New Hanover and North Hanover and you have served for as long as Haines has, then it is time to step aside. This only demonstrates that Bill Haines has no clue when it comes to Burlington County; or, at the very least, his handlers don't.

“Contrary to Haines’ erroneous statement, New Hanover has not increased spending, has not raised taxes and has increased its surplus. This is a cornerstone of fiscal responsibility, something which has escaped Bill Haines.

“Bill Haines’ fiscal record is abysmal:

• Total spending by the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders has increased $78,956,890 (57.97%) since 1996. Over the same period, inflation rose 29.61%.
• The Burlington County property tax levy has increased $56,185,500 (58.54%) since 1995. From 1995-2005, ratables in Burlington County have increased 33.39%.
• Vince Farias, Bill Haines and Jim Wujcik have voted to increase spending by more than the inflation rate each year for the past 6 years.
• In 2004 and 2005, Farias, Haines and Wujcik voted for budgets that increased the property tax levy by a higher rate than the rate of increase in ratables.
• Farias, Haines and Wujcik voted for the 2006 county budget that increased spending by $15.7 million and the property tax levy by 7 percent.
• In 2006, Farias, Haines and Wujcik voted to increase the county-purpose tax rates in 35 of the county’s 40 municipalities.

“In addition, Haines has lorded over one of the most corrupt political machines in the State of New Jersey:
• Republican State Senator Martha Bark, and former Bill Haines colleague, is under criminal investigation for no-show, no-work-product, pension-padding jobs at the Burlington County Bridge Commission and the Burlington County Institute of Technology

• The Burlington County Bridge Commission, which is under the direct supervision of Haines, Wujcik and Farias, hands out no-bid contracts to contributors and insiders such as $2.7 million to Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson’s firm, while receiving no tangible work product in return

• GOP campaign contributors received millions of dollars to work on the Palmyra Nature Cove even though the project could have been completed for only one-third of the cost

• A Burlington County Times analysis during Wujcik’s and Haines’ last campaign showed that they raised $62,200 in direct monetary contributions from 26 professional-service firms or employees of such firms that did business with the county in 2003. The firms won a combined $7.3 million worth of county contracts.
• In their 2004 campaign, Wujcik and Haines generated the bulk of the funds they received�$61,200�from professional-service firms that were awarded $7.3 million worth of county contracts in 2003.
• PMK, an environmental engineering firm, donated $2,500 to Haines in May 2006. On August 24, 2005, the Freeholders awarded a $14,000 contract to PMK for additional environmental investigation of the Conover property in Pemberton Township.
“I have pledged,� explained Atkinson, “and I continue to pledge not to hold dual offices. If I am fortunate enough to be elected to two positions, I will only hold one.�

“To be accused of pension-padding by Vince Farias, the poster child for pension-padding in New Jersey, is laughable,� said George T. Kotch, Democratic Candidate for Surrogate and the only attorney running for the position. “Again, Haines has it wrong. My work in Fieldsboro is not even part of the pension system. As Surrogate, I will dissolve my law practice and work as Surrogate full-time. Will Farias divest himself of his full-time businesses?

“Vince needs to explain why he went to State Senator Martha Bark, the same Martha Bark under criminal investigation for no-show, no-work jobs given to her by individuals directly appointed by Farias, to arrange for a state law to be passed allowing Farias to add the years and salary of his teacher’s pension to that earned by him as a part-time office-holder. Thus, artificially increasing his pension, again at taxpayers’ expense.

“I have performed honorably whenever I have been called upon to serve the public,� noted Kotch. “If elected Surrogate, my pension will increase only slightly. My opponent cannot say the same as he stands to earn a windfall for what he will exploit as a part-time position.�
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COOK AND ATKINSON FOR FREEHOLDER
KOTCH FOR SURROGATE

For Immediate Release
Contact: Chris Fifis
(609) 206-1678
October 12, 2006

BILL HAINES - JUST PLAIN WRONG!

