Published: Tuesday, June 24, 2008
BEACH HAVEN - A neighbor of Mayor Thomas Stewart has come forward alleging he does not live in the borough, according to a certification through the Ocean County Superior Court that was released Monday. A private investigator's notes appear to back the neighbor's claim.
Diane Taylor and her husband purchased their home on Eighth Street in November 2001 and have rarely seen the mayor at the property, the certification said.
Taylor said she spends virtually every weekend during the summer in Beach Haven and about every other weekend during the winter.
Taylor said that during her presence in the neighborhood, she occasionally sees Stewart but has never seen him there with his wife, Marjorie.
She said that after moving in, she became aware of several Hispanic people living in Stewart's home in the 200 block of Eighth Street but that he and his wife did not live there. The Hispanic people, according to Taylor's statement, did various types of yard work.
Taylor hired one of the men to do landscaping on her property, she said in the certification.
"I've always said I spend 25 percent in the township and the rest of the time at the Eighth Street house. I'm sorry Mrs. Taylor hasn't seen me," Stewart said Monday afternoon. Stewart also owns a residential property in the Beach Haven Gardens section of Long Beach Township.
Stewart also said Taylor's statements may be retribution for a stop-work order the borough instituted on the Taylor property.
"They received a stop-work order for doing renovations in their home without permits," Stewart said. "Maybe this is because the mayor, who lives two houses away, saw all of the sheet rock going into the home."
Stewart said developer William Burris and Mary Gruber, who filed a lawsuit against the borough in October, also are seeking retribution.
The lawsuit alleges Stewart is not a resident of Beach Haven and cannot lawfully hold the office of mayor.
On Friday, a motion was filed in Ocean County Superior Court ordering that Stewart be deposed, and that subpoenas be enforced that were delayed for months, according to Burris' attorney, Willis Flower. Flower subpoenaed thousands of pages of Stewart's financial records on his Beach Haven and Long Beach Township homes.
"I am disappointed with the outcome, but it wasn't totally unexpected," Stewart said. "I have complete confidence in the process at hand. This situation has been ruled on two if not three times before by the Ocean County Board of Elections."
A motion was filed to force Stewart to pay his own legal fees, but that motion was denied, Flower said.
"We believe this action by the borough to be illegal, that they are paying his legal bills," Flower said.
Burris is petitioning the court to deem the office of mayor vacant, according to the lawsuit.
"I can't help but think Burris is venue-shopping with this," Stewart said. "This all started after I didn't appoint him to the Historic Preservation Committee last fall."
But Burris said he begs to differ.
"This has nothing to do with anything but that Stewart does not live in Beach Haven and cannot hold the office of mayor," Burris said Monday evening.
Burris said he also began surveillance on Stewart in July that lasted for several months.
"Yes, I remember being followed for awhile," Stewart said Monday, although he did not elaborate.
Filed in the Ocean County Superior Court is also a certification from private investigator William Kelly, who conducted the surveillance on Stewart.
In the early morning hours of Aug. 15, Kelly wrote in his notes, he observed a black Mercedes and a dark gray pickup, both with a New Jersey registration, parked in the driveway of the residence located on the Atlantic Avenue side of Stewart's property in Long Beach Township. Kelly noted that on the 32nd Street side of the property was a maroon and gold flag with "USC" on it. He said he had been told that Stewart had attended the University of Southern California.
About two hours later that same morning, Kelly initiated surveillance on Stewart's Beach Haven home.
According to Kelly, several bicycles were parked in the driveway and in the backyard of the residence.
At about 7:30 a.m., a Hispanic male wearing a black shirt rode a bicycle from the rear of the residence and proceeded east on Eighth Street, turning south at Beach Avenue. He was followed and observed turning west on Centre Street. The man rode into a driveway behind a building located on the southeast corner of Bay Avenue and Centre Street. The man drove into a driveway directly behind Uncle Will's Pancake House, at 63 Bay Ave. - owned by Stewart. In all probability the Hispanic male is employed at that establishment, Kelly wrote.
Throughout the day, Kelly stated, he observed several more Hispanics - men and women - come and go from the home on bicycles and in vehicles.
Over the next 24 hours, Kelly said, he observed Thomas and Marjorie Stewart's vehicles in the driveway at their home in Long Beach Township. Kelly said he placed several phone calls to the Beach Haven home and that a Hispanic male voice answered the phone.
Kelly's notes say he interviewed another of Stewart's Eighth Street neighbors. James Durkin, a semi-retired Roman Catholic priest from the Diocese of Camden, said Stewart could usually be found at Uncle Will's Pancake. According to Kelly, Durkin said the Hispanic individuals had lived at the home for several years.
Durkin told Kelly he wasn't sure how many people lived at the home but said there were several males as well as one or two females.
In Kelly's notes, he writes that he and an interpreter entered the home to speak with the residents, one of whom told them that Stewart only comes to the home every once in a while.
According to a state statute referenced in the lawsuit, "no person shall be a candidate for, nor hold any local elected office unless he is a resident of the local unit to which the office pertains."
Additionally, the statute states, if an elected official or candidate ceases to be a resident of the area he or she represents, then the office will be considered vacant and be filled in the manner prescribed by law.
