Cook & Atkinson for Burlington County Freeholder

For Immediate Release

October 19, 2006

Contact: Chris Fifis (609) 206-1678

Cook and Atkinson to Burlington GOP: DON’T REAPPOINT DeMARCO
Burlco Dem Freeholder candidates call on Farias, Wujcik, and Haines to replace DeMarco when term expires later this month

(Mount Laurel, NJ) – Democratic Freeholder candidates Gail Cook and Sharon Atkinson issued the following statement today calling on Republican Freeholders James Wujcik, Vince Farias, and Bill Haines to replace Garfield DeMarco on the Burlington County Bridge Commission when DeMarco’s term expires later this year.

“We are calling on Freeholders Haines, Wujcik, and Farias not to reappoint Garfield DeMarco to the Burlington County Bridge Commission because it has become a cesspool for corruption and cronyism under his tenure.

“By giving a no-show job to Republican Senator Martha Bark, DeMarco’s cronyism speaks for itself. He has had way too many personal conflicts of interest, and acted as the triggerman for the GOP for far too long. It’s time to replace him when his term expires later this month.

“We need to inject fresh blood into the Bridge Commission and replace DeMarco with someone who has the highest level of integrity and ethics standards. Freeholders Wujcik, Haines, and Farias have refused to accept any responsibility for Garfield DeMarco’s unethical and questionable conduct on the Bridge Commission over the last few years. Now it’s time for them to stand up, accept responsibility and say enough is enough.

Atkinson and Cook pointed to DeMarco’s record of cronyism, unethical behavior, and excessive abstentions as a result of his conflicts of interest as reasons for replacing him.
• In November 2005, DeMarco abstained from voting to appoint Capehart Scatchard solicitor, Commerce National Insurance the commission’s broker and Government Strategies the public relations consultant.
o DeMarco abstained on those votes because of personal or business connections. (Courier-Post, 11/10/05)
• During the Whitman Administration, DeMarco, gave land to the state to avoid paying $600,000 in fines for expanding his cranberry company's operations into protected wetlands. The state inspector general said the agreement had the appearance of "a sweet deal."
o DeMarco is a major GOP donor. (Associated Press, 12/22/00)

• Courier-Post: The Burlington County Republican Committee received donations from 13 of the 15 people or firms that received the most money through no-bid contracts from the Bridge Commission.
o In 2004, the Courier-Post analyzed two years of no-bid contracts and donations. The recipients of the remaining two contracts in the "top 15� did not contribute to the GOP. They are companies headed by prominent Democrats.
o "We pick the very best people we can find to do the jobs,� said DeMarco, the commission chairman since 1986. (Courier-Post, 9/20/04)

• Opponents of building Seneca High School long have suggested that DeMarco, who funded a multimillion dollar campaign to build the fund, stood to gain financially because having a new school nearby his vast property holdings would increase the value of that property, most of which stretches across Woodland.
o DeMarco owns or helps control about 75 acres in the last buildable areas of Chatsworth, a village that serves as Woodland's center, and in other small pockets of the township, a Courier-Post analysis of property records found. DeMarco helped engineer Woodland's entry into the Lenape district in 1996. A year later, he created a political action committee to lobby voters in the Lenape district's eight towns to approve a $68.7 million bond referendum to build Seneca and expand Cherokee High School in Evesham. (Courier-Post, 6/11/02)

Atkinson and Cook also said they believe the Freeholder Board should have the power to veto Bridge Commission minutes and agenda for the best interest of taxpayers and toll-payers.

“The Bridge Commission has the authority to recklessly spend taxpayer dollars without any accountability. It is time for the Freeholders to accept direct accountability and oversight of the Bridge Commission,� they concluded.

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