Woodbridge Political Ad Appears To Be Missing 'Paid For' Language

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — A Woodbridge resident filed a complaint last Friday with the Middlesex County Prosecutor's office and the New Jersey Attorney General, alleging that a political ad for the council team endorsed by Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac is missing the required "paid for" language.

The man who filed the complaint is Tom Maras, running this fall for Woodbridge school board.

The ad appeared on page 11 of the October edition of Colonia Corner, the local community newspaper owned and published by Debbie Meehan.

Meehan is also the Councilwoman who represents the Colonia section on the Woodbridge town Council. She is one of five current council members running for re-election this fall. They are all Democrats and backed by Woodbridge Mayor McCormac.

They are challenged by Republicans.

The ad in question, pictured above, features all five Democratic Council members running and says "The McCormac Team," and then "Vote Column A on Nov. 2."

However, the ad does not appear to have the language stating who paid for it. According to federal election law, public notice disclosing who pays for political advertising is a strict requirement in America, and offenders can be fined.

Maras, who is a Republican, said he will also be filing a complaint with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, commonly known as ELEC.

ELEC is the state agency that investigates any and all election violations.

"These are experience politicians; they know darned well it's supposed to be posted there," Maras said Tuesday. "Maybe Debbie put the ad in as a kind of in-kind donation since it's her newspaper, but it still has to have the 'paid for' language. It's up to them to answer why the ad is missing it."

Neither McCormac or Meehan got back to Patch when asked why the ad was missing the legal disclaimer.

Maras said he asked on Friday that the state Attorney General and Middlesex County prosecutor investigate the ad. He said Tuesday he has not hear back from anyone and that he expects any investigation will take some time.

"Compounding the omission of the required disclosure is the fact Ms. Debbie Meehan, owner, editor and publisher of the Colonia Corner, is one of the Woodbridge Town Council candidates featured in the campaign advertisement," wrote Maras in his letter to the AG. "Ms. Meehan bears the responsibility for the publication and, accordingly, any legal liability for the violation."

Another ad that ran in that same October edition of Colonia Corner was for several McCormac-backed school board candidate (Dan Harris, Sue Bourdin and Jenny Perez) and that ad did contain the required financial disclosure statement.

There are two elections in Woodbridge this October/November, and again here is who's running:

Woodbridge town council:

Current Council members Nancy Bader Drumm, Howie Bauer, Cory Spillar, Viru Patel and Debbie Meehan are asking voters to re-elect them. They are all Democrats and seen as allies of Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac.

They are challenged by Republicans John Vrtaric, Paul Lund, John Masculin and Rocco Genova. Meet The Woodbridge Council Candidates: Why They Want Your Vote

Dan Harris, Sue Bourdin and Jenny Perez are running as a slate. Amber Jarrett is running, as is Tom Maras. Read interviews with all the candidates: Meet All The 2021 Woodbridge Board Of Education Candidates

Election Day is Nov. 2, but under a new voting law passed this year, voters can machine vote early from Oct. 23 - Oct. 31:

• Woodbridge Acacia Youth Center 95 Port Reading Avenue Woodbridge 07095 Hours: Mon-Sat 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sun 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

If you'd prefer to vote by mail, there are 2 places to drop you ballot in Woodbridge:

• Woodbridge Municipal Building 1 Main Street, Woodbridge Woodbridge In front of town hall
• Woodbridge Library 1 George Frederick Plaza, Woodbridge Woodbridge Drop box is curbside. Adjacent to north side of main entrance stairs to town hall.

Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked or placed in drop boxes on or before 8 p.m. on Nov. 2, Election Day.

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