A Democratic official in Millburn, New Jersey is accusing a local Republican leader of filing a false police report against him in an episode that shows just how divisive the township's politics have become.
A police report obtained by Gothamist shows the call to police came at 7:54 a.m. on June 6 this year.
A woman who said her name was Jean Pellegrini reported two people at a train station in Millburn, which at the time was in the middle of a heated political battle over how local elections would be run.
“They’re giving out political literature but they’re pasting or taping flyers to the property of the New Jersey transit,” she said in a recording of the call. “That’s not allowed. You can’t be taping s--t to the walls.”
NJ Transit strictly prohibits the posting of political flyers and signs on its property and transit staff is instructed to remove anything it sees.
Pellegrini gave the officer two names: Nick Romano, a former chair of the Millburn Democratic Party, and David Cosgrove, a current township councilmember.
A patrol car arrived at the station minutes later to find the two men handing campaign literature to commuters, the police report shows.
Earlier this year, a referendum had been added to Millburn’s ballot that would have allowed local candidates to run unaffiliated from their political party. Democrats like Cosgrove and Romano were urging residents to vote “no,” arguing it was a Hail-Mary attempt by local Republicans to distance themselves from President Donald Trump, whose popularity has tanked in the state.
“We're handing these cards out." Cosgrove recalled telling the officer. “The cop just said, ‘OK,’ and turned around and left.”
The police report states that neither men was within 100 feet of a polling place or an early ballot drop-off location, well within their rights under state law. It makes no mention of anyone taping or pasting fliers.
“No violation of election interference,” the officer noted.
But Cosgrove had no idea who had called the police on him. He filed a public records request for the police report and audio of the call and, based on the address the caller gave police, learned that Pellegrini was actually Jean Pasternak, chair of the town’s Republican committee, which supported the referendum. Pellegrini is her maiden name.
”She certainly was, in my opinion, trying to get the police to think that I was doing something that I shouldn't have been doing — and that I wasn't doing,” Cosgrove said.
He accuses Pasternak of making a false police report. Romano told Gothamist he is “weighing all his options” when asked if he intends to pursue legal actions against Pasternak.
“I'm still not really sure what I was doing wrong that she called the cops on me,” Romano said.
In an emailed response to Gothamist, Pasternak defended placing the call.
“If you listen to the recording, I said ‘Would it [be] possible to get someone down there so there’s no confrontation?’” she wrote. “I further said ‘I don’t know if they’re the ones who taped stuff to the walls’”
But her call to the police is another example of how acrimonious the fight over the referendum had become. Millburn, a half-hour train ride from New York City, has long held the title as one of New Jersey’s wealthiest suburbs. Republicans currently hold a 3-2 majority on the township committee.
Many Republicans have recently faced uphill battles in parts of New Jersey. Gov. Mikie Sherrill trounced her Republican opponent in last year’s gubernatorial contest, making her the rare candidate to win a so-called third term for her party after another Democrat, former Gov. Phil Murphy, held the office for eight years.
In April, voters in Millburn’s congressional district ushered in the ultra-progressive Democrat Analilia Mejia to replace Sherrill in the House of Representatives. At the same time, Trump’s approval ratings in the state have plummeted from around 50% to 32%, according to tracking from pollsters.
The referendum, introduced by a Charter Study Commission made up of local residents, would have changed the town’s form of government for the first time in 169 years by allowing candidates for municipal elections to run without declaring their party affiliations next to their names on the ballot.
There are only about 88 municipalities out of New Jersey’s 565 that hold nonpartisan local elections, according to Rutgers University’s NJ Data Book. These types of the elections are more common in heavily Democratic places like Newark, Jersey City and Montclair where a traditional Republican wouldn’t have a shot. But political allegiances are more divided along party lines in Millburn.
Millburn Republicans said the switch would eliminate some of the divisiveness in today’s party politics. But Democrats publicly cast it as a desperate ploy to shield Republicans from their connection to Trump and the national GOP, angering those who supported the change.
Millburn Democratic official Michael Cohen described it as “the most vitriolic election I’ve ever seen” in the town.
The referendum was narrowly defeated by just 59 votes in June.
Ben Stoller, a Republican member of the township committee, downplayed any concern over Pasternak’s police report.
“ I'll continue to focus on bringing results for all constituents, like improved safety and sensible development and keeping the Paper Mill Playhouse in town, versus things like this,” he said, referring to a recent $7 million dollars in local tax dollars earmarked to support the well known local theater
Pasternak said she spoke to Cosgrove the day after she reported him to the police about a campaign sign against the measure that was posted at another train station in town. At the time, he was unaware she’d made the call.
Cosgrove said he did not speak with Pasternak when she approached him in person. He said he believes the sign was a flier encouraging residents to vote no in the referendum on the side of the Boxcar restaurant located in the Short Hills train station.
Cosgrove said the flier was hardly noticeable.
“I had been there basically most of the morning and didn't even see it. That's how visible it was,” he said.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct the origin of Millburn’s ballot referendum for non-partisan local elections. It was introduced by a Charter Study Commission made up of residents.
