A trio of town council candidates will use the ballot slogan “We are Mount Holly United” after a weeklong lawsuit was settled over the weekend.
Three Mount Holly candidates filed suit earlier this month when they were told they could not use the slogan “Mount Holly United” because it shared the name of a corporation created by three other Burlington County residents. The candidates alleged that the corporation was created as part of a “dirty trick” to prevent the use of the slogan, and sued the corporation’s founders and Mount Holly Clerk Sherry Marnell for the right to use the slogan on the ballot.
The candidates—Casey Carty, Jason Fajgier, and Bjana Swinson—will now use the slightly adjusted “We are Mount Holly United” slogan and the Mount Holly United Corporation will give Carty the permanent rights to use the slogan and allow other candidates to use it. The details of the settlement were shared during a Monday morning hearing before Superior Court Judge John Harrington.
The settlement also decrees that Marnell will conduct another ballot draw for Mount Holly positions. A prior ballot draw was done when the trio of candidates did not have a slogan, automatically placing them last on the ballot. A date for the redraw will be set this week.
The parties did not give the reasons for the settlement in court.
Jason Carty, a Burlington County political operative, established the corporation with Julies Thiessen and Jason Rydarowski after the Casey Carty slate — the two are not related — filed their slogan.