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Mellert has filed a PrePrimary report to acknowledge that she has spent $348.17. But neither Itterly nor Fairchild have filed anything. So what?, would be my first reaction. After all, Plainfield Tp is small enough that I would think most candidates would have no need to raise a lot of money.
But Itterly has not one, but two electronic billboards advertising his candidacy. They are located near MacDonalds. He also has a large number of campaign signs. No disclaimers on the billboards.
It is my understanding that a candidate who wants to advertise on that billboard must pay about $1,100.
So does Fairchild, although they might be left over from his last campaign.
This is beginning to smell very much like the landfill, and for good reason. The landfill in Plainfield Township wants to expand, but to do so it will need to have some property rezoned. To make things easier, Township Supervisors have already disbanded their Environmental Advisory Commission. That way they can avoid some complaints They've also ignored their own Planning Commission, which has advised against rezoning. Instead, they voted in April to hire a third-party consultant - Strategic Solutions - to tell them what they and the landfill want to hear.
The public has a right to know who is paying for Itterly's billboard and campaign signs. His refusal to follow the law evinces a lack of regard for the public he ostensibly wishes to serve. I suspect his true master is the landfill.
The lack of a disclaimer is one thing, but it's clear that Itterly is breaking basic campaign law. The DA's office needs to review what has happened here.
UPDATED 2 PM: This story requires a bit of an explanation and an apology. I wrote it and posted without first discussing the matter with Itterly. That was wrong. I spoke with him today. He acknowledged he has filed no expense report because he does not really know what the expense is and will do so when he receives a bill. He followed advice from the elections office, so he acted in good faith and violated no law.
Campaign finance law (25 PS 3246 (B) (5)) does require a report for all unpaid debts and obligations, and I believe it should have been reported with the amount left blank, as I see some candidates do. But I could be interpreting the law too strictly.
Itterly also tells me that his sign does include a disclaimer and that the EAC was disbanded due to lack of interest. Finally, he said that "putting garbage in the ground is the worst thing in the world."
43 comments:
Thank you for covering this, Bernie. I was not aware that Plainfield had scuttled their EAC. I also find it odd that more people haven't stepped up to run if the community is against expanding the landfill.
A vote for Itterly is a vote for another expansion of Mt. Grand Central. He's bought & paid for by WM.
A lot stinks in Plainfield Twsp., just drive through Pen Argyl or Wind Gap on an overcast day/night and take in the odor of sour Milk- its makes your stomach turn!
Rob Kemmerer, who is running for MDJ in Wind Gap, is also advertising on the billboard. Unlike Itterly, he properly reported it in his campaign finance report. He spent $1,150 on it. Good for Rob (and good for the voters).
Itterly's signs are EVERYWHERE up here. Add in the billboard and he's clearly spent a lot of money. I agree with you that DA Baratta should look into this.
By the way. Itterly's day job is the Freemansburg Borough Manager. If I were on borough council there, I might be pretty concerned about a complete disregard for campaign finance law from my borough manager.
The fact that the Environmental Advisory Committee was eliminated shows that this current board has no concern for the health and well being of the residents. The DA needs to investigate Itterly for his disregard of the campaign laws.
Does it have to be someone from Plainfield Township that reports this to the DA?
Isn’t it also a fun fact that two of the Plainfield Township supervisors’ (Itterly and Kemmerer) wives run the recreation committee.
Save Plainfield, they cry. But then the supervisors approve the motion to get a disc golf course for thousands of dollars for their wives.
This is starting to sound like a lot of red flags.
We need to be saved from them.
10:45, My understanding is that someone from Plainfield Tp has notified the DA.
Don't forget Itterly runs a website www.plainfieldtownship.com. what's interesting is it was registered in 2000 (WM maybe??)
This is disinformation. Jonathan Itterly's wife in not on the Parks & Rec committee
Sign clearly states "Paid for by Candidate" at the bottom of the red border. The only thing that stinks here is the false reporting by the biased journalist.
You are welcome Jane Mellert
Itterly is against landfills
Nope false. Only one is on the board so is Mr Borger's son, who was chair for 8 years!
Only one of them is on the Rec Board. Funny how no one cared the Mr Borger's son ran the Rec Board for 8 years and is still vice chair!!
So why hasn't he reported that expense? He's clearly spent well over 250 on them.
2:52, He has not incurred expenses in excess of $250 at this juncture. He asked about the billboards and was told he had no need to file until he was billed. My understanding is that it is an unpaid debt and should be reported, but I do understand why one would wait until knowing what that obligation is. This is my mistake for failing to reach out to the candidate. I should have done so.
If you read the update it clearly states if you don't have an invoice you cannot report an expense.
If the update says that he deserves an apology, where is it?
Saying he deserves one and giving one are two different things!!
It was eliminated due to lack of members
Itterly is for the landfill. If he was against it, he would have voted "no" to send the rezoning request to the Planning Commission in October 2024. He could have been the "nay" vote to stop it right there, but he voted for it, making a 3-2 vote to send it through. Even when the Planning Commission sent it back to the supervisors with the recommendation to not rezone Farm and Forest land for a landfill, instead of upholding that recommendation, he instead voted in favor of hiring a private planning company for the WM rezoning request from WM, April 2025. His actions speak louder than words.
