Jason Carty is out as Mount Holly’s fire director after months of administrative leave, an unsuccessful effort to terminate him, and a court ruling that voided the fire commissioners’ meeting at which they acted on his appointment.
Superior Court Judge Terrence Cook granted summary judgment to plaintiffs John Laraway and Randi Rothmel in an order filed Monday, declaring that “any and all actions” taken at the September 19, 2025, meeting were “void ab initio,” or invalid from the outset.
Cook found that the meeting violated the Open Public Meetings Act and the fire district’s bylaws. The district failed to provide 48 hours’ notice to board members and the township clerk, did not publish notice in two newspapers, and failed to include an agenda when the meeting was first noticed.
The agenda was not provided until the day before the meeting, despite having been prepared several days earlier.
The judge also rejected the district’s apparent effort to treat the meeting as an emergency proceeding. The five-member board needed four affirmative votes to proceed on that basis, but only three commissioners supported it. Cook further found that the district failed to show why the matter could not wait until its next scheduled meeting on October 1 or what substantial harm would have resulted from a delay.
The ruling came as Carty faces criminal charges related to alleged petition fraud and aggravated assault by strangulation.
Gary Brotz, a candidate for fire commissioner, called the decision a turning point for the district.
“Today’s ruling marks the beginning of the end of a dark chapter for the Mount Holly Fire District,” Brotz said.
He also cited an earlier court ruling involving what he called Commissioner June Gaskill’s “unethical vote” during the district’s prior attempt to hire Carty.
“This ruling follows an earlier court ruling regarding Gaskill’s unethical vote in the Fire District’s prior attempt to hire Carty,” Brotz said. “Despite those rulings and the growing list of serious legal issues surrounding Carty, Gaskill has continued to stand behind him.”
Brotz said George Gaskill and Tom Rossell had also aligned themselves with June Gaskill in support of Carty.
“George Gaskill and Tom Rossell have made it clear that they are willing to stand with June in protecting Carty, regardless of the consequences to the Fire District and the residents,” he stated.
The judge’s order does not specifically name Carty, but it invalidates the actions taken at the meeting central to the lawsuit challenging his appointment. Laraway and Rothmel had asked the court to invalidate Carty’s appointment and any related contract, as well as bar June Gaskill from participating in future deliberations about the fire-director position unless the district restarted the hiring process.
The district filed an answer in January denying the plaintiffs’ central allegations and asking the court to dismiss the case with prejudice. It denied that Carty’s appointment resulted from an improper arrangement involving the resignation of George Gaskill and maintained that it had acted lawfully.
An independent investigation recommended firing Carty, according to district records. A resolution to terminate him later failed after one commissioner voted in favor, another opposed it, one abstained, and two recused themselves.
The controversial Carty had been suspended and placed on administrative leave for months before leaving the position.
Brotz said the controversy demonstrated the need for a change in leadership.
“This is exactly why Mount Holly needs new leadership,” he said. “We need commissioners who will follow the law, respect the courts, demand accountability and put the safety and interests of our residents above personal loyalties and political alliances.”
“With Rosemarie Logue, I will fight every day to restore integrity and accountability to our Fire District,” Brotz added. “We will not look the other way.”
Carty’s status as a member of the Rancocas Valley Regional School District is unclear; he holds the Lumberton seat but is no longer living at his home.
Carty and his estranged wife, Lumberton Township Committeewoman Gina LaPlaca, are scheduled to appear in Superior Court on September 21 in connection with an investigation into allegedly fraudulent signatures on LaPlaca’s nominating petition for the June Democratic primary.
The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office alleges that multiple people whose names appeared on the petition said they did not sign it or authorize anyone to sign on their behalf. Prosecutors said LaPlaca would not have qualified for the ballot without the disputed signatures.
LaPlaca is charged with making a false statement under oath, knowingly filing a false petition, two counts of tampering with public records or information, and falsifying or tampering with records. Carty is charged with knowingly filing a false petition, two counts of tampering with public records or information, and falsifying or tampering with records.
Carty also faces an aggravated-assault-by-strangulation charge stemming from a May domestic incident involving LaPlaca. She initially told police that Carty had tried to strangle her and later wrote on social media that he had “literally tried to kill me.”
LaPlaca later recanted the allegations in a sworn statement, saying she had been under the influence, that the couple had only been involved in a verbal argument, and that Carty had not assaulted her. She asked prosecutors to dismiss the charge, which remains pending.
Her political career unraveled after she admitted to driving drunk with her three-year-old son in the car; a breathalyzer test showed her four times the legal limit. She says misogyny within the Democratic Party — not her legal troubles — was the real reason voters rejected her bid for another term on the township committee.
In March, LaPlaca pleaded guilty to a child endangerment charge. The plea to a fourth-degree count of child endangerment and abuse will lead to three years of supervised probation under the state’s pretrial program. The terms of probation are expected to include continued inpatient treatment, regular attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, an interlocutory device to start her car, and potentially other terms dictated by the state Department of Children and Families.
If she violates the terms of her PTI, she will be arrested and sentenced to second-degree child endangerment and abuse, which comes with a presumption of incarceration.
She lost her driver’s license for twelve days.
A former Democratic Assembly candidate and ex-mayor, LaPlaca was defeated in the Democratic primary by Mayor Terrance Benson and former Committeewoman Kendra Hatfield, a woman, ending her bid for another term on the Township Committee.