Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-May 13, 2009 Issue

May 13, 2009 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 Frankin Lakes All Republican council candidates denied party line by Frank J. McMahon None of the four candidates in the June 2 Republican primary election for the two available seats on the Franklin Lakes Council will be on the Bergen County Republican Organization ballot line headed by gubernatorial hopeful Chris Christie unless an appellate court rules otherwise. Two of the local candidates, incumbent Councilman Brian Trava and his running mate Tom Murphy, are supported by Mayor Maura DeNicola and the borough’s Republican Forum. Republican challengers William Smith and Frank Bivona have been endorsed by the borough’s Republican Club. Both sets of candidates are vying for placement on the BCRO ballot line because many voters cast ballots straight down the party line. While the candidates and their attorneys were going to court to ﬁght to be on the BCRO line, Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan removed all their names from the BCRO line and placed Smith and Bivona on the fourth line on the ballot and Trava and Murphy on the ﬁfth line before the absentee ballots went out in the mail. BCRO Chairman Robert B. Yudin had previously placed Trava and Murphy on the BCRO line on the ballot, but Smith and Bivona went to court with a show cause order seeking to replace them on that line. They claimed that Trava and Murphy did not deserve the county line because they had not ﬁled the proper forms requesting the line after ﬁling their nominating petitions. When Superior Court Judge Robert C. Wilson learned, however, that Donovan had already decided not to place any of the four candidates on the Bergen County Republican line on the ballot, he dismissed the show cause order ﬁled by Smith and Bivona. Yudin and his attorney, Douglas Doyle, who is also the borough attorney for Franklin Lakes, went back to court last week before Judge Wilson to argue that Trava and Murphy should be on the BCRO line. Wilson denied their petition, claiming the absentee ballots had already been mailed. They have now appealed his denial to the Appellate Division of Superior Court. �� Yudin criticized Donovan’s action, saying, “This seems to have been done arbitrarily and capriciously by the county clerk. I think the county clerk’s actions are egregious and outrageous. It was grossly misleading to myself and the two candidates. It’s outrageous.” He also strongly objected to the refusal by the county clerk’s ofﬁce to give him any of the documents related to the ballot and where candidates were being placed on it. Bivona and Smith claim, however, that their case was dismissed only after it was learned that the county clerk’s ofﬁce decided not to award the county line to either set of candidates. “We are happy with this outcome,” Bivona said, “and we view it as a win for Franklin Lakes residents who will have the opportunity to select from a ballot designed by the county clerk according to existing rules, not politicians.” �� Hair Care �� ST 1�� SPRING GALA PERFORMANCE ANNUAL Saturday May 30th, 1:00 PM & 7:00 PM At Berrie Center for the Arts, Ramapo College. ��