| Bill Grippo of Franklin Township in Somerset County was ousted as Democratic municipal chair last night in favor of Planning Board member Roz Sherman by a vote of 52-32. The vote signalled a significant change in the leadership of the Franklin Township Democratic organization, which had fluorished under Bill Grippo in a way that was unmatched by any other Democratic organization in the county. Franklin's Town Council has nine voting members, and with Grippo leading the municipal organization, the Democrats now hold eight of those votes.
If all politics is local, nothing is nastier than local politics. The Democratic committee meeting at which the vote took place was contentious and often bitter, with rumors of a particularly nasty sort being circulated by both sides' supporters. Former State Senator John A. Lynch Jr. was rumored first to be in bed with one side and then the other. These rumors were countered by some especially interesting facts: many of the people who now support Roz Sherman's bid for the municipal chair were former protege's of Bill Grippo. Councilmember Brian Regan (COuncilman-at-large) had been a Republican, but became a Democrat and received Grippo's support in his town council bid. When Councilmember Jim Vassanella (Councilmember, 5th Ward) ran for his seat one year ago, he was not a popular choice with the Democrats in general, but Bill Grippo gave Vassanella his support and Vassanella became the party's choice. Former candidate for County Sheriff Efrem Dato owed his job to Grippo's influence. Regan, Vassanella, and Dato were among Sherman's most visible and influential supporters as she made her push for municipal chair. This was just one source of much of the bitterness, with Grippo supporters expressing their views of what they saw as disloyalty. |
| The alleged bone of contention was that Grippo had too much influence and control, but one Councilmember who was supportive of Grippo dismissed that as ridiculous, saying that her vote is her own and that nobody told her how to cast it.
The last straw, according to the challengers, was the Bennetts-Veronica development, which was added to the township's affordable housing plan last month. Councilmember Theresea Danile (2nd Ward) addressed the meeting and stated that the statements being made about the Bennets-Veronica development were incorrect, that the township had to have a plan passed immediately or a judge would throw the entire township open to development at the whims of the builders, so that if the plan, with Bennetts-Veronica included, was not passed, then the feared overdevelopment would be inevitable. In other words, some development had to be accepted in order to avoid having builders take control of the township's development entirely. Residents complained that the Bennetts-Veronica development, which was just one part of the plan, would increase traffic, endanger the environment, and degrade their community.
A number of committee persons addressed the meeting, with several calling for unity in the face of the deep divisions that now threaten the local party organization and its dominance over municipal government. A number of speakers stated that the division within the party would lead to Republicans gaining strength in the community.
A curious side story is the accusation that some members of the party are more insidious than mere DINOs (Democrats in Name Only), and are actually Republicans seeking to destroy the party from within. Phil Kramer a member of the group that opposed Grippo, is a former Republican and runs a web site for something called Taxpayers United in Franklin Township. Taxpayers United in Franklin Township frequently supports Republican candidates and its web site has been the source of some of the nastiest claims, one of which led to an investigation of Councilmember Ellen Ritchie for allegedly threatening the political career of planning board member of Michael Orsini. If you go to the Taxpayers United for Franklin Township web site and read and watch all of the supporting documentation for the allegations against Councilmember Ritchie, you find the allegations to be the sort of misrepresented material that ruins reputations over nothing. Her alleged "admission" of her "threatening remark" is no more than an angry remark over what she saw as betrayal and dishonesty and hardly dangerous. The tell-tale sign that this is much ado about nothing is that, whenever Kramer or others quote what Ritchie is alleged to have said, they leaves out portions of the remark to which Councilmember "admitted". The parts he leaves out provide exactly the sort of context that clarify the entire situation. An honest attempt to inform would not leave out those portions of her remarks. The nature of the campaign against both Grippo and Ritchie gives some support to the claims that there really are DINOs roaming Franklin Township. |
