ORANGE, NJ — Mayoral candidate Janice Morrell issued a press release Friday, April 1, denying any involvement with negative campaign literature focused on images and statements about Councilwoman at Large Donna K. Williams sleeping on the job.
Morrell is running for mayor on the “Change We Need Voice We Deserve” ticket in the nonpartisan municipal election Tuesday, May 10, with a slate that includes at large City Council candidates Andrea Elliot, Sharief Williams and former Councilman Rayfield Morton.
“‘Jan Morrell for mayor of the city of Orange Township, along with Team Morrell, denounce any involvement with creating or distributing the literature that surfaced today headlining Councilwoman Donna Williams sleeping on the job,” said Morrell in the release. “Furthermore, the picture used on that literature is not Jan’s current campaign picture, nor is she using her full name during this campaign cycle, and her correct ballot position is 2A. All of Jan and Team Morrell’s current literature reflects a different picture of her and her name as Jan Morrell. Lastly, Jan Morrell is an educator and would never have released a piece that grammatically incorrect.”
Morrell went on to state: “The picture of the sleeping cop is the same one used in the YouTube video ‘Kerry Coley a Bad Cop’ released by American Future Leaders, which has already been linked to Mayor Dwayne Warren in an article last week in an online publication, Capital New York.”
Morrell said she believes Warren and his re-election campaign are the real culprits behind the attack ads aimed at Williams, saying, “he is the one responsible for this and many other negative pieces in this election.”
Morrell went on to describe the attack ads directed at Williams as “a poor attempt by Mayor Warren and others to negatively affect my name and honest campaigning,” and issued a public challenge to the mayor, asking him to “stop this negative campaigning.”
On Monday, April 4, West Ward Councilman Harold J. Johnson Jr. said he had heard about Morrell’s public denial. A member of East Ward Councilman Kerry Coley’s mayoral campaign who preferred to remain anonymous described Morrell’s letter of Friday, April 1, as “classy.”
Johnson and Coley, the two newest councilmen, won election to the city’s governing body for the first time in 2014, along with South Ward Councilwoman Jamie Summers-Johnson. North Ward Councilwoman Tency Eason also won reelection in 2014.
Neither Summers-Johnson nor Eason have endorsed Warren’s re-election bid for the record.
Regarding Morrell’s press release of Friday, April 1, the mayor said her attempts to blame him for attack ads that appear to have originated with her campaign team was “typical of a person with no record.”
“Jan Morrell and Donna were running mates and had a falling out,” said Warren on Monday, April 4, in reference to the fact Morrell and Williams ran together unsuccessfully on the same mayoral slate four years ago. “Donna left her for Coley and took her supporters from the East Ward. He only has a few people in part of the South Ward. Maybe that’s why Jan did it.”
Contrary to what Morrell said in her press release, Warren said his campaign is working “to focus only on the issues and credentials of the candidates seeking to lead our city.” He said he does “ask that all candidates be held accountable for the content of messages created and distributed by their campaigns or surrogates.”
“Everyone, stop pointing fingers,” said Warren. “Deal with whether the facts are true and verifiable.”
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