OCEAN CITY — Families of Ocean City United in Success (FOCUS), the political action committee that formed in late 2023 to endorse and support candidates for Ocean City Council and Board of Education, raised more than $18,000 in 2024 and sent $5,000 total to four council candidates it endorsed in the May 14 election.
One of those candidates it endorsed was Amie Vaules, a political newcomer who ran against incumbent Jody Levchuk for his seat in the Third Ward in a closely contested race that wasn’t entirely resolved until this summer. She challenged the final official tally of 402-400, but dropped the challenge the day before it was to be heard in Superior Court on July 23.
Vaules received a $1,000 donation from FOCUS.
She was listed as the treasurer when the group was founded in October 2023 in a report filed in January 2024 with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), but said she left the group in February when she decided to run for office.
According to ELEC, a current or future candidate for office cannot be involved in that type of political committee.
On Form D-4, registering FOCUS as a continuing political committee with ELEC, Vaules is listed on the first page in the box under “chairperson” and Joseph Tenaglia Jr. as the “treasurer.” However, in the certification page of the document, which is dated Oct. 25, 2023, Tenaglia signs as the chairperson and Vaules as treasurer.
Vaules confirmed Friday, Aug. 23, she was the treasurer of the organization when it was formed but had “a change of heart” and resigned so she could run for office.
That is an important distinction.
Under where Vaules is listed as an agent of the committee “to accept service of legal process,” she responded “no” to this question: “Has any New Jersey candidate or officeholder (other than a federal candidate) established, authorized the establishment of, maintained or participated directly or indirectly in the management or control of this continuing political committee, or will any New Jersey candidate do so in the future?”
Under where Vaules and Tenaglia are listed as certifying the statements are true and correct, the document also states, “I further certify that no candidate or officeholder has established, authorized the establishment of, maintained or participated directly or indirectly in the management or control of the Continuing Political Committee, and no candidate or officeholder shall be permitted to do so during the existence of the Continuing Political Committee. I am aware that if any of the statements are willfully false, I am subject to punishment.”
In the NJ ELEC Compliance Manual for Political Committees (General 2024), it states under the definition of a political committee, “Note: No candidate or officeholder can establish, authorize the establishment of, maintain, or participate directly or indirectly in the management or control of a political committee.”
Political committees are different than Candidate Committees set up by candidates.
FOCUS is a continuing political committee. Vaules later set up her own candidate committee after leaving FOCUS.
When filing the ELEC forms for FOCUS back in October, Vaules said she had no plans to run for office.
Vaules was still listed as the treasurer in the fourth-quarter 2023 ELEC report filed Jan. 16, 2024, which includes a loan from Vaules to the group of $2,000. A supplemental contribution/expenditure form also lists her as the treasurer.
However, the first-quarter report of expenditures and contributors filed April 15, 2024 lists Tenaglia as the treasurer. (The second-quarter report filed in July 2024 does not have a signatory page on the ELEC website with anyone listed attesting to the accuracy of the report.)
According to a compliance officer at ELEC, who spoke mainly in generalities about the rules governing candidates and political committees, he did not see a form filed showing a change in treasurer and that Vaules was listed as the treasurer of the organization from the original D4 form. Forms noting changes in that office have to be filed promptly with ELEC showing a change in treasurer.
Vaules said she knows the form was filed.
Kim Styer-Gallagher, who is listed as treasurer of FOCUS on the group’s website, confirmed she became the treasurer after Vaules resigned as treasurer of the organization.
The ELEC compliance officer directed the newspaper to Advisory Opinion 5-2003, sent May 19, 2003, that candidates may not “establish, authorize the establishment of, maintain, or participate directly or indirectly in the management or control of, any … continuing political committee.”
In the NJ ELEC Compliance Manual for Political Committees (General 2024), available on the ELEC website, it states the same thing.
As a candidate, Vaules had filed the appropriate form D-1 when she formed a candidate committee in February 2024 when she became a candidate for Ocean City Council.
That was a month after filing the FOCUS fourth-quarter financial report as its treasurer.
“In early February, when I was considering running for Third Ward council, I let them (FOCUS officers) know that I wasn’t going to be able to hold that position and help them,” Vaules said. “If my memory is correct, that was like Feb. 5 or 6 that I said I would not be able to do that and they went ahead and found somebody else to take that spot and the paperwork was filed with the state.”
Vaules said she did not file anything herself.
“That was one of my questions, that I did not have to file anything,” she said. “I believe Kim Styer was named the treasurer. I don’t know if it was her or Mr. Tenaglia. I went to the bank and removed myself from the bank accounts and things like that. I understood Kim Styer was going to take my spot.”
She said she wasn’t planning to run for office when she signed the initial forms registering FOCUS as a political committee.
“I was not thinking I was going to do that this soon. I still have a high-schooler at home and one in college. In my mind, in my grand scheme plan of life, I was thinking I would wait until my kids were older and kind of doing their own thing before I took another job on, in a sense,” she said. “I started getting involved just to be involved in the community in a different level than just being a parent with kids and school. So when it (FOCUS) was forming I thought it was a great way to get my foot in the door and start meeting different people and understanding how things work.”
That changed in the new year and, she said, was why she resigned.
“Looking at what was going on in my life and the availability I had, I chose to try to run in 2024,” she said. “I had a change of heart after thinking through my timeframe of trying to run for council.”
After resigning Vaules said she no longer had any contact with the committee.
“I know they filed that form because before I went to (Ocean City) to get my nomination papers to become an official candidate, I made sure those were filed and done,” she said.
When Vaules set up her own Single Candidate Committee on Feb. 15, 2024, filing form D-1 to run for City Council, Lance Miller of Marshall Lane, Ocean City was listed as treasurer. On her 29-day pre-election report filed April 12, Vaules was listed as treasurer. She was also listed as treasurer in subsequent reports filed May 3, May 10, May 15, June 4 and June 11 detailing all of her fundraising and expenditures.
The ELEC compliance officer said it appeared she filed her paperwork for her own committee accurately.
In an interview Monday afternoon, FOCUS President Todd Eachus said Vaules wasn’t planning to run for office when she signed on as treasurer in 2023 and confirmed she resigned from that position in February before seeking office.
He said she did not participate in the FOCUS PAC after she resigned, in compliance with election laws.
“Compliance with all this stuff is important. (FOCUS) is a relatively fledgling organization and you don’t need any black eyes as you’re trying to build your brand,” Eachus said. “I’m trying to make sure we’re doing everything above board here.”
The PAC spent $1,575 with a group called Aristotle International for compliance and legal services, which Eachus said was specifically for election compliance.
Eachus said FOCUS would provide the documents showing the change in treasurers, but they were not available by the Sentinel’s deadline Tuesday.
He noted that even though Vaules was part of establishing the PAC, she was not guaranteed the endorsement.
“From an inside view there were no locks at all,” he said. Eachus said he could understand the perspective of a candidate who didn’t get the endorsement to feel that way.
“The intent of the organization is to look at the founding principles (of Ocean City) and support candidates who align with that,” he said. “Nobody is on or off the table.
“My personal view on this is that all candidates in this last cycle certainly had their heart in the right place,” he said. “I think we all want to get to the same place. Perhaps we disagree on how we get there at times ….” Eachus added, “We need to turn the temperature down sometimes. There’s always going to be debate. It should be respectful. We should agree to disagree at times. Let’s find a tone and a tenor that makes sense and represents the city in the best possible way.”
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
