24 Feb ***UPDATE – Fox Ethics Decision Expected by March 14, 2022
An updated article has been written in the Cape May County Herald regarding the Fox ethics violations.
To read the full article, please visit the Herald.
Following is an excerpt from that article:
TRENTON – A new judge assigned to hear former West Wildwood Mayor Christopher Fox’s appeal of seven ethics violations, and the associated $24,900 in fines, received another extension to render a decision in the case.
Judge Susan Olgiati will have until March 14 to decide if Fox is responsible for the alleged violations, mostly having to do with his living arrangement with the borough’s police chief, according to the Office of Administrative Law.
Olgiati was granted extensions after taking over the case when Judge John S. Kennedy, who had been hearing the case, moved up to the Superior Court.
The fines, according to Deputy Attorney General Steve Gleeson, who argued the case for the state, are the largest ever issued by the state Local Finance Board.
Fox “committed an egregious number of violations of the LGEL (Local Government Ethics Law) in an unprecedented manner in flagrant disregard of our state’s deep commitment to good governance. As such, his penalty of $24,900 – though high – is more than warranted given the sheer number of violations committed and the seriousness of many of the violations,” Gleeson wrote in his closing brief.
Fox appealed the underlying charges, resulting in a hearing last spring, held over three days, during which he testified.