Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union
Chief Wyatt Earp
has been unanimously elected Ocean County Democratic
Party Chairman to replace former Chairman Fred Potter.
Corby Dropped Out
Earp's election was assured when Pine Beach Mayor Russell
Corby dropped out of the running for the chairmanship and
endorsed Earp. Earp's photo was not distributed at the meeting
and was not printed in the Observer or the Press.
Potter resigned last week citing an increased workload in his
day job as president of Teamsters Local 469 after a barrage of
public and private criticism alleging serious leadership
flaws.
In his swan song to the newspapers, Potter claimed his tenure
as Democrat county boss was a success, despite sweeping
defeats in three successive elections, including the 2004
election in which Democrat freeholder candidates, who Potter
threw under the bus in a deal with Republican County bosses,
were defeated by the largest margins in Ocean County history.
County Democrat Leadership Has Become
Patronage-Sharers With The GOP
|
Fred
Potter
|
It remains to be seen if Earp, who is also vice president of
the Dover Democrats, can reverse the trend accelerated by
Potter, where the county Democrat leadership has become almost
an adjunct patronage-sharing arm of the powerful Ocean County
Republican organization, one of the most influential GOP
forces in the state.
Earp is known to be close to former Dover Democratic leader
"Doctor" Jack Moriarty, who resigned his leadership positions
in 2003 when Brush held a press conference to accuse Moriarty
of extortion after Moriarty tried to muscle him out of the
mayoral election which Brush eventually won.
Harvey Still Sitting On Moriarty Extortion Charges
Although it seemed to be agreed among the county's legal
fraternity that Moriarty should face criminal charges for the
alleged extortion attempt, the matter was referred to Attorney
General Peter "See No Evil" Harvey, who could not be reached
for comment for the past twenty months, because he has been
attending a series of boxing matches in Atlantic City.
Earp takes office under difficult circumstances following the
withdrawal of two incumbent Brick Democrat council members as
candidates for the 2005 election.
Scarpelli, Kavanagh, Underwood Won't Run In Brick
Another Brick bombshell fell last week as Mayor Joseph
Scarpelli announced he would not run for a fourth term, saying
the Republicans, led by mayoral candidate Stephen Acropolis,
were practicing the "politics of personal destruction."
Hand-Picked Brush Candidates Not Favorites In Dover
And, in Dover, Earp is in a position to know the Democrats
face a difficult year after Brush and the Republican Council
handed residents the biggest spending increase in township
history and a big tax increase after promising to cut spending
and hold the line on taxes.
It is a time-honored axiom that where both parties are to
blame for trashing their mutual campaign promises, the
majority party, in this case incumbent Republicans, with a
registration margin of more than 3600 voters in Dover,
despite serious ethical lapses which have cost taxpayers
dearly, will be
strong favorites to win re-election to four Ward
Council seats.
