For the good of the order
As Election Day nears, Hammonton voters should be aware of a significant mistake affecting over 1,000 vote-by-mail ballots. The Atlantic County Clerk’s Office, led by Joe Giralo, misprinted the names of Hammonton First candidates for Town Council — Sam Rodio, Steve Furgione and Jimmy Matro — by listing them alphabetically instead of in the order submitted by Hammonton First. This violates New Jersey law and raises concerns about fairness in our election process. Coincidentally, this error seems to favor the other candidates, specifically the ones Mr. Giralo is aligned with. It is troubling for everyone who values transparency.
For two decades, Hammonton First has made sure their candidates’ names are presented in a specific order on all signs, mailers and campaign materials, to keep things consistent. Despite repeated efforts by Hammonton First to verify the ballot proofs with the County Clerk’s Office before they were printed and mailed, they failed to provide copies as requested. Even now, the Clerk’s Office refuses to reissue corrected ballots to the affected voters, instead allowing these flawed ballots to stand. While the Clerk’s Office has agreed that this is an error, Mr. Giralo has ignored emails, phone calls and letters addressed to him and has not accepted any responsibility.
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This isn’t just a minor mistake — it’s a matter of fairness and integrity. Every voter deserves to cast a ballot that reflects the true choices before them, and this error undermines that right. It’s also potentially a costly mistake that impacts taxpayers’ money. The bottom line is that since it’s not Mr. Giralo’s money, he doesn’t seem to care, even though it hurts the wallets of the people in his hometown.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to support Sam Rodio, Steve Furgione and Jimmy Matro for Town Council in Column C. These three are leaders who will continue to speak up and stand up for what’s right, especially on critical issues like public safety and maintaining a stable tax base while expanding services for Hammonton residents.
Let’s ensure that our voices are heard and that we have representatives who will stand for what is right and what is best for our town.
Ryan Mayer
Hammonton First Chairperson
Understanding tariffs
Dockworkers’ strike not so easily solved
As regards this “dockworkers strike” in the news, President Biden now refuses to intervene and he will not claim the 1947 Taft-Hartley law applies.
Many people are very, very emotional, and are demanding President Biden intervene immediately, and they seem to feel that President Biden can just snap his fingers and order everyone back to work. That simply is not true.
President Biden can issue an executive order immediately, but not in this type of situation.
Here is the way it happened in 2002, the last time any president tried to intervene under Taft-Hartley.
President Bush, under the law, had to appoint a board of inquiry to see if the work stoppage posed a national emergency. Bush did that quickly, in one day, and the board concluded both sides would not be able to settle “in a reasonable amount of time.”
Bush then needed to have his attorney general file papers in federal court to discuss the matter and ask for an order for an 80-day cooling-off period. That was done very quickly.
But, in a few days, a federal judge only issued a 10-day injunction, and ordered that on Oct. 16, 2002, both sides should be in court to determine if the judge would impose the 80-day cooling-off period allowed under Taft-Hartley.
The matter was settled before Oct. 16, so the 80-day injunction was never issued.
The public needs to know that if President Biden finally chooses to intervene, he must also appoint a board of inquiry, which must issue a report, after which government lawyers must then file papers in federal court.
They then must try to persuade a federal judge to either issue an 80-day injunction or deny the request. Or, like in 2002, that federal judge can find a “creative” middle ground. These steps will take a little time.
Citizens demanding lightning-fast action by President Biden need to know this.
David F. Lipton
Toms River
