{"id":16731,"date":"2020-07-21T03:15:09","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T07:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=16731"},"modified":"2020-07-21T03:16:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T07:16:43","slug":"brick-school-board-members-fined-reprimanded-after-panel-confirms-campaign-finance-violations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2020\/07\/brick-school-board-members-fined-reprimanded-after-panel-confirms-campaign-finance-violations\/","title":{"rendered":"Brick School Board Members Fined, Reprimanded After Panel Confirms Campaign Finance Violations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Victoria<\/a>

Victoria Pakala (from left), Stephanie Wohlrab, John Lamela and George White<\/p><\/div>\n

A group of current and former members of the Brick Township Board of Education have been reprimanded and fined by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission after they mishandled campaign finance reporting.<\/p>\n

The board, commonly referred to by its acronym ELEC, decided the case against the former \u201cClean Slate Team\u201d ticket of school board members last month and published it recently.<\/p>\n

The charges \u2013 which are administrative, not criminal \u2013 were levied against the board members, supported by the Democratic party in the technically non-partisan election, in 2015. Stephanie Wohlrab, the current board president, current board member Victoria Pakala, and former members John Lamela and George White were the subject of the complaint. Joseph Nezgoda, Pakala\u2019s husband who served the ticket\u2019s treasurer, was also charged.<\/p>\n

The commission upheld charges<\/a> that the group filed fundraising statements late and that multiple small contributions to their campaign were mislabeled as single, larger contributions that appeared as if they were transferred from one campaign account to another. The commission dismissed three accounts that alleged the group failed to provide detailed reports of donations above $300, as required by state law. Allegations of improprieties<\/a> following the team\u2019s election in 2015, which resulted in a new board majority that immediately canceled contracts and terminated numerous district officials<\/a>, were submitted to numerous state agencies and ultimately investigated by ELEC.<\/p>\n

The commission imposed a joint fine of $1,055.78, plus a $300 individual fine against each member of the group. But citing the fact that the campaign did not receive a reminder notice in the mail about filing obligations as a mitigating factor, the commissioners ultimately reduced the joint penalty to $633.47 and the individual fines to $180 each. The decision went on to state that because the group paid fines before ELEC rendered its final decision on the matter, the penalty was reduced to a joint total of $506.78 and individual penalties of $144.<\/p>\n

The commission also issued a formal reprimand against each of the respondents. The final decision document confirms all members of the group paid their fines in full.<\/p>\n

Wohlrab, a professional campaign fundraiser for Democratic candidates statewide, said \u201cwe cannot turn back the clock\u201d on matter, taking responsibility for the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur treasurer was inexperienced and made a mistake,\u201d she said. \u201cAs candidates, we take responsibility.\u00a0 We cannot turn back the clock.\u00a0 We reviewed and provided all required filings\/documents to ELEC to resolve the late filing issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two seats, occupied by board members Maria Foster and Jessica Clayton \u2013 neither of whom were involved in the 2015 election \u2013 are up for grabs this November. Candidates, including incumbents, have until July 27 to register to run for the Board of Education in the general election.<\/p>\n

Read the Final Decision<\/strong><\/p>\n