Members of the Mt. Olive Democratic Executive Committee, from left, are: Colette Tarallo, secretary; Irene Sergonis, treasurer and candidate for Mt. Olive Township Council; Deana Lykins, candidate for State Assembly LD 24; Lloyd Deans, interim municipal chair and candidate for town council; and Susie Caufield, Mt. Olive Dem County Committee member and campaign manager for Irene Sergonis for council.
By Cheryl Conway
After two years of organizing and growing, Mt. Olive Democrats are ready to hit the polls on Tuesday, June 4, to vote for their party’s candidates running for local, county and state positions.
On the local front, Irene Sergonis of Budd Lake is running for Mt. Olive Twp. Council as a Democrat and Lloyd Deans, the interim chairperson for the Mt. Olive Democratic Committee, has announced he will run as a write-in candidate in the upcoming 2019 Primary Election.
“I’m running as a write-in candidate,” says Dean, “army veteran, never held a political seat before. I’ve worked with both Republican Congressman and Democratic State Senators on Veterans issues.”
Running for re-election on council for a four-year term are Republicans Joe Nicastro, Colleen Labow and Alex Roman.
Republican Mayor Rob Greenbaum is also re-running for a four-year term as mayor in an uncontested race so far.
Mt. Olive Democrats History and Growth
The Mt. Olive Democratic Committee reached a milestone last month, May 10, as it has been two years since re-establishing itself into a formal group, explains Shelly Morningstar, former municipal chair of the Mt. Olive Democratic Committee 2017-19. Morningstar recently stepped down as chair in April, passing her leadership role in the interim to Lloyd Deans, who has been serving as municipal vice chair.
“Prior to May 2017, there had been no active Democratic party here for almost eight years,” says Morningstar. Jim Buell was the last Democrat elected to Mt. Olive Twp. Council in 2007, she adds. Democrats, “may had been meeting, but not regularly.”
According to longtime Mt. Olive resident Les Kleinberg, “there was an existing vibrant Democratic Party organization when we moved to Mt. Olive in 1970,” he informed Sergonis.
“We have no idea when or why it was established or who were the founders, but it was clearly established decades before we moved here.
“The major objectives of Democratic party candidates in the early 1970s were: Stabilization of the tax rate. There were major property tax increases in Mt Olive the late 1960s and early 1970s; opposition to the large amusement park that was proposed for the site that eventually became the foreign trade zone. This opposition became bipartisan and was successful.
“The Mt. Olive Democratic party grew significantly larger during the late 1960s and early 1970s, getting new members from the newly built Clover Hill development in Flanders and the new developments in Budd Lake.”
While Democrats have been living in Mt. Olive for 75 to 100 years, “The Democratic Party did not disband; it was more like hibernation from 2007 to 2017,” explains Sergonis, treasurer of the Mt. Olive Democratic Committee. “There were a few candidates like Jim Buell, Richard Escobar and Lew Candura who would run in the elections but interest in local politics was low.
After 2016, there had been a “ground swell of women,” says Morningstar, 11 women and one man to be exact, and they started to organize meetings.
Details Sergonis: “My friend Gayle Furbert emailed me the following story about the April 2017 meeting that led to the reawakening of the Dems: ‘Yes I was at the first meeting….which took place at the Flanders DD [Dunkin Donuts] mid April. I know it was Kate Matteson and Gina Trish who reached out to the Morris County Democratic Committee Chair Chip Robinson after realizing that they needed Mt. Olive if they were going to win the Assembly race. FB posts invited people to the Flanders DD to help organize the MO Dems… Lloyd and I were there, Shelly and Bonnie, Nicole Wright and her daughter, possibly Linda, and another guy. We decided to hold an organizational meeting at the library - so I contacted them and secured the meeting room for the May meeting. And the rest is history.’
Postcards, 500 of them according to Morningstar, were mailed to registered Democrats to invite them to the library, and the meeting was posted on social media, resulting in close to 100 filling the Meeting Room on May 10, 2017.
“We were able to recruit four candidates for town council who were written in on the Primary Ballot and appeared on the November Ballot,” Sergonis details according to Furbert’s recount of that meeting. Furbert told her, “We all learned about how campaigns are run and have expanded our horizons. I am glad that Mt. Olive was instrumental in getting Tom Malinowski elected. We needed checks and balances in Washington and someone who would fight for New Jersey. We hope to build on what we have learned and have similar success in 2019 and 2020.”
When the four Democrats ran in 2017, Morningstar says that was the “first time full slate of candidates ran for Democrats in Mt. Olive after 20 years. We increased Democratic voter turnout by 233 percent” in 2017, she adds.
“When there’s an active engaged group of citizens meeting regularly, holding events to encourage people to vote,” and providing a choice in the slate of candidates, “it goes to show” that canvassing, outreach and engagement does make a difference, says Morningstar.
“We worked really hard,” says Morningstar, in reorganizing Mt. Olive Democrats. “We knocked on almost 6,000 doors in 2017, which was the “first time they had a door knocked by any Democrats” in 20 years.
Voter outreach helped get Democrat Tom Malinowski of the 7th district elected to Congress in Nov. 2018, defeating Republican incumbent Leonard Lance, says Morningstar. She says the Mt. Olive Democratic Committee “canvassed more than 8,000 voters in Mt. Olive Twp.,” to help him beat his opponent by 102 votes in Mt. Olive, getting him elected.
“We phone bank and send out postcards,” she says.
It even reached out to high school students to get them involved with the young Mt. Olive Democrats, she adds.
“It’s really great to see young people engaged,” says Morningstar.
