Fallout from Medevac issue roiled town’s political waters

12/29/2005

BEDMINSTER TWP. – In a town notorious for its political turbulence, 2005 will be remembered as a particularly wild year.

Fallout from a controversial proposal to relocate a State Police Medevac helicopter from Newark to Somerset Airport created new waves in the already roiled waters of the all-Republican Township Committee.

At front and center of the political drama was Township Committeeman Kurt Joerger, an outspoken Medevac relocation opponent.

Joerger started the year by narrowly winning a recount of the 2004 general election and finished it as the subject of a recall effort by detractors.

The past year also saw the related defeat of incumbent GOP mayor Amey Mesko and the election of Sally Rubin, the first Democrat to win public office in Bedminster in more than 30 years.

2005 will also go down as a big year for lawsuits against the township: by a citizens group opposed to the Medevac relocation, by cellular telephone carriers who were denied permission to build towers at two sites north of Bedminster village, and by The Church of the Hills on Route 206, whose plans to quadruple in size were rejected.

The unfolding Medevac saga and Joerger’s political fortunes are inextricably intertwined.

Joerger rose to prominence in the summer of 2004 as a leader of a citizens group opposing the relocation of the Medevac helicopter from the rooftop of University Medical Center in Newark to Bedminster.

A relative newcomer to Bedminster, he was the GOP Municipal Committee’s improbable choice when Township Committeewoman Katherine Wagner resigned in August 2004.

Joerger, who had bought the 175-acre Lana Lobell horse farm off Rattlesnake Bridge Road in 2003, was picked to fill the remaining few months of Wagner’s term and to run for a full three-year term.

Joerger prevailed at the polls in November 2004 by a slim margin, an outcome that was appealed by the township’s Democratic organization.

Despite the uncertainty about his fate, Joerger was sworn-in to a committee term at the governing body’s reorganization meeting last January.

At the same meeting, Joerger joined with running mate Don Cross and campaign manager Mesko to elect Mesko to the honorary position of mayor for 2005.

Three weeks later, after a painstaking review by the Somerset County Board of Elections of disputed absentee and provisional ballots, Democrat Allen Mass withdrew his election challenge. Joerger was certified as the winner by five votes.

His first several weeks on the governing body – and Mesko’s first several as mayor – were relatively peaceful.

But it didn’t last.

On Feb. 4, having won a Superior Court victory, the NorthSTAR Medevac helicopter crew moved into a temporary office trailer at Somerset Airport. The chopper was housed in a vacant hangar alongside the trailer.

However, NorthSTAR’s special use permit allowing the office trailer was good only through May, and it would have to seek township approval for a permanent office/hangar complex.

Instead of submitting plans immediately, the owners of Somerset Airport sought an interpretation from the township Board of Adjustment on whether helicopters may be based there in the first place.

In April, the airport and NorthSTAR asked the Township Committee to extend the special use permit for the office trailer while the zoning board goes through its interpretation process.

On April 18, the governing body voted 2-1 to extend the special use permit through February 2006.

Mesko and Committeeman Finn Caspersen Jr. voted yes, while Cross voted no. Committeeman Robert Holtaway recused himself because he owns a glider business at the airport, and Joerger “reluctantly” stepped down on the advice of Township Attorney Jeffrey Lehrer.

Mesko’s affirmative vote may have spelled the beginning of her political end.

Within days, Medevac relocation opponent Robert Colatarci launched a write-in bid against Mesko in the GOP primary election. Mesko was convinced Colatarci was recruited by Joerger and Cross in retaliation for her vote on Medevac, but none of the other three would confirm it.

Mesko handily defeated Colatarci in the June primary, but her victory was short-lived.

Rubin, running unopposed, won the Democratic primary and was poised to take on Mesko in November. Meanwhile, Colatarci also filed to run as in Independent in the November election, turning it into a three-way race.

In late June, the zoning board determined that helicopters may be based at Somerset Airport, despite an ordinance defining the facility as a site for “fixed wing aircraft.”

A citizens group known as the Bedminster Branchburg Bridgewater Concerned Citizens Coalition (BBBCCC) later sued the zoning board, claiming its interpretation was arbitrary and capricious. The case has not yet been heard in court.

Politics heated up throughout the summer, although mainly within the splintered Republican party. GOP backers of Colatarci clashed repeatedly with supporters of Mesko.

Mesko’s reputation was bruised when it was revealed in August that she and her husband had unsuccessfully sought a discount-price membership at Trump National Golf Club.

Although Mesko denied having an actual conflict of interest, she agreed to step down from Planning Board hearings on Trump’s request for a second 18-hole golf course on his 506-acre tract off Lamington Road.

Throughout the fall, Colatarci supporters continued to batter Mesko. Former Mayor Joseph Metelski mailed out a flier critical of Mesko’s performance as mayor, and Cross topped it by sending out his own flyer describing her as the worst mayor in Bedminster’s history.

The Democrats also targeted their campaign against Mesko, but Rubin was not nearly as harsh in her criticisms as were Colatarci supporters.

In the end, Mesko could not withstand the two-pronged attack.

Rubin won the election with 1,036 votes, followed by Mesko with 936 and Colatarci with 873. Rubin will be sworn-in at the governing body’s reorganization meeting at 7:30 p.m. next Tuesday, Jan. 3.

The election was barely over when a group of Joerger critics followed through on threats made during the summer to attempt to remove him from office.

On Nov. 14, a three-member committee officially launched the recall effort by filing a petition at town hall accusing Joerger of not doing his job as committeeman, using intimidation against colleagues and lying to voters.

The recall effort is believed to be the first ever attempted in Somerset County.

The recall group is now in the process of trying to collect at least 1,367 signatures, representing 25 percent of the township’s registered voters.

If the recall committee is successful, a special election will be scheduled in the spring at the cost of about $15,000. Any interested resident, including Joerger, would be able to run.

As the recall drive was being launched, the governing body informally chose Holtaway – an old nemesis of Joerger – to serve as mayor next year. In an unusual move, Rubin briefly sat on the committee dais for the straw vote.

The following week, Joerger fought back with a manifesto accusing Holtaway of various conflicts of interest and questioning his fitness to serve as mayor.

As the year wound to a close, Joerger remained unrepentant about his conduct as committeeman, saying he believes the recall committee represents an effort by airport supporters to keep the Medevac helicopter there permanently. If anyone should be recalled, Joerger asserted, it should be Holtaway.

The new year promises to bring more controversy, starting with the Medevac relocation.

In November, the airport owners filed a proposal with the Planning Board to convert an existing hangar into a headquarters for the Medevac staff instead of building a new structure.

The first hearing on the proposed hangar conversion is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5.

By SANDY STUART