Ducey slams Fozman over Hugin endorsement

The Democratic mayor of Brick labeled a fellow Democrat who endorsed GOP U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hugin as a disgruntled job-seeker who is looking for something from Ocean County Republicans.

The comments from John Ducey, the two-term mayor of the mostly-Republican town followed Councilman James Fozman’s announcement that he would back Hugin against the incumbent Democrat, Bob Menendez.

“Councilman Fozman’s announcement today was based not on principles, but on greed. Jim wanted the job of Director of Public Works in Brick at over $100,000 a year. I told him no. We do not hire elected officials or their family members to public jobs in our town,” said Ducey.  “It’s a platform I ran on and I will not betray the trust of the Brick voters.”

Fozman’s wife, Vera Schilling Fozman, strong denied the allegations against her husband.

”This is false.  Jim never applied for that position.  It’s a boldfaced lie,” said Schilling-Fozman.

Ducey maintains that this is business as usual for the GOP.

“The Republican leaders in Ocean County routinely hire elected officials to high-paying political jobs or contracts – it’s the way they do things. We do things differently,” Ducey said.  “I believe Jim endorsed a Republican because he thinks he will be next in line for a taxpayer funded job.”