MO Dem’s Mission
The mission of the Mt. Olive Democratic Committee is: “Keeping our nation and community safe and expanding opportunity for all,” as stated on its website https://mountolivedemocrats.org. “Our focus is on sustainable economic growth, protection and conservation of our environment, water, and open space, affordable health care, retirement security, open, honest and accountable government, and protecting civil rights & liberties. We support Democratic candidates who represent these values and through our civic engagement strive to ensure that these principles are reflected both in our local government and within our community.
“We are committed to educating our community about the importance of civic engagement, voting, voting rights, and voter registration," it states. "Getting involved in local politics is often the best way to make a lasting difference in our community. Through volunteering, you can help make positive changes, bring a voice for progress and improve the quality of life within our township, county, state and the nation.”
The Mt. Olive Democratic Committee is one of 39 municipal political committees organized within the Morris County Democratic Committee (MCDC) and under the bylaws of the MCDC and NJ State Democratic Party, explains Morningstar.
“Shelly spearheaded the revitalization of our committee and we will be forever grateful for her hard work and dedication,” says Sergonis. “We truly stand on her shoulders and will honor her achievements by continuing the mission to improve our community and represent all the people of Mt. Olive.
There are approximately 135 local residents, involved in the Mt. Olive Democratic Committee, says Sergonis, resident for 39 years. Meetings are held monthly on the third Wednesday in the meeting room of the Mt. Olive Public Library.
About 30 to 40 attend the meetings on average, says Morningstar, and those who cannot attend help in other ways such as voter outreach, community events, operating booths at the carnival and food truck festival.
The group also hosts a number of education programs, says Morningstar. The Mt. Olive Democratic Committee held the first Stigma Free Education session in town, she says. It also worked with the Mt. Olive Police Department to host a Gun Violence Prevention Program at the Mt. Olive Middle School to talk about gun ownership.
A Free Walk program was another event it organized as well as a program with the NJ Highlands Coalition on native species and plants in Budd Lake to discuss preservation efforts and environmental guidelines, explains Morningstar.
“We’ve coordinated a number of education programs,” says Morningstar. “Environment is very important.”
Sitting on the Mt. Olive Democratic Committee are four executive officers made up of a municipal chair, vice chair, treasurer and secretary.
Mt. Olive has 22 districts.
“For Dems each district would have a male and female member for a total of 44 county committee members,” says Sergonis. “We currently have 23 county committee seats filled and are actively seeking volunteers.”
June 2020 will be the next election for county committee members, explains Morningstar. “There are vacancies,” she says. The municipal chair can make appointments to fill those vacancies.”
The role of committee members is “they represent their community on local issues,” explains Morningstar. Whether it is a water issue, a town service, damaged roads, the committee member brings issues to the township. They also provide outreach with voters in their neighborhoods to engage them in voting, meeting candidates and encourage growth of their party.
“They are the folks that people elect to represent them,” says Morningstar, “their local neighborhoods.”
The municipal chair, meanwhile, is appointed by the county chair, she explains. Morningstar had been appointed in May 2017 by Chip Robinson, and was then elected as chair in June 2018.
Working in leadership positions for a non-profit organization helped her in her task of “getting a new organization off the ground,” says Morningstar who is one of the founding members of the Community Garden in South Branch. “The last two years have really required an enormous amount of time. I learned a lot about land use, environmental laws, municipal budgeting,” and canvassing. “I met people I never thought I’d meet. We are vetting great candidates. By getting out and talking to voters helps to set the stage.”
Although she was elected to serve as the voice of the group, Morningstar says “it’s really the work of this team; commitment of the team” that led it to the successful reawakening of Mt. Olive Democrats. Everyone sees their role and how important it is. They accepted the mission.”
Get Out And Vote Today
Now is the time to get involved, and today is the day to get out and vote.
Registered Voters
As of May 16, 18,834 local residents have registered to vote in today's election, according to Michelle Masser, Mt. Olive Twp. clerk. Of those registered, 4,985 are registered Democrats; 6,094 are registered Republicans; and 7,755 are unaffiliated.
Those numbers have increased from last year’s primary on June 6, 2018 with 18,015 registered; with 4,300 Democrats, 5,787 Republicans and 7,928 unaffiliated. Voter turnout reached 12.5 percent in Mt. Olive; 2,252 came out to vote last year with 1,060 Democrats (24 percent) and 1,192 Republicans (20 percent).
“It is important to work in our local communities to make the world a better place for our children and grandchildren,” says Sergonis. “The Mt. Olive Dems does have tons of fun and many new friendships have been formed. We've had movie nights, bonfires and barbecues. Postcard parties feature snacks and good conversation. Canvassing is done with a buddy and we get to know each other as well as listening to our voters.”
Besides running locally, Democrats are running in the state and county as well.
Democratic Candidates
“There is an excellent slate of highly qualified Democratic candidates who are running to represent the people of Mt. Olive Township for local municipal, county and state office in 2019,” says Morningstar. The Democratic candidates for each office include:
NJ State Assembly - Legislative District 24: Deana Lykins of Green Twp. and Dan Smith of Mt. Olive for State Assembly.
Morris County Candidates- Surrogate: Michael Thompson; Sheriff: William Schievella;Freeholder: Cary Amaro; Cara Parmigiani; David Timpanaro.
For more information on the Mt. Olive Town Council Democratic candidates go to: Lloyd Deans - deanslistvr@gmail.com; and Irene Sergonis -http://irenesergonis.com/;
https://www.facebook.com/irene4motc/.
“We need to bring new people with new ideas,” concludes Morningstar. “There’s always room for improvement,”
For more information, questions, and to get involved, go to https://mountolivedemocrats.org or email mountolivedems@gmail.com.
