West Wildwood Mayor Calls On Commissioner to Merge Recalls

WEST WILDWOOD — Commissioner Scott Golden has been ordered to stand for a recall vote by Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten, according to a release by Mayor Herbert Frederick.
On Fri., Oct. 8, Borough Clerk James Nanos was directed by the Court to move forward with the validation of the petitions to recall Golden by way of issuing him a Certificate of Sufficiency, required by the recall act. This action sets in motion the process of adding Golden to the ballot, at a special election, to determine if the voters want to recall him from office.
According to the release, the cost to taxpayers has already mounted to more than $89,000 that has resulted after the recall committees filed petitions calling for a special election for Frederick and Commissioner Gerard McNamara. That election is scheduled for Dec. 7.
Golden’s attorney, Mary D’Arcy-Bittner, stated in court on Friday that even if the court finds for the committee to recall her client, that there is not enough time to place him on the ballot for the Dec. 7 special election.
The reason for the conflict with scheduling Golden for the December election is the direct result of Golden filing to have the recall effort against him declared invalid, Frederick stated. This action delayed the recall effort against him that has caused a delay that now falls short some five days the time line that would allow Golden to get petitions signed if he wanted to run as a candidate in the recall election.
His filing to run for the position of commissioner would only be counted if Golden did, indeed, get a majority vote to recall him, the release stated.
In an effort to keep taxpayers here from having the burden of paying an additional sum of some $20,000 to hold yet another recall election just for, Frederick and McNamara asked Clerk Nanos to contact Commissioner Golden to request a merger of the two elections to save tax dollars. Golden has failed to return the call to Nanos, the release stated.
Golden was reached by telephone Nanos Friday afternoon and replied that he would need to speak with his attorney.
To date Golden has not answered this request that would save taxpayers the further unnecessary expense or burden of yet another special election.
According to the release, the timeline if Golden fails to agree to merge the two elections:
• Golden has the option to resign his office within five days of the time he receives the Certificate of Sufficiency to stand for a recall election. That would eliminate the need for a second special election.
• If Golden fails to resign he would be placed on a special election ballot, most likely in January 2011 at an additional expense of some S20,000 to taxpayers.
• The special recall election for Frederick and McNamara would occur on Dec. 7 at a total cost of more than $89.000 (this cost includes all legal fees, such as the recent Golden hearing and hearing necessary for the recall efforts against Frederick and McNamara).
If Commissioner Golden refused to merge the two elections dates, the total cost to taxpayers for the two elections would be more than $110,000.
According to the release, the timeline if Golden honors the request proposed by Frederick and McNamara would be:
• There would be one special election with all three commissioners on the ballot. This would save the taxpayers the Borough about $20,000 and voters to vote one day rather than two days. (NOTE: This would require approval of the Superior Court)
“I can only hope that Commissioner Golden takes the taxpayers interest into consideration when making this decision to merge elections, saving everyone money and time,” Frederick stated.