Open letter from Greg Antonelle

The following is an open letter from Greg Antonelle in response to dirty Short/Roehrich campaign tactics:

Dear Friends & Neighbors,

If you’re like me and love living in Long Valley I think you’ll find the following story absolutely appalling:In the May 21st edition of the Observer Tribune a letter I wrote was published – it can be found by clicking here.

In the letter, I wrote about how the political landscape of our town has turned ugly in recent years, courtesy of a select few that, unfortunately, give that Republican Party a bad name in town.

Well, I don’t claim to be Nostradamus and I’ve certainly never been any good at predicting the future, but certainly my letter was very telling. You see, the good ol’ boys are back at it with their fairy tale fiction writing in high gear, and this may be the worst example ever.

The same week my letter was published supporting DeFrance & Skurchak there were 3 other letters written by Mike Reynolds (Naughright Lane), Theodore Baldwin (Fairview Drive ) and Wayne Garrett (Middle Valley Road) that benefited Short & Roehrich and defamed Skurchak & DeFrance. These three letters shared a common theme – lies, distortion, and personal attacks. It is one thing to challenge an opponent’s record…it’s another to twist & manipulate facts to totally fabricate a story which is what all three of these men did.

I had never heard of Mike Reynolds, Theodore Baldwin, and/or Wayne Garrett. Neither had Jim Skurchak, nor Rick DeFrance. For that matter, nobody I talked with knew these three guys…I am 100% confident that none of you reading this email know them either and for good reason.

After scouring the Washington Township voter database, sifting through countless public records, and conducting numerous online investigative searches for these three men, we had a very difficult time locating them. You will too. The reason? YOU CAN’T LOCATE PEOPLE THAT DO NOT EXIST!!!

That’s right – Mike Reynolds, Theodore Baldwin, and Wayne Garrett do not exist. They do not live in Long Valley and are merely figments of a distorted person’s imagination…three imaginary friends of an immature child who thought Long Valley was too dumb, naive, and indifferent to figure out his deviant actions. Sorry guys. It doesn’t work that way in our town anymore...

It’s easy to defame someone with very strong words - very wrong words, when you’re hiding behind anonymity. These letters contained words so wrong and so strong that the author couldn’t put his own name on them, nor could he find anyone else in the Short/Roehrich camp to do so…

So, yes, believe it or not, someone on the Short/Roehrich side actually had the time, energy, and audacity to not only write the letters, but then obtain three fake email addresses (michaelnaughright@yahoo.com, tbaldwinlv@gmail.com, waynegarrett876@gmail.com), and submit the vicious letters to the Observer Tribune. The OT is supposed to verify authenticity of each letter, but very obviously they did not. Shame on them. They were fooled, but not us.

If you are receiving this email it’s likely you, like me, and like Rick DeFrance & Jim Skurchak, have chosen to raise a family in Long Valley because of all that is good here. We believe the way to teach our kids right from wrong is to lead by example.

Rick & Jim have admirably chosen to take the high road this election. On election eve, I felt it was important to set the record straight regarding the fraudulent letters.

On Tuesday let’s send a message that the era of bully politics is over in Long Valley. Let’s be proud of our town. Vote Rick DeFrance & Jim Skurchak for Township Committee tomorrow, Tuesday, June 2nd.

Best regards,

Greg Antonelle