Dover mayor retains seat against challenge by police chief

DOVER – Incumbent Mayor James P. Dodd beat a challenge from Police Chief Harold “Butch” Valentine in the Democratic primary but upsets occurred against two incumbent Aldermen.

“I think the chief and his people threw everything they had at me and they had people coming out of the woodwork but it still didn’t work,” Dodd said. “I’m glad it’s behind us. There’s a lot of stuff to work on.”

The unofficial results showed that Dodd beat Valentine 547 votes to Valentine’s 472 votes. Those results include votes at the polls and absentee ballot, or mail-in vote totals.

Valentine said he doesn’t regret the run because it showed that people care about who is managing the town.

“It’s encouraging that we revitalized politics here in Dover and that people were interested and came out. Dover’s the winner here,” Valentine said.

Valentine, who still is facing disciplinary charges for allegedly threatening a detective, failing to train officers in use of excessive force and using a sick day to go fishing, stunned the community by filing in March to run for the four-year mayoral term while still serving as police chief.

Dodd has said his priorities include redevelopment of the historic downtown, which already is under way with a proposal by the Meridia development firm for an apartment building on a decaying town parking lot.

Valentine, police chief since 2001, and Dodd, mayor for the last 10 years, occasionally traded barbs over their leadership styles, and issues related to the Dover Democratic primary twice wound up in Superior Court.

No Republicans filed to run for mayor or for a seat on the Board of Aldermen so the winners of Tuesday’s primary will not face a challenge in November.

Town Administrator Donald Travisano suspended Valentine without pay from his $140,000-a-year position in April after Valentine refused to either withdraw his candidacy or resign as police chief. Travisano based the suspension on a department rule that Valentine himself promulgated, which required candidates for elective office in Dover to receive the consent of the Morris County prosecutor.

Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp said he would not weigh in on the chief’s decision to run and knew of no state Attorney General directive requiring him to. Since Valentine could not expressly get the prosecutor’s approval to run, Travisano found him in violation of his own rule and issued the ultimatum to either resign or stop his bid for mayor.

Valentine sued and a judge found the rule was unenforceable and that Valentine had the constitutional right to run for office.

Incumbent William O’Connor appeared to retain a two-year seat in the First Ward, beating out former alderman Frank Poolas. O’Connor is a licensed electrical contractor and electrical sub-code official for Morristown. The tally at the polls was 98 for O’Connor; 89 for Poolas.

Ward 2 Alderwoman Cindy Romaine narrowly held onto her seat, beating challenger Mike Ryan at the polls with a vote of 158 to 153. Romaine, an insurance industry executive, is on the finance and personnel committees and planning board.

Incumbent Alderman James A. Visioli bested challenger Patrick J. Fahy at the polls by a vote of 156 to 124. Visioli has been an alderman for 24 years and is retired from the Northrop Grumman Corp. He has served on the planning and zoning board of adjustment and is a member of the New Jersey Highlands Council.

An upset appears to have occurred in the Fourth Ward, with Dominic Timpani receiving 92 votes to 73 garnered by incumbent Robert Rutan. Timpani is a critic of Mayor Dodd.

Former Alderman Ronald Camacho also appeared to have scored an upset in the Fourth Ward for a one-year unexpired term against incumbent Steve Toth, a former zoning board member and auto technician. The poll vote was 117 for Camacho; 64 for Toth.

Visioli, the town’s municipal Democratic chairman, had challenged the residencies of both Timpani and Fahy. Visioli contended that Timpani, a former alderman and critic of Dodd, lives in Randolph and that Fahy, also a former alderman, lives in Newton.

A judge ruled on April 16 that there was sufficient evidence to show that both Timpani and Fahy live in Dover.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.