Township Republicans Claim Victory, Challenger Says 'Wait'
As of Tuesday night, 350 votes separated GOP incumbent Bruce Sisler from Democrat challenger Ron Goldberg.
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In Morris Township, at least one sitting committeeman will retain his place on the dais. Both Republicans and Democrats seemed to agree on that.
As for the second seat available, that one was not quite so cut and dried by the end of Election Night.
While Republican H. Scott Rosenbush will enter his 17th year as a Morris Township committeeman having clearly taken the most votes with 5,903, his running mate and fellow GOP member Bruce Sisler was separated by Democrat and former committeeman Ron Goldberg by only 350 votes, 5,387 to 5,037. Fellow Democrat Judy Stein, who stepped in for the ticket after Lori Robinson dropped out earlier this year, garnered 4,917 votes.
Still the Republicans felt comfortable enough with Sisler's lead over at the county GOP party at The Side Bar to declare him the winner of a second three-year term.
"We feel it's probably too large a lead to overcome," Rosenbush said. "Bruce and I are both grateful. I'm blessed, I'm honored to work on behalf of the residents of Morris Township."
Sisler, currently serving as Deputy Mayor in the township, said issues such as township-provided services weighed heavily on voter decision to return the two committeemen. He noted there had been a period when the campaign had become "sidetracked," citing the Honeywell issue. That ultimately led to the Republican-majority committee approving the company to rezone its 147-acre property to allow for development.
Sisler, in particular, had made headlines as the issue played out, calling a vocal opponent of the rezoning late at night. He later apologized.
Meanwhile, across the street at Morris County Democratic Committee Headquarters, Goldberg—who sat on the committee from 2008 through 2010—said provisional ballots could turn the tide in his favor. He said he believed at least 200 of those votes were for his election, leaving only a margin of 150 between he and Sisler.
"I think it means there's an election on for a couple more weeks," he said. "I think it's amazing how close we have come. A 150-vote difference out of 6,000 votes."
If the margin continues to shrink after all votes are counted, Goldberg did not rule out challenging the ruling in court. "I'm not ruling anything out at this point," he said.
It was a much more easily decided election night over in Morris Plains. There, a pair of unopposed Republican incumbents, Joseph Cecala Jr. and Laurie Fu, received 1,893 and 1,862 votes, respectively.
In This article
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The Side Bar
14 Washington St, Morristown, NJ (An extension of The Famished Frog) -
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Morris County Democratic Committee
11 Washington St, Morristown, NJ -
CSS
3:04 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
I know of at least two more votes not yet counted. This is why the board of elections needs to make sure they've got their act together before Friday's deadline for displaced voters.
Sorry, 17 years is simply too long.
I also love how these people are oblivious to the fact that in the midst of this mess (which they do bear some responsibility for) that some of their constituents did not vote in the township polling place today. So in touch...
Rob Burke
6:23 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
@john dunphy: FYI, your article is misleading. Sisler didn't just call a resident late at night. He interfered with a matter pending before the body politic upon which he sits. And he cursed and intimidated at 1 am. Neither did he apologize to the resident. Sisler merely released a written statement to the media and apologized for the late hour of the call.
But I digress. We will be able to delve far more deeply into this despicable sisler behavior when we he to court to disqualify his vote precisely because of his bad behavior.
Ready or not, here we come...
Rob Burke
6:24 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
PS -- I know of three more votes for Mr. goldberg.
lillie
7:05 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Guess they are to busy partying to get my power back. Maybe I should call him at 1 am and call him names and bitch him out. Oh but wiat, then id get arrested! 5 more voted from my house.....
ldb
7:29 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Blah,blah blah...do you ever run out of things to say. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's sick of your constant complaining! Instead of complaining and criticizing all the time, why don't you step away from your computer and do something positive for the community! You are constantly so hyper focused on Bruce Sisler. Seriously, get a life, move on!!!!
Rob Burke
2:39 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Moving on to court. Stay tuned. You're gonna get to see what the new jersey courts have to say about Sisler's behavior, and then you can anonymously hate on them.
Martatown
7:51 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Yeah rob has a personal vendetta against Sisler it seems. Sisler must have stole Rob's milk money in kindergarten or something. Rob will just file a lawsuit or take his ball and go home.
If you don't get your way file a lawsuit...right Rob? Maybe somehow you can make some more money by filing a lawsuit against a different town this time!!
Go aheah Rob spout some more...you can't help yourself can you?
Rob Burke
2:39 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
You are correct. I do take Sisler's illegal, threatening behavior personally. Official misconduct is a crime.
Kenny J.
9:45 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The more distressing part of the "Honeywell issue" isn't so much the rezoning of the property it sits on, but why are the taxpayers footing the bill for 40 million dollars of corporate welfare for a corporation valued at 38 billion dollars. Somehow this fails to be mentioned every time in these Patch articles, and the incumbents are always hush hush about it.
Laura
2:56 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Thanks to the Mayor and the Commitee, our neighborhood has become the "forgotten" neighborhood. Harter Road, Carton, Manette, Windsor, Ironwood, Frederick and all surrounding streets and all of the Springbrook section are still without power for the past 9 days and 9 nights and not a single utility truck in the Springbrook area where a lot of lines are down and/or wrapped around trees. I'm sure the Mayor and the Committee have homes to go to that have heat, lights, tv, etc. Just wait u ntil the next elections--I have written down all the names and will be sure not to vote for incumbents because they are incompetent. Thanks for nothing, Mr. Mayor!
Mary
11:24 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Our neighborhood, which happens to be home of a Township Committee member is in the same situation as your neighborhood. They are doing their best to work with JCP&L to get power restored to everybody in the Township.
Martatown
6:06 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
How many times did your cat and dog vote Rob? I hope just once each!