Brick School Board Members Fined Over Late Election Filings

BRICK, NJ — Two current and two former members of the Brick Township Board of Education have paid fines to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission over 2015 campaign reports that were not filed on time.

Stephanie Wohlrab, the board president, and board member Victoria Pakala, along with George White and John Lamela, who won election to the Brick school board in 2015, have been reprimanded and paid fines of $144 each plus joint fines of $144 and $506.78, for the late campaign finance filings, according to the commission's decision issued June 16 (you can read it below).

Wohlrab, Pakala, Lamela and White ran together on the Clean Slate for Brick BOE in 2015. Joseph Nezgoda, Pakala's husband, was the campaign treasurer. In June 2019, a seven-count complaint was filed against the group, alleging campaign contributions exceeding $300 were not reported as required, and that campaign reports were not filed on time.

The commission's decision, issued June 16, dismissed issued a ruling fining the group because the reports were filed late and dismissing counts against Wohlrab, Pakala, Lamela and White of not properly reporting campaign contributions of more than $300, which stemmed from $750 deposits into each of their accounts.

• "The Commission finds on Count Four that the $750.00 deposited into the Lamela campaign account was multiple contributions of $300.00 or less, not a single contribution of $750.00.
• "The Commission finds on Count Five that the $750.00 deposited into the Pakala campaign account was multiple contributions of $300.00 or less, not a single contribution of $750.00.
• "The Commission finds on Count Six that the $750.00 deposited into the Wohlrab campaign account was multiple contributions of $300.00 or less, not a single contribution of $750.00.
• "The Commission finds on Count Seven that the $750.00 deposited into the White campaign account was multiple contributions of $300.00 or less, not a single contribution of $750.00," the commission's decision said.

The group was reprimanded and fined for the failure to file paperwork on time. The documents were filed July 15, 2019, 1,330 days late, the commission said.

"Our treasurer was inexperienced and made a mistake," Wohlrab said Tuesday, reiterating what she said about the issue in 2019. Wohlrab said some of the requested documents had been completed by Nezgoda but never filed. They were filed with the package submitted in July 2019.

"As candidates, we take responsibility," Wohlrab said. "We cannot turn back the clock. We reviewed and provided all required filings/documents to ELEC to resolve the late filing issue."

The matter became a campaign issue in July 2019, when Allan Cartine, who was managing the Republican campaigns in Brick last year, stepped to the microphone at a school board meeting and accused the group of "serious" campaign violations. But the issue fizzled as election season went on, in part because neither Wohlrab nor Pakala were up for election; the two had been re-elected to three-year terms on the board in 2018.

Wohlrab at the time said she was aware of the complaint and had been speaking with officials at ELEC to resolve the matter before Cartine spoke at the school board meeting.

The commission fined each of the candiates $180, a joint penalty of $180, and fined the group including the treasurer $633.47. The fines were paid in full prior to the final decision, the commission said, and reduced the penalties to $144 each, plus $144 for the joint penalty against the candidates, and to $506.78 for the candidates and treasurer, according to the decision, which is posted below.

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