Man Behind Holmdel Attack Ads Was Himself Censured While On Woodbridge School Board

HOLMDEL, NJ — Holmdel election season is nearing a fever pitch: You've seen the yard signs, emails and fliers — not to mention the Facebook posts — as Mayor Greg Buontempo, Rocco Pascucci and Dennis Pavlik battle it out for the Republican nomination to run for the two open seats on the Holmdel Township Committee. Pavlik is trying for an upset against Pascucci and Buontempo, pictured above, who are running with the support of the Holmdel Republican Party.

However, the man who quietly serves as the communications arm of the Holmdel Republican Party —and who has been orchestrating some of the most stinging attack ads against Pavlik for being censured by the state — was himself in hot water with the same state commission nearly 20 years ago, Patch has learned.

Thomas Scarano is a name well known in Holmdel: He's the former Holmdel Republican party chairman, sits on the Zoning Board and is very active in Holmdel Republican politics. He is currently the party's treasurer and administrator of its Facebook page. It's Scarano who launched emails and posts on that Facebook page (including one as recent as today) criticizing Pavlik for being censured by the state School Ethics Commission last spring.

Yet Scarano himself was censured by that same School Ethics Commission 19 years ago when he served on the Woodbridge board of education.

In 1998, Scarano was censured when he lived in Woodbridge and served on its school board there. In this public decision released by the state, Scarano and another school board member were accused of negotiating the teachers' contract while their family members worked for the Woodbridge school district. In Scarano's case, his brother and then-fiance (who later became his wife) worked as teachers for the school district and were part of the teachers' union. The commission found that Scarano violated the school ethics act. He and the other Board member were the only two members who served on the contract negotiating team. The state sanctioned them for a conflict of interest.

As Patch reported last June, Pavlik was censured by that same state School Ethics Commission last year, along with Ana Vander Woude when they both sat on the Holmdel Board of Ed. They were censured for improperly bringing up an issue in a public forum (at a Board of Ed. meeting) regarding a Holmdel school employee who worked simultaneously in another school district.

When contacted by Patch, Mayor Buontempo and Scarano deferred all questions to Marcy McMullen, chairwoman of the Holmdel Republican County Committee. She maintained that Scarano is a private citizen.

"Dennis Pavlik was a public official who was censured by a New Jersey Administrative Law Judge. He is running again for public office, therefore, is vulnerable to criticism," said McMullen. "As for Mr. Scarano, he is not running for election, and should not be the object of anyone's attention in this election. Mr. Pavlik and his campaign team are merely creating a distraction from the real issue, one of public trust."

Pavlik declined to comment for this article.

Vander Woude spoke to Patch and said she wished the Holmdel Republican Party would leave her out of its negative campaigning.

"I'm no longer on the Board of Education, I'm not running for Township Committee," she said. "I am a private citizen and I keep seeing my name dragged into this. It's not right. I really feel they should focus on why the people of Holmdel should be voting for them."

The primary is Tuesday, June 6; Larry Luttrell and Barbara Singer are running as Democrats.