Our slogan is??Do more than vote!???? Last?Saturday, Barbara Brown of Absecon and Vikki DeFilippo of Brigantine did that?and became?candidates for two Atlantic County freeholder seats in June 3 primary election.
They are running as Republicans?against two current?Republican freeholders,? John Risley and Alex Marino.? A third freeholder seat for Atlantic County?District 3 that covers Egg Harbor Twp./Hamilton Twp. (Mays Landing) is also up for election.
The nine freeholders in Atlantic County?have very limited duties.? They?approve budgets, borrow money, create and dissolve county agencies like the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA), Atlantic County Improvement Authority (ACIA) two county-wide schools, etc.???? They do not hire, fire, or supervise departments and employees as in most counties.?? In Atlantic County, that is done by a? County Executive–now?Republican Dennis Levinson.
The Democratic Party also has a Primary Election June 3 to pick its candidates.?? The winners of the Republican Primary will run against the winners of the Democratic Primary in the??General Election? on November 4.?? Greens, Libertarians, Conservatives, Constitution Party,etc do NOT have primary elections.
At last three Saturday breakfasts, we talked a lot about how Atlantic County freeholders–?Republicans and Democrats–?lobbied?state BPU (Board of Public Utilities) for even higher electric bills to pay for new wind turbines in the ocean.?? There was a lot of anger at ?Republican Freeholder Frank Formica’s?plan to force?county taxpayers to guarantee a billion dollars of new debt to bail out even more ?public private partnerships? like failed Revel Casino, Atlantic City baseball stadium, etc.
(Formica Brothers Bakery in Atlantic City was just approved for $2.24 million loan from the ?NJ Economic Development Authority for inventory and operating expenses..?? The loan has zero interest, with no principal payments for 24 months.??? Formica Brothers Bakery also got a $50,000 gift that does not?get paid back at all.)
In the past,?Republican Freeholders Jim Curcio and Joe McDevitt publicly opposed these things.?? But Curcio left freeholders to become Surrogate.???McDevitt was removed by Republican leaders in last year?s June Primary election.? He was replaced with? Will Pauls, a former Democrat and paid business agent of Steve Sweeney?s Ironworker?s Union who ran as a Republican.??Now, there is no freeholder opposition to these things.
?Liberty and Prosperity?as an organization?cannot and does not endorse or support any candidates!?But we do and can teach?why it is important to?understand and be active in politics.
Liberty (limited government, low taxes, laws applied equally to everyone) brings prosperity wherever it exists.???But we can only?enjoy liberty, when we elect?officials who understand and respect the Constitution,? apply all laws and taxes equally to everyone, and let each of us free to make the most important choices that affect our own lives.
We teach that when a handful of insiders pick all the candidates for both Republicans and Democrats, we end up with officials who use their power to pay back their friends rather than equally protect liberty for everyone–unless we “do more than vote”!
What’s the point of voting for either Republicans or Democrats in November if the handpicked candidates for each party run unopposed in June–because we did nothing to help good candidates get on the ballot in March?
The local newspapers and TV often report falsely that Republicans and Democrats pick their candidates at county conventions or local Republican or Democratic Club meetings.????They often fail to mention that more than 100 years ago, NJ law was changed to pick candidates through government-supervised,?secret ballot primary elections in June.?? That is ?because club meetings and county conventions were rigged back then–as they often are today.
To be a Republican or Democratic candidate, you do NOT have be a member of or pay dues to any political club, or go to any party convention.??? You just?fill out a form declaring that?you are a voter who chooses that?party, and get a?nominating petition signed by at least 100 voters who also chose that?party or who are ??independents? not registered with any party.?? All nominating petitions?must be filed with the County Clerk by Monday, March 31.?? You can switch to sign a petition and vote in a different party on?June 3 by sending a written request to the County Election Office by April 8.?? The form is at http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/form_pdf/party-affiliation-form-062011.pdf.
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If you want to help Barbara Brown or Vikki Defilippo get the 100 signatures they need to get on the ballot, please contact them at britishconnection@msn.com or (609) 703-5274.
Connie Hare Murray also announced last week that she is running for freeholder as a conservative in the June 3 Republican Primary in Burlington County.?? If you want to help her get 100 signatures in Burlington County, please email her?at conni@lonegan2014.com.
If you or anyone you support wants to reach the 1700 people on our email list for help in circulating nominating petitions and getting on the June 3 Primary Election ballot by March 31, please contact us at info@libertyandprosperity.org or (609) 927-7333.? We will be happy to give you or your candidate the same opportunity we just gave Barbara Btrown, Vikki Defilippo, and Connie Hare Murray.
If you want to file a petition to run for any local office or “county committee”, the organizations that run the Republican and Democratic parties in?your community,?contact your local city, town, township, or borough clerk.
Our purpose is not to help any particular candidate,?but to teach every citizen how primary elections work, and why they are so important.?? Only about 10% of voters take part in primary elections.? Your vote has ten times more power in June than in November!