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Woman blankets Mt. Laurel with calls

A Mount Laurel woman accused of mismanaging a taxpayer-funded organization says her critics are politically motivated, and has turned to a longtime political tactic to defend her name.

A Mount Laurel woman accused of mismanaging a taxpayer-funded organization says her critics are politically motivated, and has turned to a longtime political tactic to defend her name.

A campaign spokesman for Lori Leonard, a Democratic candidate for a seat on the Republican-controlled council, confirmed yesterday that automated calls were placed to Mount Laurel residents Tuesday evening. In the calls, Leonard defended her service with the substance-abuse prevention organization and referred listeners to her new Web site,

» READ MORE: www.supportlori.com

The spokesman, Lou Seminski, said the campaign paid a vendor to send the calls to registered voters in the township - among Burlington County's most populous with nearly 40,000 residents. He said the cost was not immediately available.

"This is a systematic attack, it's a choreographed attack on Lori Leonard, and she's going to fight back," he said. "She was willing to work with the council in a professional manner. They decided to make it a campaign issue."

"Well," Seminski added, "we're going to make it a campaign issue."

The township council began questioning Leonard about the Mount Laurel Municipal Alliance in February. Leonard publicly announced her bid for office - as part of a slate of two other Democrats - in April, the same month she resigned as chairwoman of the alliance.

On Friday, the township manager sent letters to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office and the county's attorney requesting a review of the matter. At issue have been allegations over missing and misspent money, the alliance's practice of not publicly advertising meetings or keeping meeting minutes, and spending that is far lower than what the township is entitled to under its state-funded grant.

The lone Democrat on the council, Tracy Riley, unsuccessfully pushed for an audit rather than a review by county officials - a move that Leonard supported but with which Republicans disagreed.

Council members have vigorously denied political motivations. While Leonard maintains that the council never asked her for answers after February, she came to a council meeting in July but never spoke, according to Mayor John Drinkard and other council members.

"I think what Ms. Leonard should do is simply just answer the question on where the missing deposits are, and to answer that [politically] isn't answering the question; it's just saying this is the motive of the individuals," Drinkard said.

Still, Mount Laurel's written agreement with the county states that the township is ultimately responsible for the program.

Leonard's new Web site claims the Republican council members are trying to intimidate her now that they have fallen behind in public-opinion polls. The facts behind that are unclear, since her spokesman said the campaign does not discuss polls as a matter of policy.

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