WEST MILFORD Republican Councilman Joseph Elcavage resigned on Tuesday, January 17 after Democrats on the board forced the start of an investigation, accusing Elcavage of involvement with an anonymous Web site and postings they claim were slanderous. The now-defunct FleecingWestMilford.com site, which was registered to Elcavage’s former neighbor, contained unsigned inflammatory anti-Democrat opinion pieces. Democratic Councilman James Warden tried to get the council to censure Elcavage last week because a story had appeared on the Web site about Warden’s girlfriend which Warden characterized as “slanderous and defamatory.” He furnished what he said was evidence that Elcavage was involved in the mess. The council opted to investigate the matter rather than censure Elcavage. Township Attorney Fred Semrau was looking into whether the council would have subpoena power, and Warden began compiling a list of people and computers to subpoena. Five days later Elcavage resigned. In his resignation letter Elcavage said, “I refuse to serve on a governing body which allowed two of its councilmen, Warden (D) and Nolan (D) to attack other members of the council unchecked and in a manner such as occurred at the council meeting of January 11th.” When speaking to The Messenger on Wednesday, he repeated the same statement. Later that day he was quoted by radio station WGHT out of Pompton Lakes as having resigned because he “could no longer dedicate the time to serve on the council.” If Elcavage actually left in an effort to halt the investigation, he may find the effort futile. On Wednesday Warden filed a civil suit with co-plaintiff Bettina Biere, the woman written about on the Web site. He said the suit alleges slander, defamation and libel. The suit names Tom Malone, the FleecingWestMilford site’s registered owner, and several John Does to be identified later. “When they messed with Bettina, they messed with the wrong person. I don’t care if I have to spend $50,000 of my own to investigate this. We will find the identities of all the anonymous posters on nj.com (an Internet site with a message board frequented by many of the same people) and the people behind FleecingWestMilford. “ Warden said he planned to subpoena Elcavage’s computers, Optimum on line and a “host of other people” in order to identify those responsible. “By the time this is done, no one will be anonymous. Every person involved will have to stand up, be a man and take responsibility for what he has said.” Elcavage has consistently denied involvement. He said Warden and Nolan’s statements at the meeting had been defamatory towards him, and that he doesn’t believes the material on the Web site qualify as slander. Elcavage, who is married and has a son, serves as an EMT, a Domestic Violence Response Team Member, on the Upper Greenwood Lake Board of Trustees and with the Boy Scouts. Nolan said that according to Semrau the Republican Committee has until Jan.. 31 to present the council with a list of three people who are potential candidates for the empty seat. The council then has until Feb. 15 to choose one of them to finish Elcavage’s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2006. If the council is unable to come to an agreement, the decision goes to the Republican Committee. The Messenger left messages with Malone, Republican Chair Doris Ousterhout, Township Administrator Richard Kunze and others which were not returned before going to press.