Republican Press Release Contains Incorrect Facts, Misinformation and Bad Spelling

(Mt. Laurel, NJ) - Democratic Candidates for Burlington County Surrogate and Freeholder responded today to the error-filled press release issued by incumbent Bill Haines. “Bill Haines demonstrated today why he is unqualified to continue to serve as a freeholder in Burlington County,� noted Sharon Atkinson, Democratic Candidate for Burlington County Freeholder and a current New Hanover Councilwoman. “When you don’t know the difference between New Hanover and North Hanover and you have served for as long as Haines has, then it is time to step aside. This only demonstrates that Bill Haines has no clue when it comes to Burlington County; or, at the very least, his handlers don't.

“Contrary to Haines’ erroneous statement, New Hanover has not increased spending, has not raised taxes and has increased its surplus. This is a cornerstone of fiscal responsibility, something which has escaped Bill Haines.

“Bill Haines’ fiscal record is abysmal:

• Total spending by the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders has increased $78,956,890 (57.97%) since 1996. Over the same period, inflation rose 29.61%.
• The Burlington County property tax levy has increased $56,185,500 (58.54%) since 1995. From 1995-2005, ratables in Burlington County have increased 33.39%.
• Vince Farias, Bill Haines and Jim Wujcik have voted to increase spending by more than the inflation rate each year for the past 6 years.
• In 2004 and 2005, Farias, Haines and Wujcik voted for budgets that increased the property tax levy by a higher rate than the rate of increase in ratables.
• Farias, Haines and Wujcik voted for the 2006 county budget that increased spending by $15.7 million and the property tax levy by 7 percent.
• In 2006, Farias, Haines and Wujcik voted to increase the county-purpose tax rates in 35 of the county’s 40 municipalities.

“In addition, Haines has lorded over one of the most corrupt political machines in the State of New Jersey:
• Republican State Senator Martha Bark, and former Bill Haines colleague, is under criminal investigation for no-show, no-work-product, pension-padding jobs at the Burlington County Bridge Commission and the Burlington County Institute of Technology

• The Burlington County Bridge Commission, which is under the direct supervision of Haines, Wujcik and Farias, hands out no-bid contracts to contributors and insiders such as $2.7 million to Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson’s firm, while receiving no tangible work product in return

• GOP campaign contributors received millions of dollars to work on the Palmyra Nature Cove even though the project could have been completed for only one-third of the cost

• A Burlington County Times analysis during Wujcik’s and Haines’ last campaign showed that they raised $62,200 in direct monetary contributions from 26 professional-service firms or employees of such firms that did business with the county in 2003. The firms won a combined $7.3 million worth of county contracts.
• In their 2004 campaign, Wujcik and Haines generated the bulk of the funds they received�$61,200�from professional-service firms that were awarded $7.3 million worth of county contracts in 2003.
• PMK, an environmental engineering firm, donated $2,500 to Haines in May 2006. On August 24, 2005, the Freeholders awarded a $14,000 contract to PMK for additional environmental investigation of the Conover property in Pemberton Township.
“I have pledged,� explained Atkinson, “and I continue to pledge not to hold dual offices. If I am fortunate enough to be elected to two positions, I will only hold one.�

“To be accused of pension-padding by Vince Farias, the poster child for pension-padding in New Jersey, is laughable,� said George T. Kotch, Democratic Candidate for Surrogate and the only attorney running for the position. “Again, Haines has it wrong. My work in Fieldsboro is not even part of the pension system. As Surrogate, I will dissolve my law practice and work as Surrogate full-time. Will Farias divest himself of his full-time businesses?

“Vince needs to explain why he went to State Senator Martha Bark, the same Martha Bark under criminal investigation for no-show, no-work jobs given to her by individuals directly appointed by Farias, to arrange for a state law to be passed allowing Farias to add the years and salary of his teacher’s pension to that earned by him as a part-time office-holder. Thus, artificially increasing his pension, again at taxpayers’ expense.

“I have performed honorably whenever I have been called upon to serve the public,� noted Kotch. “If elected Surrogate, my pension will increase only slightly. My opponent cannot say the same as he stands to earn a windfall for what he will exploit as a part-time position.�
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FREEHOLDER VINCE FARIAS KICKS OFF
HIS CAMPAIGN FOR SURROGATE,
PLEDGING TO EXPAND SERVICES