Steve Lonegan isn’t shedding any tears over an endorsement rival Parker Space received from Josh Hertzberg, a former Sussex county freeholder who is now a Sparta councilman.
Lonegan said that Hertzberg was responsible for Democrats sweeping three Sparta council seats in the November 2022 non-partisan municipal election after voters rejected his support of a massive, 880,000-square-foot warehouse project. Hertzberg’s slate lost by more than 2,000 votes to Daniel Chiariello, Neill Clark, and Dean Blumetti, all registered Democrats.
Hertzberg, the director of business operations for the International Longshoremen’s Association, gave up his freeholder seat after winning a race for Sparta Township Council in 2020. His replacement was Chris Carney, a member of Operating Engineers Local 825 and a Space supporter.
According to Lonegan, Democrats won Sparta because of a “backroom deal involving the placement of a mega-warehouse in Sparta Township that was backed by Local 825.”
Located on 70 acres, the six-story warehouse would have been bigger than the Rockaway Mall and Sparta High School combined.
Despite the local backlash, Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) still carried Sparta with 59% of the vote last fall.
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