Wouldn't an unpaid debt be something that you got billed for and didn't pay. Not something that you did not get billed for yet?
What if the power went out and it was then prorated or cancelled due to not needing it up anymore??
He runs a website promoting himself. In the year of our loard 2025? blastomy
Have you checked with the company that runs the billboard? I find it extremely unlikely that do anything other than bill up front, at least for the first month, which is why Kemmerer's expense is on his report. Itterly may not know the final bill, but that doesn't mean he didn't already pay for the first month and doesn't need to report it.
Also, he has at least 200 signs all around Plainfield Township. Even if they were donated to him at cost, that is over $250 in kind donation and would need to be reported. The supervisors that ran in 2023 did the same thing, creating massive (wooden) billboards and hundreds of signs and never reporting a thing, but they got away with it.
Finally, if Itterly is opposed to putting garbage in the ground, why does he keep voting in favor of WM?
The Plainfield Township EAC Members at the time the Council was disbanded were Joe Colosi, Jeffrey Beavan, Stan Shelosky, Michael Schmidt and Don Moore. There were other people interested. The statement is not true.
The electronic billboards do not have a disclaimer since the posting started in April. That is a fact
Bernie did not say that the yard signs didn't say who paid for them. It is the $ 1,100 billboard that does not say who paid for it. I doubt that John ever checked with the election board, easy enough to find out.
The Plainfield Township EAC Members at the time the Council was disbanded were Joe Colosi, Jeffrey Beavan, Stan Shelosky, Michael Schmidt and Don Moore. There were other people interested that applied. The EAC was not disbanded due to lack of interest. The members were shocked. Never got a thank you letter for the time they served.
May 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM
They only bill upfront for untrustworthy people.
It is amazing that the only family in Plainfield township that has ever spread sewage sludge on their farm are the biggest opponents of Nazareth Spreading sludge on a neighboring farm. Why? Because there is no money in it for them? Christianity does not stop on Monday so lies can be spread. The biggest problem this township has had is stagnation. Talk and no action. Years of lip service and still nothing for kids to do. It is disgusting.
This needs to stop! Everytime I visit the Cemetery at St. Peters Lutheran Church, I'm amazed at the obstructed view of the Mountains due to the ever expanding height of the Waste Management landfill. Between that and the constant odor, it actually makes 1 quite sick.
All campaign expenses were paid for by candidate. All signs state: Paid for by Candidate.
Elections law is that you must report every expense and in kind contribution, and you must do it in a timely fashion.
That billboard company bills monthly and his ad has been up for more than a month.
Further, there is no paid for by on the ad on the billboard, which is a flagrant violation of elections law.
Hopefully the DA actually bothers to review this one. Not reporting expenditures for a campaign is a serious violation of election law.
It's the same design. If the yard sign design says who it's paid for them why would that be taken out for the billboard?
The website is Plainfieldtownship.com. It’s misleading to use that title. Just like him saying he didn’t have to report his financials to the county because he was only billed for the billboard, therefore did not pay for it yet so it didn’t count. An honest candidate doesn’t need to hide or misrepresent the public. Further, his statements of burying garbage is the worst thing in the world is false when he continues to vote in favor of rezoning for another landfill. another smoke and mirrors from him.
The biggest myth out there is that when you carefully sort thru what is recyclable and what is garbage is that it ends up in different places. We need "dumps" but they stink and sometimes debris gets blown away. I have no workable answer and no one else does. We need it but it does not exist in any fashion at this time. We are not going to stop buying stuff!
Yes, we need dumps. Do you think putting another one next to densely populated areas is the appropriate place for one? Going against all zoning and ordinances to accommodate one when it clearly is not the place for it? We've had our fair share of the great WM garbage mountain. Find another place. Doesn't belong here.
You can report it if you know the cost. If you don't have a invoice, you may not have to report it but that doesn't mean you shouldn't. I'm sure he was given a price. Where is the honesty and transparency of this candidate? Doesn't exist.
It's only misleading if you are easily misled.
And to my knowledge, nobody voted in favor of rezoning anything to do with the landfill to date. The only thing that is misleading is people like you making statements like this!!
I’m a bit confused. I stood next to a very nice man named Alan today at the polls that shared the Plainfieldtownship.com website to several of us to receive updates on the township. At no point did he say any one specific person “ owned” or “created” it.
Christianity does not stop on a Monday is a great reply to this thread. How some act on a Sunday compared to what I experienced today from a candidate validates that reply.
Seems the billboard has hit a few nerves. However in regards to any or all tshirts worn on Election Day (which a fellow candidate was quite upset about) you could see if you looked past your nose that it said paid by candidate right in the print. That particular candidate didn’t want to hear that when she vocally in public at a polling booth verbally shared her disapproval of the shirts worn. Especially when her own poll representative asked her why they didn’t have tshirts. I think he may have hit a nerve with her. However me not knowing who she was at the time, it was quite an eye opener for me that she showed her true colors. Too bad more of the voters didn’t see them.
The garbage has to go someplace. Anyone ever been to Staten Island? Unfortunately it's a necessary evil. I enjoy the lower property tax as I'm sure all of you do as well. I also don't live in Pen Argyl or on the west side of of Plainfield Twp. Itterly lives here too. It's better to help with a solution or better the township rather than complain.
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