BACK TO SMASHMOUTH – PART 1
Cooperation Seen At The First Fire District Meeting Evaporates
Readers may recall a brief moment of hope on December 3, 2025, when newly seated Fire District Chair Jules Thiessen seemed to be taking the concerns of Commissioners Logue and Sheppard seriously. Well, the events of last night have made clear that Mr. Thiessen is no longer making an effort to bring those two commissioners into decision making for the Fire District.
The meeting of January 7, 2026 was intended to pass a budget but that goal was not accomplished [Part 2 of this article will cover the budget] nor were certain appointments that were brought to the floor. The meeting was characterized by contentious clashes about persistent poor communication.
NO PUBLIC COMMENT BEFORE A VOTE
One area of communication conflict involved the ability of the public to comment on Resolutions before they are voted on. Commissioners Logue and Sheppard wanted a rule to allow for such comment so the Board of Commissioners would have the benefit of hearing from the public BEFORE they vote. That resolution failed by a vote of 3-2 with Thiessen, Saucier and Gaskill voting against comment before Commission votes.
A NEW ATTORNEY APPEARS WITHOUT NOTICE
The next area of communication conflict was an unexpected vote to seat a new interim solicitor. Mr. Thiessen broke the news to Logue and Sheppard that the District found itself without an attorney since last Monday. Ms. Logue questioned when Mr. Thiessen knew that Brown and Connery had intended to leave, and he said that he knew in December. When asked why the other Commissioners were not informed, Mr. Thiessen said that he thought he could keep Brown and Connery on board. When Logue asked why Thiessen had not attempted to get the RFP [request for proposal] out for bids to get a new law firm [as agreed in December] he said that the budget had taken priority and he really thought he could keep Brown and Connery.
So Mr. Thiessen felt obliged to quickly find an attorney for last night’s meeting and had settled on Mr. Nicholas Repici of the Lennox Law firm. When Thiessen produced a Resolution to appoint Mr. Repici, Ms. Logue objected saying that the Resolution was not on her agenda and that she had heard nothing of a vetting process for Mr. Repici and his firm. Then Ms. Logue asked Mr. Thiessen if Mr. Repici had made donations to any Political Action Committee [PAC] working on Mount Holly elections and Mr. Thiessen answered that he was not aware of same. Repici’s appointment received the same 3-2 margin as noted above with Thiessen, Saucier and Gaskill voting to appoint him.
“Has this person made any donations to any political PACs in this town?” Rosemarie Logue
MR. REPICI ANSWERS QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC ABOUT CONTRIBUTIONS
Resident Sayke Reilley asked Solicitor Repici if he had given any money to “the Labor Voice”. Mr. Repici stated that his law firm had “not made any political donations to anyone in Burlington County”.
By the end of the meeting, resident Jim Logue had researched contributions made to “The Burlington County Labor Voice” and found that indeed Mr. Repici had given multiple contributions to that PAC. In fact, he discovered that Mr. Repici’s firm [Lennox Law] was renting space in the building owned by Jason Carty, who is the current Director of Fire Services for Mount Holly. Carty is on administrative leave while he is investigated for personnel issues.
THIESSEN’S CAMPAIGN WAS COMPLETELY FUNDED BY BURLINGTON COUNTY LABOR VOICE
While Mr. Thiessen claimed he had no knowledge of Mr. Repici having given money to the Burlington County Labor Voice [BCLV], readers should recall that all the campaign mail and signs deployed for Thiessen were paid for by the BCLV. And records kept by the Election Law Enforcement Commission [ELEC] show repeated contributions by Repici amounting to at least $5,300. See image below.
The Mount Holly Reporter covered the Burlington County Labor Voice during November 2025. See the following link for the article.
https://www.themounthollyreporter.org/p/thiessen-has-narrow-win-over-brotz