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In West Deptford, political strife over a pond

As presidential contenders spar over national security and immigration, and New Jersey officials fight over gun legislation, some in West Deptford - where party control hinges on one open seat this year - are politicizing a pond.

As presidential contenders spar over national security and immigration, and New Jersey officials fight over gun legislation, some in West Deptford - where party control hinges on one open seat this year - are politicizing a pond.

The storm water basin, tucked into a Gloucester County neighborhood of modern subdivisions, hardly seems like a source of political rancor. It's surrounded by a weeping willow and trees bursting with fall reds and golden browns, and has a petite fountain whose gentle flow is audible in adjacent yards.

But a years-long neighborhood dispute over the pond - whether it should be open for recreation or closed - gained renewed attention as the town reexamined what to do. And in a glimpse of the micro-level, block-by-block issues that sometimes inform local elections, the issue came up again when a text message conversation showed some Republicans in town advocating reigniting the controversy.

"I understand that politics can get dirty," Heidi Josephine "Joie" Gambino, 46, said, but to involve residents through the pond issue, "is so unethical."

Gambino, who was worried about loitering and quality-of-life issues, fought successfully to get the pond closed last year, although she was arrested in the process.

"It's all political now, which is unfortunate," lamented Sherrie Davis, 45, who moved to Denston Road with her husband, Donnell, in 2004 and for years fished and boated on the pond.

In the Nov. 3 election, Ray Chintall, a former Republican mayor, is challenging incumbent Democratic Mayor Denice DiCarlo for a committee seat. It's a contentious race - one in which Chintall reported receiving a death threat at his home last week - and, for at least a few residents, one that's decided with the pond in mind. And the texts.

"Denice going to give Darnell his paddle boat back and open basin for fishing?" Chintall asked in the electronic conversation, referencing the Township Committee's Sept. 16 plan to discuss the basin. "Call Heidi Gambino and stir her nest."

Another in the group responded: "This is stirred up for Ray."

Those in the conversation - which was inadvertently sent to the town administrator, then made public - seemed to conclude that the Democrat-controlled governing body would likely vote to keep the basin closed from the public, which the town solicitor had recommended Sept. 10.

Gambino, who works in social work, said last week that she was stunned to learn she was mentioned in the texts. Especially because Chintall arrived at her Saxon Drive home Sept. 27, days after the messages were reportedly sent, with alarming information.

"Ray was in the the Grande's neighborhood yesterday and he told myself and neighbors that you are revisiting the idea of having the retention pond fence removed, making the area open to the public at the request of Mr. Davis," she wrote to the mayor, DiCarlo, the next day, according to emails obtained under a public records request.

DiCarlo responded, calling those remarks "concerning and disappointing." The township would later inform Gambino that the solicitor had concluded that the basin should not permit "recreational activities and/or fishing" in the basin.

Gambino said she believes she was purposely fed false information.

Chintall declined to discuss the issue or the text messages Friday, saying he was more concerned about the threat, which police are investigating. In a text message, however, he said he was in the area knocking on "all doors" to get out the vote and did not target Gambino. He said he mentioned the basin - "was and is her concern," he wrote - but never stated the fence would be removed.

"I would say out of everything in those text messages, this scenario" is most concerning, DiCarlo said. "I believe that he felt for whatever reason that if he went in and stirred the residents and saved the day, he would have won those votes. He made it a political issue."

Neighbors of the pond, several of whom declined to be identified discussing what one called a "lightning-rod" issue, said renewed talk about the pond's use threatened to reignite a division that fostered unneighborly relations.

Davis, a Woodbury police officer, said he and his wife chose their home in 2003 specifically for its access to the basin. He installed an access gate and built a dock, with two benches, for a paddleboat his son and daughter also used; he even allowed town workers to use his boat for pond maintenance.

Gambino complained that the pond had attracted loitering, drinking, and trash - essentially into her yard.

In November 2013, the town's then-solicitor said the pond should be open. Later, Chintall, then mayor, advised concerned residents to call the police about problems, several neighbors said - though Chintall later denied recommending so.

"He pitted them . . . against me and my wife," Davis said.

In March 2014, Gambino called 911 to report the Davises using the pond. When police did not promptly respond, she called again and was soon arrested for "false public alarms" - though local police did not pursue charges, she said. (She is now trying to have her arrest record expunged.)

Soon afterward, the town's insurance company declared the pond a potential liability. It was closed from public access, and no-trespassing signs appeared.

Davis earlier this year approached the town to reconsider. He hoped a new administration under DiCarlo - who also once lived in the neighborhood and had been to the pond - could mean a new answer. It didn't.

"Ray came knowing I would probably rile up the whole neighborhood again," Gambino said. "He knows the personal turmoil I went through. To pull a resident into it, I think it's criminal."

West Deptford's election involves many larger issues that both sides are focusing on: taxes, municipal debt, political appointments. So why bother with a pond?

Gambino thinks the neighborhood - just one of many in the town's 18 square miles - can impact the race.

In last year's general election, Chintall and then-Committeeman John Keuler Jr., who collectively gathered about 45 percent of the vote, lost their committee seats to Adam Reid and James Mehaffey, who together gained nearly 55 percent of the vote.

"I am still a registered Republican but I discussed yesterday with my husband about . . . changing to Democrat," she said.

afichera@philly.com

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@AJFichera

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