By Nick Sodano, Editor Mount Holly Reporter
George Gaskill is on the ballot for Fire Commissioner with his running mate Tom Rossell. The Mount Holly Reporter reached out to Mr. Gaskill asking him if he had any questions for his opponents. We also offered to have a dialogue with him about his candidacy. Gaskill did not respond.
Mr. Gaskill, who is 73 years old, is seeking a 4-year term as Fire Commissioner. He has served the Mount Holly Fire Department for 57 years according to his Facebook page.
If elected, Gaskill would serve with his wife, Commissioner June Gaskill. The spousal relationship presents unique conflict of interest questions for the Board, such as the need for recusal by both commissioners for any issue that involved a spouse. And since Mr. Gaskill is an active firefighter in the District, he must also recuse from votes on issues that have an appearance of conflict, such as votes for officer appointments and certain spending matters.
Conflict of interest has plagued the District over the last year. The unsuccessful defense of June Gaskill’s vote to appoint Jason Carty as Director of Fire Services cost the district at least tens of thousands of dollars, if not over $100,000. But it appears that the District’s legal woes in defending Mrs. Gaskill have only just begun.
Lawsuit
The Reporter obtained a copy of an civil lawsuit filed in October 2026 by a current female firefighter in Mount Holly which alleges that Commissioners June Gaskill and Nicole Saucier “Aided and abetted” the sexual harassment of that firefighter by the former Director of Fire Services, Jason Carty. The exact language of the allegations in that suit will not be repeated here, but The Reporter notes that the allegations are both sexually explicit and racial.
The suit seeks “judgment against the Defendants jointly, severally and in the alternative, together with compensatory damages, punitive damages, interest, costs of suit, attorneys’ fees, enhanced attorneys’ fees, and any other relief the Court deems equitable and just.”
Denials By Campaign
Mr. Gaskill recently posted to Facebook that “Jason Carty has nothing to do with my campaign”, a claim which Mr. Carty also denied on Facebook. However, the political mail delivered by Mr. Gaskill, who is new to politics, bears a distinct resemblance in language to mail previously produced by Mr. Carty, who runs a professional political consulting business named “Local Strategies”.
The Reporter attempted to review Mr. Gaskill’s campaign fund raising and spending to determine if Carty’s business was paid by Mr. Gaskill. But as of the date of this article, Gaskill’s campaign has failed to submit the required fund-raising reports to the state Elections Law Enforcement Commission.
Gaskill Quit His Former Fire District Job, Allowing Re-hiring Of Carty
The Reporter previously covered the lawsuit against the district which was upheld in court. The court found that June Gaskill’s vote to appoint Jason Carty was in violation of state ethics laws because her husband George was an employee of the District that Mr. Carty would oversee as Director of Fire Services.
See https://www.themounthollyreporter.org/p/i-am-not-a-sacraficial-lamb
Gaskill denied at that time that he quit in order to allow the re-hiring of Carty, saying
“I don’t want to be a part of it no more. I’ll still be a volunteer fireman, which I have been for 56 years. Im not giving that up and nobody’s gonna make me”. George Gaskill
Gaskill’s Wife voted to Rehire Carty After Conflict Attorney Recommended Firing
Last May, after it was revealed that the “Conflict” attorney had recommended the firing the Jason Carty, both June Gaskill and Nicole Saucier [who are named defendants in the sexual harassment suit] voted to re-instate Jason Carty as Director of Fire Services. The effort was thwarted by Jules Thiessen, Rosemarie Logue and Jeena Sheppart who tabled Saucier’s resolution.
See https://www.themounthollyreporter.org/p/we-are-not-required-to-follow-advice
State Investigation Of Gaskill’s Work As Fire Official
The State of New Jersey, Department of Community Affairs, Division of Fire Safety investigates “Local Enforcement Agencies” to assure that municipalities like Mount Holly conduct compliant Fire Code enforcement. When the state audited Gaskill’s work as Fire Marshal in 2023 they found numerous serious problems, some of which involved school fire suppression systems.
