Levchuk furious, wanted day in court after ‘attack’ on his family
OCEAN CITY — Although Amie Vaules announced Monday that she was dropping her challenge of the May 14 election results for the Ocean City Council Third Ward seat, the decision did not sit well with winner Jody Levchuk, who remains furious about the investigation into the residency of his brother.
Levchuk, running for re-election to a second term, won a narrow two-vote victory over Vaules, 402 to 400.
Vaules challenged the results and the parties were to appear Tuesday in Superior Court.
In a press release issued Monday, July 22, Vaules said she was not going to continue the challenge.
“I initially contested the election due to the closeness of the results, with only two votes separating us. I believed that two mail-in ballots, which were not included in the official count, were intended to support my candidacy. These two votes could have resulted in a tie,” Vaules wrote. “To ensure the accuracy of the vote count, I requested a review of the election results.
“Upon further investigation, it was found that these two mail-in ballots were received after the legally permissible timeframe under New Jersey law. This delay was not the fault of the voters; the ballots were sent on time but were not received by the county in time to be counted. Additionally, a challenge regarding the address of my opponent’s brother was also raised,” she continued. “It is important to clarify that despite claims made by my opponent to the press, no subpoenas were issued during our inquiry into his voting arrangement. Subpoenas are issued solely by the court, not by private citizens.”
Levchuk made that assertion during Ocean City Council’s July 1 reorganization after he was sworn in.
Speaking to the audience at the Ocean City Music Pier, he thanked voters for believing in him and included among them his brother, his next-door neighbor and business partner, “and a lifelong voter in Ocean City.”
He said it was shameful what some people have done to his brother Randy, subpoenaing records of where he does volunteer work to determine if he was eligible to vote in the resort.
“Shame on you,” Levchuk said at the time.
He clarified that on Monday, saying he meant to state his brother’s volunteer records were sought in an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request.
After learning that Vaules was dropping the challenge, Levchuk said he wanted his day in court.
“This was zero surprise to me. This is not over, however,” he said. “And you are going to have a (expletive) story when this is done.
“And I really am disappointed. I wish she continued with the court case tomorrow (Tuesday). I’m honestly sad that she dropped it. She put everybody through the ringer, she put everybody through (expletive) like this. She put my family through garbage like this.
“You can’t have the balls to show up in court and tell us all about it. There’s a lot more. I can’t say anything right now because I’d like to have a conversation with my attorney,” Levchuk said, “but I promise you you’re going to have plenty to write about.”
The councilman and boardwalk businessman said his brother’s volunteer activities in a fire department in Kenilworth where he owns a property were investigated to try to show he was not eligible to vote in Ocean City, even though Levchuk said his brother has lived and voted in Ocean City for years. He added that the fire chief would testify he wasn’t eligible to be a paid firefighter there because he wasn’t a resident of Kenilworth.
“I’m not happy. I wanted my day in court. She (Vaules) decided to attack my family. She made a public mockery out of my family. We had a court date for tomorrow. I hired professionals, my brother hired professionals. We were ready for anything,” he said.
“She decides to drop it at the last second. Why? You made these allegations. Come tell us. Come show us, please.”
He said the positive point of Vaules dropping the challenge is that no one wants to go through this.
“Of course I’m happy it’s gone, but if you do attack somebody’s family and make allegations, against somebody who is completely innocent, you better be prepared,” Levchuk said. “And you’re clearly not prepared so you shouldn’t have done that.”
He said he is glad “everyone gets to see that I did win this election. That’s the good news out it. I’m happy with that part, but this isn’t going away. I really wish we would have had our day in court tomorrow.”
Levchuk said he had a lot more to say but wanted to think about it before commenting further.
For her part, Vaules thanked the Cape May County Board of Elections, the city of Ocean City “and all those who supported me throughout this election process.
“It has been a privilege to meet and work with so many wonderful people,” she wrote. “My ultimate goal has always been to ensure that Ocean City has the most effective, upstanding government possible. I would like to congratulate Mr. Levchuk on his victory and wish him well representing the taxpayers of the Third Ward.”
Vaules had run for office on an unofficial slate with David Winslow in the Fourth Ward, Paul Stryker in the Second Ward and at-large candidate Sean Barnes.
Winslow, an incumbent, was re-elected and Barnes won the remaining two-year term of the at-large position vacated by Karen Bergman.
Stryker lost to former councilman Keith Hartzell.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff